31.08.2010
AUSCHWITZWIELICZKA Sculpture by Mirosław Bałka is already at Zabłocie
AUSCHWITZWIELICZKA – the first in Poland fixed work in public space realised by the world famous artist Mirosław Bałka – in accordance with Magdalena Sroka’s announcement, director of the Krakow Festival Office, has been moved from Plac Niepodległości to near the PKP tunnel at Zabłocie. Thereby, as planned, Mirosław Bałka’s sculpture has been erected next to the Museum of Modern Art and Schindler’s Factory Museum being established.
The sculpture still awaits one small move. At the end of the construction of the nearby apartment estate and modernisation of the PKP station Krakow Zabłocie, Bałka’s work will be moved by a few metres to Lipowa Street, where a new representative city square is being constructed.
The target place of installing the sculpture was chosen by the artist himself. Aside from the closeness to the Museum of Modern Art, appropriate topographic situation is significant – sunlight entering the building is necessary to project the writing on the walls properly – as well as an attractive pedestrian path, both for the residents and tourists.
AUSCHWITZWIELICZKA is an artwork prepared last year by Mirosław Bałka – one of the most outstanding modern Polish artists – especially for the first edition of the Festival of Visual Arts, ArtBoom Tauron Festival. The realisation is an effect of personal reflections and experiences, as well as attentive observation of phenomena, which are happening in modern culture. One of the found its reflection in the announcement of a Krakow tourist office: “In eight hours you will have the opportunity to visit the concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau, and then – the beautiful salt mines in Wieliczka, which provides excellent entertainment”. For those who are going on a trip to Krakow, Auschwitz and Wieliczka seem to merge into one, indicating with its mark, “the eight-hour monument" of modern culture – a characteristic travel in its “undergrounds”.
In September last year, on the day before the opening of the Polish Culture Congress, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Bogdan Zdrojewski, ceremoniously unveiled the sculpture.
Mirosław Bałka is one of the most outstanding modern Polish artists. He lives and works in Warsaw and Otwock. His recent project – “How it is” - realised in one of the most prestigious galleries in the world, London Tate Modern – was acclaimed by the British press as “the best installation in the turbine room until now”. After the opening at Tate Modern, the British press acclaimed Bałka’s project as an artistic event of the season. “The work of the Polish artist is the best installation that has ever filled the Turbine Room (...). It’s a gloomy experience, causing confusion and a little strange. At the same time, beautiful” – The Times wrote. While “The Guardian” announced that “Mirosław Bałka’s work stands in line of the best projects to fill Turbine Hall”.
The target place of installing the sculpture was chosen by the artist himself. Aside from the closeness to the Museum of Modern Art, appropriate topographic situation is significant – sunlight entering the building is necessary to project the writing on the walls properly – as well as an attractive pedestrian path, both for the residents and tourists.
In September last year, on the day before the opening of the Polish Culture Congress, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Bogdan Zdrojewski, ceremoniously unveiled the sculpture.
Mirosław Bałka is one of the most outstanding modern Polish artists. He lives and works in Warsaw and Otwock. His recent project – “How it is” - realised in one of the most prestigious galleries in the world, London Tate Modern – was acclaimed by the British press as “the best installation in the turbine room until now”. After the opening at Tate Modern, the British press acclaimed Bałka’s project as an artistic event of the season. “The work of the Polish artist is the best installation that has ever filled the Turbine Room (...). It’s a gloomy experience, causing confusion and a little strange. At the same time, beautiful” – The Times wrote. While “The Guardian” announced that “Mirosław Bałka’s work stands in line of the best projects to fill Turbine Hall”.
