The Bielañski Cultural Centre shall host the play Standstill Moment on Wednesday October 26., at 6p.m. The play shall be staged by the Migrator Theatre. We shall have a unique opportunity to encounter a cultural melting pot of African as well as European countries and learn more about the situation, problems and feelings of the actors living in Poland. In view of this coming event, Gazeta Bielañski requested a conversation with the organizer of the whole affair— writer, poet, journalist and Secretary General of the Association of Exiles in Poland – the Cameroonian Simon Mol.
How did the conception of the play originate and what is its main idea?
Above all my activities, I am a poet and playwright in the first place. I wrote the poem Standstill Moment, which subsequently was transformed into a play. There are a lot of multicultural elements from around the world in it. My idea was, among other things, to show many cultures in one play.
What is this play about?
It’s about the beauty and bestiality in a city. Every city is a symbol of cultural diversity, which is very positive. It is therefore not a secret that Warsaw where I have been living since 1999 was my inspiration. I like this place; you can get lost here—there are lots of different places.
Is there something that you would like to change in Warsaw?
I think it is all going in the right way— the streets, infrastructure, etc. Concerning people, the collective mentality, very slowly though, is changing as well. Here all the hope is in the young. The youths are very open and do not have much prejudice.
Where have you already staged „Standstill Moment”?
Among other places at the National Ethnographic Museum, Warsaw, the Advance School of Social Psychology, Warsaw and at the Victoria Hotel Warsaw during the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) International Human Dimension Conference last September.
…And now at a Cultural Centre, these are very different places...
Yes, we’d like to get to all the groups of receivers, build intercultural bridges where there aren’t such possibilities. Luckily the interest of people is great. About 15 actors play in the spectacle, coming from Angola, Cameroon, Liberia, Nigeria, Kenya, Togo, Belarus, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Vietnam, etc.
What is the meaning of the title Standstill Moment?
This is a key moment in the play where everything changes radically; a radical transition of intense emotions from joy to sorrow… such also is literature, as it relies enormously on uncertainty. This as well, is the situation of migrants, which is constantly changing.
You came to Warsaw 6 years ago, but not as a tourist…
No. I’m a political refugee. I come from Cameroon. I’m a journalist and I had to flee persecution there. I fled to Ghana, and later moved to Poland on invitation from PEN (Poets, Essayists and Novelists) Club. I profited from the international Annual PEN Congress, which was being hosted by Poland in 1999. PEN has a committee, which helps detained writers and journalists.
The beginning wasn’t easy I suppose…
It never is. Initially during the above-mentioned Congress I spent one week in a five star hotel, spent the next week at a students’ hostel and finally I landed in a refugee camp where I spent 18-months. In those days I realized that it’s not going to be easy. This graph lucidly depicts my path...
Did you manage to get used to your situation?
No, not yet. I really miss the most basic things, e.g. food from home. In spite of all this, the most important thing for me now is poetry, which has become my religion.
Are you engaged in politics?
I don’t nurse political ambitions. I’m trying to keep away from it. Still I’m interested in the political state of Cameroon; I read and make researches. In fact, everything I do, being a political refugee, is analyzed from a political perspective, even when I’m eating or drinking – it is political!
You’re the editor-in-chief of the magazine “Voice of Exile”.
Yes, we would like to create a forum for opinions and information for migrants, exiles refugees, asylum seekers and Poles. We impart practical information here; how to move around, how to live in a new reality, etc. The Association of Exiles in Poland helps refugees from different countries in preparing their documents, applications, making decisions, and solving legal problems and giving free counseling. Moreover we also organize open informal social gatherings.
What is the difference between Polish and African poetry?
There are no apparent differences. Poetry is universal, the only difference is language. A poet is a conscientious, social police who keeps an eye on, and criticizes politicians and those who shape society. As a poet I ask why there is evil, war— I watch, I praise, I criticize. Polish poetry was a weapon as well. A very important one. At the time when Poland did not exist on the European map it still existed- culturally, spiritually, precisely thanks to Polish poets such as Mickiewicz, Sienkiewicz, S³owacki. They and their output were a hope for Poland and Poles. Poetry is a strong weapon with which you can win a lot. Through the poetic eye I was able to conduct research and write a book about the All Saints Day Ceremony in Poland from an African point of view. I relied much on Mickiewicz’s play Dziady (Forefather’s Eve). The rituals described in the foreword by Mickiewicz are practically identical to elements in the African religion of Ancestor Worship. The political situation of many African countries and communities is also similar to the situation and experience of Poland during its troubling and darks days. People and problems are the same; the only plausible difference is largely geographical.
You live in ¯oliborz, do you sometimes drop by to Bielany?
Yes. I was in Bielañski Cultural Centre a couple of times. I like Bielany; it is a peaceful and structurally well-designed place. Most of all I like the ponds nearby the Cultural Centre, there is a grammar school there…
…Brustman’s Ponds
There is also a bridge; a good atmosphere prevails around the area, which creates the right atmosphere for artistic creation, poetry and literature in general.
Thank you.
Iwo £oœ
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