Article
In the face of the radicalization of public debate and the lack of political will to support refugees during current crisis, Senior Fellow Paulina Milewska wanted to create pretexts for meetings and give people the opportunity to better understand one another. Her Action Project, Conflict Kitchen (Kuchnia Konfliktu), is a socially-involved restaurant co-created with refugees which serves dishes from those regions which are currently in the midst of war.
While society is facing xenophobia and hate speech targeting refugees, refugees struggle to find a job on the labor market. Conflict Kitchen introduces them to people that aim to help and want to understand different cultures. The ever-changing menu includes dishes from different parts of the world. In this project initiative is accompanied by educational and cultural programs prepared by an international team. Each order comes with a personal history of an individual with migration experience, information on the political situation in a given region or interesting facts related to culture, art and social life.
Conflict Kitchen is primarily a social enterprise – the basis for an integration of the foreigners with the inhabitants of Warsaw.
Those different perspectives reflect the diversity of each country and contribute to the conversations and discussions with guests. During lectures, workshops and film screenings residents of Warsaw have a great chance of gaining deeper and better understandings about current events of the country. For foreigners who co-create the project it is an opportunity to get to know Polish culture and to establish close relations in a friendly professional space. By proposing fair terms of employment and training Conflict Kitchen is giving newcomers a better and safer start on the Polish labor market.
Conflict Kitchen exemplifies that you do not have to be indifferent about growing xenophobia and hate speech.