Parawaning

PARAWANING (WIND-SCREENING), Artloop Festival, Sopot, 2016

Wind screens are an inseperable element of the Polish seaside leisure. The sooner erected, the closer we get to the sea, which improves the quality of the holiday recreation significantly. The word “parawaning” (“screening”) has entered the coloquial Polish quite recently, but the civic attitude hidden behind it has been known for much longer. The most expansive compatriots are able to fence the area equal to a two-bedroom apartment. Indeed, the wind screens became a type of fence instead of a protection from wind and sun. The size of the enclosed space on a beach has become an indicator of the social prestige, just like an apartment in a private, fenced neighborhood. A maze could make it difficult to get through, but it could also become a common screen for a larger number of people. Most importantly, however, it is going to contitute a monument of the civic attitude of the Polish people on holiday.