The Solidarity Community Center "Sunflower" at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw was established as a crisis center of solidarity and support in the first days after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. It began with a spontaneous collection of money, medicine and food, as well as a campaign to mass-produce sandwiches for incoming refugees. Quickly, the ad hoc, grassroots impulse began to develop into an organized activity. Today, "Sunflower" functions as an open, multilingual and multicultural community center.
SDK Słonecznik - is also a collective of people, working together. We organize lectures, performances, lessons and meetings with artists, create art events, collections for aid funds
and much more.
and much more.
Team:
Maria Beburia, Sebastian Cichocki, Kuba Depczyński, Taras Gembik, Yulia Krivich, Kaja Kusztra, Bogna Stefańska, Natalia Sielewicz, and others.
Maria Beburia, Sebastian Cichocki, Kuba Depczyński, Taras Gembik, Yulia Krivich, Kaja Kusztra, Bogna Stefańska, Natalia Sielewicz, and others.
The sunflower is not only the sign of the global movement against nuclear weapons, but also the national flower of Ukraine, the world's largest exporter of sunflower oil. Sunflowers became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance and hope after a viral video circulated the worldwide with a woman giving Russian soldiers a sunflower seeds, predicting: "You will die on my land. Put the seeds in your pockets, at least let sunflowers grow after you."
The “Sunflower” is visited by people engaged in help and solidarity activities and those who seek a safe space to talk and be together. During the first three weeks of our activities we prepared over 30 thousand sandwiches distributed to Warsaw’s railway station; organized transports of medicines and medical equipment to the hospital in Chernivtsi and, together with the Nomadic Women Foundation, delivered thousands of hot meals to the Wołoska Crisis Center. We collected money and aid, collectively read Ukrainian poetry, and organized spontaneous meetings, discussions, integration activities, workshops and classes for children. The group “Photos for Documents” provided free photo services.
Currently, „Słonecznik” supported the community gathered around the initiative and collaborates with Ukrainian artists, activists and cultural workers, many of which now reside or temporarily stay in Warsaw. SCC runs its own public program on war, Ukrainian history, culture and art; Russian imperialism, or issues of decolonization in Central and Eastern Europe. It hosts Polish and Ukrainian language classes, workshops for children and adults, educational and performance events, lectures, meetings of the "Pogovorymo" movie club, poetry evenings, concerts, and meetings with artists and activists. It also provides a safe space for being together. As those involved in the "Słonecznik" community write: "Together we wait for better times, supporting each other and searching for answers to the role of art institutions during the war."
The “Sunflower” is visited by people engaged in help and solidarity activities and those who seek a safe space to talk and be together. During the first three weeks of our activities we prepared over 30 thousand sandwiches distributed to Warsaw’s railway station; organized transports of medicines and medical equipment to the hospital in Chernivtsi and, together with the Nomadic Women Foundation, delivered thousands of hot meals to the Wołoska Crisis Center. We collected money and aid, collectively read Ukrainian poetry, and organized spontaneous meetings, discussions, integration activities, workshops and classes for children. The group “Photos for Documents” provided free photo services.
Currently, „Słonecznik” supported the community gathered around the initiative and collaborates with Ukrainian artists, activists and cultural workers, many of which now reside or temporarily stay in Warsaw. SCC runs its own public program on war, Ukrainian history, culture and art; Russian imperialism, or issues of decolonization in Central and Eastern Europe. It hosts Polish and Ukrainian language classes, workshops for children and adults, educational and performance events, lectures, meetings of the "Pogovorymo" movie club, poetry evenings, concerts, and meetings with artists and activists. It also provides a safe space for being together. As those involved in the "Słonecznik" community write: "Together we wait for better times, supporting each other and searching for answers to the role of art institutions during the war."