No Holds Barred: How the Bicycle Reshaped Warsaw's Urban Life and Social Landscape

This exhibition explores the multifaceted role of the bicycle in Warsaw's history and urban development. It examines cycling not just as a mode of transportation but as a technology that shapes daily practices, influences body perception, and alters how the city is experienced, highlighting its historical and contemporary significance.

The exhibition "No Holds Barred. How the Bicycle is Changing Warsaw" delves into the bicycle's significant and often paradoxical place in Warsaw's history for over 150 years. It presents the bicycle as a groundbreaking invention that, despite being a transitional technology between walking and motorized transport, has continuously re-emerged as a tool for urban change and renewal. The exhibition showcases the bicycle as more than just a means of transport, but as a technology that influences daily practices, affects the experience of the body, and shapes perceptions of the city. Cycling is explored as both a historical and contemporary phenomenon, with its meanings evolving and sometimes conflicting across different periods, often tied to various visions of modernity. The exhibition covers themes such as mobility as a cultural experience, emancipation, and the role of cycling in the material culture and social and political landscape of the city. It traces the origins of cycling in Warsaw from the late 19th century, the rise of cycling journalism, and the cultural impact of events like the Peace Race. Special attention is given to the bicycle as a tool for emancipation, enabling greater autonomy for workers, women, and migrants, thereby transforming relationships between work and leisure, and private and public spheres. It also touches upon Warsaw's bicycle industry before 1939 and the bicycle's role in physical and sensory experiences of urban mobility. Furthermore, the exhibition examines the bicycle's function as a medium of communication, from early couriers to modern food delivery workers, and its contemporary political dimension as a symbol and tool for change in urban policies and discussions about the future of Warsaw.

Ticket prices are 15 PLN for a regular ticket and 10 PLN for a reduced ticket. On Thursdays, tickets are available for 1 PLN. You can purchase tickets online.