Trade

On the eastern edge of 'old europe' lies a deregulated strip astride the Polish Ukrainian border. And it is here that traders, traffickers and smugglers from all over the previous Soviet Block congregate. It was formerly the first zone with access to a convertible 'hard' currency.

In the early years of 'free' trade -the 1990's- these fledgling merchants brought their own belongings to sell; after accumulating a small amount of capital they progressed to supplying goods made from their home states - hopelessly cast tractor parts, blunt saw blades, terrible plastic bowls and the like. The outward flow of home-made products and the resulting exchange of currency, slowly enabled the production and distribution of local goods to be replaced with the manufacture of commodities already available in markets further west.

Tentative ribbons of trade hardened into complex supply chains; small objects with a high unit price - software, audio CD's, DVD's, watches, 'branded' or electronic goods are favored; all those things where there is a lot of value in a small space.

In keeping with the texture of this border zone, the market in Przemysl -as though in a caricature of all markets everywhere- only deals in surrogate goods, nothing is ever as it seems. All manner of 'brand', 'label' or copyright designs are available, some closer to the authentic examples than others. Stolen software code and unauthorized cloning, jostle with 'Mike' trainers and 'Addidos' sports clothing, as subtly altered branded goods merge with the carelessly copied. And the market, like the goods it trades, is provisional. Regular merchants hire the 'sharks', lockable corrugated steel containers to store, display and sell goods from. Novice tradeers utilise the display space offered by unfolding a camping bed, their stock stored in bags made from nylon grain sacks, and the whole 'shop' is attached to trolley wheels with elastic 'bungee' straps; the essence of trade encapsulated.

For all its rudimentary nature, the market in Przemysl collapses down two of the architectural models bequeathed to Europe by its classical heritage. The forum, a space intended for the exchange of goods and services is the root of the commerce itself, by conducting trade in a little used football stadium the market also appropriates the amphitheatre, the space of public spectacle. And it's here that Przemysl excels, it unconsciously connects the ancient roots of trade, with its modern incarnation as popular entertainment.

Buy the book/catalogue Trade: Wares, Ways and Values in World Trade Today Published by Scalo, Germany ISBN 3-908247-53-5 at Artwords

and visit Fotomuseum Winterthur