Untitled - Narodowe Centrum Kultury

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Small
Railway
of Great
Ideas
Small Railway of Great Ideas
is a project of the Culture
and Civic Initiative Centre in
Podkowa Leśna. The Podkowa
Leśna station of the Warsaw
Commuter Railway plays host
to various educational and
cultural events: meetings,
exhibitions, workshops and
performances. The project aims
to promote the local cultural
heritage of the WKD/EKD
railway and bring together
refugees from the Office for
Foreigners Centre in Dębak
and the local community.
T
he direct inspiration for the
project was the 10th anniversary
of the establishment of
the Warsaw Commuter Railway (WKD) as
a separate company and the motto of this
year’s European Heritage Days – “Milestones”.
The WKD was a major milestone in
the development of Warsaw suburbs and was
vital for sustainable development as automobile
traffic was partly replaced with railway
transport. The WKD became part of the fabric
of daily life. It is also tied into the customs
and culture of people living in the towns and
villages along its route. In Otrębusy a multicultural
crowd of Dębak residents gets on
and off the train every day. They are a familiar
sight for both the students of the Podkowa
Leśna school, where they study together,
and train passengers who commute daily
to Warsaw. While on the train, you can observe
their habits and dress and listen to
their language.
the project
The WKD station in Podkowa Leśna played
host to most events of the first part of the
project, including an exhibition that traced
the history of the WKD railway as well as
its planned, completed and current connections.
One of the exhibits was a model with
moving trains and stations. One could also
listen to a story about the history of the railway,
watch a presentation of historic photos,
get a brochure about the history of EKD
(Electrical Commuter Railway, as the railway
was originally known), the Museum and the
EKD Lovers Society. In addition, model-making
workshops and a plein-air painting session
were held. The paining session, called
Voyage, was geared to children from Podkowa
Leśna and Dębak. The works made
during the session, along with those which
received awards in a competition held by
Podkowa Leśna schools, were on view at the
railway station exhibition and in the local Casino
Palace. Children went to visit the Electric
Commuter Railway Museum in Grodzisk.
On October 14, the WKD station in
Podkowa Leśna hosted We Keep on Travelling
the World, a multicultural integrative