“Rain of leaflets” installation

A “rain of leaflets” descends from the prison pavilion's highest level to the ground floor, connecting three levels of an account of martial law. Freedom of speech is the installation's central theme. A specially prepared soundtrack features authentic radio announcements from the period. The arrangement uses the space of former Pavilion XII, where opposition activists were held after 13 December 1981.

The surrounding exhibition moves from the hopes preceding martial law, through internment, to the experiences of Mokotów's political prisoners. The internment level displays letters, personal belongings and documents; on the top level, figures of prisoners stand beside closed cell doors. Periscopes fitted in the door peepholes show quotations from the authorities about those they persecuted and the actions of the state apparatus. The paper installation connects this account with tools of independent communication also displayed in the exhibition: a suitcase duplicator and a Radio Solidarność transmitter.