Proposal

In response to recent media hype concerning the influx of Polish migrants into the country over the last few months Polish born artist Alicja Rogalska intends to address issues of immigration though her innovative and participatory practice.

The artist is interested in the commonly used tactics of TV broadcasting programmes to employ shots of busy pedestrianised streets to represent statistics. Using a similar aesthetics Alicja intends to comment on the way Polish people in the UK are portrayed in the media, often through numbers and statistics taken out of context. By inviting members of the public to react she intends to explore issues concerning national identity, its social perception and mechanisms of labelling.

This project will be realised through the projection of the slogan ‘Pole/ I’m Polish onto people as they pass by on a busy public street. (The location we have in mind is Erdington High Street, ideal for our project due to its growing Polish population.) Some of the subjects will be aware that they are being singled out others not. The identity they are given will most likely be false but those who are not aware of their labelling will not be given the opportunity to challenge or correct it, a common situation for many people. Those who are aware, on the other had, will be invited to react to this labelling. Their reactions will be an interesting comment on what they think about the idea of being Polish and possibly, very directly, about Poles. Whether its amusing, uninteresting, offensive, uncomfortable or just funny, it will not be a comment on polish-ness, as such, but the idea of being mistaken for a Pole.