Check out the A&B portal!

Artists from Poland and the Netherlands join forces in Gdynia!

13 of October '22

The Biennale of Design and Urban Art in Gdynia, organized by Traffic Design, will leave lasting traces in the urban space. We can already admire two projects that are the result of cooperation between Polish and Dutch artists, and this is just the beginning.

After the part of the Design and Urban Art Biennale related to meetings, film screenings or workshops, the organizers, together with the participants, went out into the urban space with their activities. The result of this cooperation are two diverse realizations located in Gdynia. These are the first two projects resulting from the Biennale.

recycled bas-relief

The first installation, which can be seen in public space, is the relief "Comb," whose authors are artists gathered in the collective The New Raw , which works daily in Rotterdam. The collective focuses primarily on designing and creating utilitarian elements from recycled materials.

"Comb" by The New Raw collective

© Traffic Design

"Comb" was created from plastic made from mooring ropes and nets fished from the sea. The relief was produced and transported from TNR's workshop in the Netherlands. The abstract form was located at 15 Polska St. In addition to the placement of the sculpture, the biennial hosted a meeting with the authors from The New Raw. In Gdynia, Panos Sakkas and Foteini Setaki talked about their work during the meeting.

The abstract form was located at 15 Polska Street

The abstract form was located at 15 Polska Street

© Traffic Design

mural in a coastal climate

The second realization is the result of Polish-Dutch cooperation. The mural, about fifty meters long, was created in cooperation with Studio Thonik. The realization can be admired at Kadlubowców street, in the space of Gdynia's port.

Mural powstał we współpracy Traffic Design ze Studiem Thonik

The mural was created in cooperation between Traffic Design and Studio Thonik

© Traffic Design

Starting our cooperation with the Dutch studio, we wanted the project to refer to the shipbuilding history of the city. We were pleased by the suggestion that instead of ship or street names, we should treat the task in an indirect way: with a reference to Nick Cave's song "The ship song," which treats the title ship in a completely metaphorical way," says Monika Domanska of Traffic Design.

Fernhout, or the font, is a typeface by Amsterdam-based art collective Thonik, used in the visual identity of Dutch Design Week. The typeface is based on a 1963 typographic poster design, directly referencing the typeface created by Wim Crouwel.

Realizacje można podziwiać przy ulicy Kadłubowców, na przestrzeni gdyńskiego portu

The realization can be admired on Hull street, in the space of Gdynia's port

© Traffic Design

beginning of

The first two Polish projects, which are also the result of cooperation and meeting between Polish and Dutch artists, are only the beginning of the realizations related to the Biennale of Design and Urban Art. The next projects to be found in Gdynia's urban space will be introduced over the next few weeks. Artists associated with Traffic Design, but also the Swiss studio Feixen, Ukrainian artist Ollia Hordiienko or Blanka Byrwa will be involved in their creation. The realizations will be located in Gdynia's Grabówka district.

compiled by Wiktor Bochenek

The vote has already been cast

INSPIRATIONS