Rainbow installation leaving Warsaw square

The steel rainbow adorned with flowers, which has come to be recognised as a symbol of solidarity with the LGBT community, is to be sited at one of the capital’s cultural institutions, the city council’s press office has announced.

The step is to be taken by the end of the year, once the contract signed between the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, which owns the sculpture, and the city of Warsaw expires.

The work of artist Julita Wójcik, which was first unveiled in Brussels to commemorate Poland’s EU presidency, was erected at Warsaw’s Zbawiciela Square in 2012, attracting criticism over its placement in front of a local church.

The sculpture, intended to symbolize tolerance, has been torched on several occasions by opponents of equal rights for sexual minorities.

Last year’s opinion poll commissioned by the Batory Foundation and the Media Fund has shown that over 60 percent of the respondents support the siting of the rainbow sculpture in Warsaw. Nearly just as many consider setting fire to the artwork “a mindless act of hooliganism.” (aba/rg)