During the drought the road is dry
Bartosz Panek
During the drought the road is dry was produced by Bartosz Panek. It features the voices of Jan Gola (Poręby village), Magda Maksimiuk (film critic), Paulina Mirowska and Ola Czerniawska (activists from Earth Strike), Anna Andrzejewska (hydrologist, Kampinoski National Park), Wiktor Kotowski (wetland ecologist, University of Warsaw), Ewa Rudnicka (linguist, University of Warsaw). Jess Shane and Michelle Macklem provided editorial support on behalf of Constellations.
Bartosz writes:
“Susza wywarła wielkie spustoszenie” (the drought has exerted havoc)— this sentence is one of the best known in Polish cinematography. In the movie Rejs by Marek Piwowski, where it appears, it means almost nothing but creating a kind of surrealistic situation.
But “The drought has wreacked havoc” is real now. I explored the language we use and used to describe lack of water/dryness/heat. It's a new situation many of us face for the first time in our lives. The language didn't change at all, but some old words put in a new context begin to resonate.
TRANSCRIPT
[0:00 - 0:06]
During the drought the road is dry.
[0:18 – 0:24]
During the drought the road is dry.
[0:29 – 0:35]
During the drought the road is dry.
[0:46 – 0:47]
Can you see the drought?
[0:48 – 1:08 ]
So you know... in a place like this, it will be seen over there...Take a look there, up there: dryness has just appeared. So it’s visible.
If the whole area of the grass here is burned by the sky, it’s obvious there’s drought.
[1:15 – 1:44]
Nope! It's not so bad now.
In my backyard I have a garden with some vegetables, and it was visible there too. You just need to dig your finger into the soil and you know if it’s dry or humid. So when the vegetation started in May and June, there was a kind of crisis. But not now.
[2:55 – 3:08]
Damned deck chair. The drought wreaked great havoc. Raspberry season is almost over…
[5:41 – 5:50]
Sasha is treading down a dry road,
He can hardly walk, that’s foreboding.
The heat is pouring out of the sky,
During the drought the road is dry.[15:20 – 15:27]
Dry across, dry out, dry over, totally dry...
Inspirations:
Vivaldi's "Four seasons" - just to make sure what we are loosing, also the recomposed Max Richter's version.
Pieces for viola da gamba by Marain Marais - deep and low sound of the viola show sadness, anxiety and concern
This painting by Józef Chełmoński
Nokturn (Graboszyce) - a series by Rafał Bujowski, monochromatic paintings exploring the power of nature in contemporary times
"Rejs" is really an important point of reference for many people in Poland.
Shoutouts:
a field recording unit at the University of Wrocław
centre for contemporary experimental art in Wrocław
Bęc Zmiana Foundation for art, design, and urban living
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw which organized this year an exhibition about climate change in the visual arts