Karta Polaka / Carta Polaca, 2019 - ongoing
On September 7th 2007, the Polish parliament approved an act that established the Karta Polaka (Pole's card). This document confirms its holders, ethnic Poles primarily from the former Soviet Union, belonging to Poland. It provides a list of social benefits if they come to live, work or study in Poland. Notwithstanding, it does not mean that these Poles are granted Polish citizenship and their respective rights. As a result of this, the Polish government created a new type of 'Polishness'.
Karta Polaka is a homonym for Carta Polaca, which means 'Polish letter' in Spanish. Being Spanish of Polish origin, I use my writing to create a parallel narrative between Poland and Spain. In my project, I combine image and text. Both are essential elements of storytelling. The letters are inspired by the voyages from The Star Diaries written by Stanisław Lem. They keep the original structure of The Star Diaries. The numerical order is not crucial because the narration in time and space is never linear.
This project received partial funding - Step Travel Grant - from the European Cultural Foundation and Compagnia di San Paolo.
