Women’s routes: summer walks around the Gdańsk Shipyard (in Polish and Russian) as well as Stare and Główne Miasto (in Russian)

What did gantry crane operators do? What role did women play in the strikes? Were women proud of working in the shipyard? What did social support and cultural life in the shipyard look like? The CCI is proud to announce a new series of guided Metropolitanka walks, which show the Gdańsk Shipyard through the eyes of women gantry crane operators, engineers, cleaners and administrative workers. The walks are free of charge and take place in Polish and Russian. For more information, go to www.metropolitanka.pl.

Metropolitanka is City Culture Institute’s project highlighting the role of women in the city. Walking around the Gdańsk Shipyard, you can get to know the herstories of brave Solidarity activists and shipyard workers. There are different routes depending on the subject, focusing on female shipyard workers, working and striking, women who built ships and Solidarity legend Anna Walentynowicz. In turn, excursions around Stare and Główne Miasto allow participants to discover facts about writer Joanna Schopenhauer, postwoman Maria Selonke or pilot and speedway referee Irena Nadolny-Szatyłowska, among others.

– During our walk around the Gdańsk Shipyard, we talk about how working there influenced the lives of women. We introduce a defiant gantry crane operator, a cultural organizer, Solidarity activists and describe day-to-day life during the August 1980 Strike. Participants will also get to know anecdotes and trivia about, for instance, gardening in the Shipyard – the source of tulips and carnations distributed in the workplace on Women’s Day’, says Anna Urbańczyk from the City Culture Institute.

In summer 2019, excursions around Stare and Główne Miasto are held in Russian. The routes are designed to showcase pioneer figures and activists, strong and courageous women. Guides talk about Clara Stryowska-Baedeker, the first reformer of female clothing, Tekla Gliniecka, co-founder of the Polish amateur theatre in Gdańsk, Irena Nadolna-Szatyłowska, pilot and speedway referee, novelist Jadwiga Łuszczewska, postwoman Marianna Selonka and many other women who will allow participants to see Gdańsk from a new perspective.

Women’s Route across the Gdańsk Shipyard (in Polish): Sundays at 4 p.m., Wednesdays and Fridays (3-31 July) at 6 p.m., Wednesdays and Fridays (2 August-27 September) at 5 p.m. Starting point: Historical Gate to the Gdańsk Shipyard, Solidarności Square. Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/435165150548110/.

Women’s Route across the Gdańsk Shipyard (in Russian): Saturdays – 29 June, 27 July, 31 August, 28 September at 4 p.m. Starting point: Historical Gate to the Gdańsk Shipyard, Solidarności Square. Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/618103625339519/.

Women’s Route across Stare and Główne Miasto (in Russian): Saturdays – 6 July, 3 August, 7 September at 4 p.m. Starting point: 39/49 Długi Targ St., in front of the CCI building. Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1049143921958301/.