Capital city officials boast of a "mountain of good projects" in this year's edition of the civic budget, pointing to a high percentage of approved ideas. Among them, however, was not the initiative to build a new rainbow on Zbawiciela Square. Savior Square. Why don't officials want to put this idea to a vote of residents?
civic budget 2022
photo: Wistula / Wikimedia Commons
Warsaw has checked the feasibility of the projects that residents submitted as part of the 9th edition of the civic budget. Of the 1943 proposals sent in, officials allowed 1275 to be voted on - 129 city-wide and 1146 district ones. This is not the end of the procedure - the authors of the ideas evaluated negatively can appeal the decision until May 11. Among the things evaluated were compliance with current laws, the indicated location of the project, as well as the time and estimated cost of implementing the project. If in the course of verification it turned out that the project required changes, the office staff contacted the authors of the project. If no agreement could be reached on the proposed modifications, the idea was evaluated negatively.
rainbow in front of offices
photo: Zboralski / Wikimedia Commons
Among those assessed negatively was the "Let's unravel Warsaw!" project submitted by members of the Homokomando initiative. As part of the project, valued at PLN 250,000.00, rainbow flags were to appear in front of the capital's offices in June - the month of equality. As the authors of the idea point out, the presence of flags in front of city buildings in various districts was to make LGBTIA people feel comfortable throughout the city, not just in the center.
no to rainbows on zbawix
The main element of the project, however, is the return of the iconic installation. A rainbow was to be erected again in Savior Square. The installation was to be made of metal and non-flammable materials, and its inauguration was also to coincide with the Warsaw Equality Parade. However, it turns out that officials did not allow the project to be voted on. According to them, the implementation of the project carries the risk of claims of infringement of copyright and subsidiary rights, which belong to the artist and the Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle.
There will be an appeal
Homokomando calls the decision absurd, pointing out that the idea is not to build a replica of the old rainbow, but a new and permanent installation based on a new design. The initiators of the idea also point to other similar installations that have been carried out in the country for years - the "Simple Rainbow" in front of Zachêta (1991), the "Rainbow of Balloons" (2021) and the "Indestructible Rainbow" (made of water and light, 2018) on Zbawiciela Square. The originators point out that there is no contraindication to designing the installation in a way that does not infringe on the copyright of the old "Rainbow" and announce an appeal against the decision.
