What next for one of Krakow's most unusual villas? The dispute over the future of Kossakówka is not only a discussion about new functions of the historic architecture, but above all about the creation of new, city-forming spaces. Kossakówka in the hands of MOCAK has a chance to become the headquarters of the Museum of Art History. But will this concept of the city give the forgotten villa a new life?
idyllic haven in ruins
The pre-war Kossakówka was perhaps the strangest house in Krakow. The white old-fashioned two-story mansion stood in the shade of centuries-old trees, as in Rychter-Janowska's paintings, full of a peculiar charm. The house, or rather two houses, from the outside as well as the inside, irregular, cobbled together from different parts, with floors, stairs, rooms of different levels, surrounded by isthmuses and paths, all immersed in greenery. The interiors are gloomy due to trees pressing against the windows, discreet lights from under heavy lampshades, portraits in antique frames and family photographs blackened with old age, Empire, Biedermeier and Louis Philippe style furniture. In addition to the representative salon downstairs, decorated with the best canvases of Adalbert and charming fans of Julius, other rooms small, full of some nooks, alcoves, balconies, floors creaking with every step. From the corridor led to the first floor wooden stairs, steep, narrow, twisted, led to the rooms of the sisters.They resembled chocolate boxes or doll's rooms, with rose-colored walls with curtains, white lacquered furniture, dressing tables, dressing tables, armchairs upholstered in flowery moleskin, everywhere an abundance of trinkets, trays, pillows, aLilka's bed [that's what Maria was called by those closest to her] huge, how faint and petite her figure must have been in its sumptuous edredons and satins. From the balcony wooden steps led to the garden.
This is how Zofia Starowieyska-Morstinowa, a writer and journalist for Tygodnik Powszechny, wrote about the villa. For decades, art and architectural historians, well-known artists and writers have commented on the beginning of the end of this historic building. The history of the neo-Gothic mansion has been written on the pages of history, first of all, since it became the home of the Kossak family in 1869, and soon afterwards the artist's studio of Wojciech Kossak. The manor house was divided into two parts, the one for women and the one for men. Surrounded by a garden, it was a place for artists' work, numerous meetings, balls. It was teeming with life. Is this life likely to return to Kossakowka?
Willa Kossakówka / fot.Agnieszka Mazur, WikiCommons
Rafał Podraza, a descendant of the Kossak painter clan, talks to the Dzieje.pl portal about the history of the conflict that went on for years over the building. After the villa was purchased by the city, do the descendants of the family believe that the creation of a museum is a chance to bring the architecture back to life?
The whole war over Kossakówka was unleashed when Wojciech's children began to die. No one there saw to the end of inheritance matters. Suddenly there were people from France who thought they had rights to the house. Pushback began, more and more people reached out for the building. That's why I think to myself that what has happened now is the best possible solution for the villa. If it has been taken care of by the museum, which is a state institution, I hope that it will bring the place to order. I hope that no one will come up with the idea of painting over the evidence of Maria and Magdalena's presence in their rooms. When Madzia and Maria were adolescent girls, they would write requests to St. Anthony on the wall, offering him either two or five zlotys. I remember, I was a few years old, when I saw a sign in Kossakówka saying "Saint Anthony, 5 zlotys if TO comes at the right time." I had no idea what this TO was. Only later did I learn that it was about women's issues. Such things, such color of the house, should be saved from oblivion.
A war for architecture, or a war for memory?
While many believe that any new function for the deteriorating building is better than letting it be forgotten, there is a war of words and Facebook posts in the media about the idea of establishing a MOCAK branch there. Following the publication of a statement by MOCAK's director regarding the new function and use of the building's space for the Museum of Art History, there have been claims that this plan is disrespectful to the family's heritage. According to many, including Krakow councilors, Kossakówka should be the Kossak Museum.
Kossakówka is a great challenge. A patchwork villa has been entered in the register of monuments, in light of architectural criteria devoid of cultural value. (...) in the case of Kossakówka, the monument is not the physical objects, but the myth of the Kossak family. So the fundamental task is how and by what means the myth can be secured. Contrary to appearances, it is not a good solution to submissively recreate the conditions of the past. Such an approach quickly turns the myth into a historical dummy. -- explains MOCAK's director, Maria Anna Potocka, explaining the concept for the establishment of the Museum of Art History.
Voices of opposition to MOCAK's plans are at the forefront of the opinion of Councilman Michal Drewnicki. He was the first to demand in a public statement that the Kossaks' legacy be turned over to the Museum of Krakow to prevent MOCAK's activities. He has also created a project, which at the end of May is expected to settle what the will of residents is towards the fate of the mansion. What kind of space does the city need? Is it this historic dummy commemorating the art of the Kossaks? Or perhaps a vibrant facility, open to contemporary culture? Without belittling the splendor of history, does Krakow need another dead space, a monument full of memorabilia? The Kossak family house was distinguished above all by its role in culture, as a salon of the city, a meeting place for artists and residents.
Source: Facebook Kossakówka
Another argument of opponents of the MOCAK idea, is the suspicion of a possible plan to demolish part of the villa. Meanwhile, the planned renovation will take place under the watchful eye of conservationists. Neither the city nor MOCAK has yet shared architectural plans and visualizations of the project to modernize the building. All we know is that the plan for a modern, functional museum includes expanding the space, not demolishing it.
photo: National Digital Archive
home alive as before
An important commentary on this public discussion of the villa's new function comes from adescendant of the family, Rafal Podraza. When the director of MOCAK announced the use of the villa as part of the museum she directs, which will also feature modern works of art and not just memorabilia, the journalist, in an interview with the dzieje.pl portal, replied:
I think it's a good idea, because I wouldn't want Kossakówka to be a dead place. This house has always been alive. I hope, however, that contemporary art will by no means dominate this, after all, one-of-a-kind, historical house, the existence of which, thanks to Samozwaniec's books, is known to almost every Pole.
"Kossakówka" has a chance to complete the museum quarter of this part of Krakow. The conflict over the fate of Kossakówka stems mainly from a difference in understanding the idea of preserving architecture and culture. What does the city and its residents really need?
