Strike is a visual record of the protests that began across Poland on October 22, 2020, and which persisted in various forms over the ensuing months.
The Strike book by Rafał Milach is the result of the artist’s collaboration with other artists and writers. Publication is accompanied by critical texts by visual culture researchers, journalists and activists (Iwona Kurz, Karolina Gembara, Aleksandra Boćkowska), graphic for the cover of the book is designed by Ola Jasionowska, the graphic designer behind the visual identification of the Women’s Strike (Strajk Kobiet) protest movement and its logo of a red lighting bolt.
The publication channels the spirit of intervention, solidarity, and aid. Part of the proceeds from sales of the edition will be donated to organizations fighting for women’s rights.
Since 2015, the Polish people have taken to the streets to protest changes in abortion laws, climate change, the politicization of the judiciary, LGBTQ rights."
In a second text, Aleksandra Boćkowska chronicles the personal reflections of some of the participants of protests in Kartuzy, Lubaczów, Warsaw, and Kraków.
Since 2019, Milach, together with sixteen fellow photographers, has been a co-creator of the Archive of Public Protests (APP), a platform for gathering documentation of social actions and grassroots initiatives that have opposed political decisions executed in violation of principles of democracy and human rights. Strike is a piece of this archive.
