Collective
Everyone who meets in the barn believes that in an empathic team, where everyone has the right of presence, expression, decision and co-responsibility on equal terms, it is possible to create a community that can function outside the system and be self-sufficient. There are no compromises and consensus, there is agreement. There is no money, but an exchange of what is needed. There is recycling and what nature gives us.
Our keepers of the fire
Monika Braid
There is no better day than the one that begins with sunrise, and then when the dew is dry, you go to the meadow by the barn to gather herbs. This is my dream and after years of art and film projects, where my main task was to manage the ego and nurture the creative imagination of my friends, I meet them here in the meadow. Here, in the periphery, with no audience, we are there for one another. I feel that the revolution begins at heart, I am not looking for it elsewhere, but in myself. To make changes, you ought to be strong. I believe in breathing, plants, and the energy of my circle of friends.
Hubert Bożek
Philosopher, teacher, radical gardener-arborist
There will be no revolution. Capitalism and systemic violence are doing well, and the world we live in is becoming uninhabitable. That is why I am interested in building my own world, "upside down", a world in which people are not treated as "resources", where no one manages anyone, where caring for other people (human and non-human) replaces caring for a parking space outside a block of flats. I like trees. The wild ones that grow on the barrow near the forest and those that we have tamed. Mirosława, Thelma, Louise, Galahad, Czesia and Iwka. And those we are just getting tamed. If you want to find out what I'm talking about, you have to come to us.
I also like dogs. Very much. And deer, wild boars, pheasants and cats that visit us (in this order).
Dominika Bremer
I work with people in a homelessness crisis on a daily basis. I spend my free time on activism and social activities. Besides, I'm learning to play the drums. I love swimming and cycling. I treat my head in meetings with friends.
For years I have been associated with the Węgajty Theater, which is located in one of the villages of Warmia. This is the Barn Theatre. It was there that I learned about social theatre and allowed myself to experience what I watch. I saw what it means to participate and trust. I met extraordinary people with whom I am friends until today. Perhaps, this is where the faith that I place in the social and revolutionary strength of the Barn comes from - as a place of honest relationships between people, thinking about possible utopias, which we try to implement in our everyday practices.
With friends from the KONTRA / BANDA foundation, we regularly organize workshops and events for the local community of the Kowiesy commune in the Łódź Voivodeship.
Privately, I believe that the world can be better, and that change can be made from below, with the participation of all those who experience daily prejudice, discrimination and subordination. If we disagree with it together, social change will take place.
Dominika Opyrchał
An English philologist and psychologist by education with a love for punk rock and, in the distant past, playing the bass guitar. From the moment I came into contact with qi gong and tai chi, a hope sprouted in me that there was a possible way of physical, mental and emotional self-improvement through which one could influence the environment. It is surprising how much can be achieved by focusing on your own breath, how much peace, acceptance and strength can be radiated outward. How much can be learned and rediscovered by slowing down, stopping. I guess we need it now, stop, stop rushing towards the abyss, look inside ourselves, what is it all about? Where do we want to go? Why do we destroy so much around ourselves - the relationships, the environment of which we are inseparable? It seems to me that the practice of qi gong and tai chi opens or unblocks certain regions within ourselves that we have forgotten that bring us closer to the point. Crooked Barn is for me such an oasis and an incubator in which this philosophy can develop, flourish and come in ever wider circles through joint practice.
Freya
Freya is one of us. A wild dog from the forest, tamed by people from the city, who thanks to her go wild a bit. She teaches empathy, sensitivity and kindness. She likes rolling in leaves, playing tag, scratching behind the ear and sausages.
