Paper short abstract:

Wolica is a former village, now within the borders of Warsaw. Wolica’s rural identity is negotiated during mass celebrations of Corpus Christi. Participants of the procession express their opposition to gentrification and urbanisation of the area, by bringing back and passing down rural traditions.

Paper long abstract:

Wolica is a former village which now lies within the borders of Warsaw, Poland. It was firstly mentioned in 15th century. It began to make its mark in the 20th century, when it was incorporated to the capital of Poland. Most of the Wolica residents, Woliczanie, were farmers who made their living by growing and selling crops in and near Warsaw. In the 1970s they were expropriated for the construction of a new housing estate. Contemporary Wolica is a micro-space embedded in the larger cultural space of the city. During my ethnographical research I discovered that despite the progressing urbanisation of Warsaw, it retained some of its rural character. Wolica’s rural identity is negotiated once a year, during mass celebrations of Corpus Christi. Both old and new inhabitants gather and take part in a procession which leads through gated communities and some fields that, surprisingly, survived the urbanisation. Altars, adorned with flowers, are being built in front of modern housing estates built on Woliczanie’s fields. Using Tim Ingold’s concept of lines, along which life extends, I will argue that this religious procession became a middle ground, which enables communication between Woliczanie and new inhabitants. It plays a crucial role in the process of retaining past Wolica’s traditions, which are being passed down to new inhabitants. This public ritual allows its participants to express their opposition to gentrification and urbanisation of the area. It is a symbolic, yet much-needed form of resistance, which can only be witnessed only once a year.