" Solidarity", "Solidarność", "Solidarity with Solidarność", these words resonated powerfully in the 1980s, as revealed by the photographs, films, posters, flags, banners, leaflets, postcards, badges, newspaper and book pages that bear witness to this international infatuation with Solidarnosc. At once a labor movement and a national movement, expressed in the form of a struggle for the democratization of society, Solidarność and its cause engendered one of the greatest international mobilizations. How was the Solidarność experience, which focused the world's attention, lived? What does this solidarity mean in terms of the journeys of those who shared it? What memories did this historic moment leave behind?

The Solidarność years also left their mark on my own life. I belong to a generation lulled by the hopes and aspirations of August 1980. Those 80s, which gave birth to the changes that occurred in Poland and then throughout Europe, also had an impact on my trajectory. It was therefore with great pleasure that I took part in the research project, led at the University of Geneva by Professor Irène Herrmann, around the concept and practices of solidarity in the final phase of the Cold War, in order to explore the perception of Solidarność in Switzerland.

This exhibition is essentially a presentation of some of the results of this research. Based on the "Solidarność" phenomenon, the exhibition traces the trajectories of commitment in Switzerland to the movement and to Polish society in the 1980s. It questions the concept of "solidarity", which enables awareness of the links uniting the individual to his or her community.

This exhibition is a dialogue between memory, the memory of witnesses and archives, and a historian whose interpretation only comes later, as a sort of voice-over. It's a deliberate choice to give pride of place to memory, to the actors of the past.

As my gratitude to those involved in this mobilisation in support of Solidarność, who generously shared their experience of this period and their archives, goes far beyond mere words of gratitude, it is to these people, whose names appear at the head of my acknowledgements, that the exhibition is dedicated; not forgetting all the others, who took part in this mobilisation in support of Solidarność but whose names have remained anonymous. I remain hopeful that their example will continue to inspire all those who are sensitive to the world around them, strong in the conviction that there are always moments to be present at, causes to get involved in, all those special events in which we take part and which also make us who we are.

Renata Latała, curator of the exhibition

Geneva, the 13th of December 2023