After a gap of years, two new monuments stood in Poznań this year. Both figural, both legitimate. They waited a long time to be implemented. The commemoration of the expelled Greaterpolanders was controversial both artistically and emotionally. The Witch monument offended some with its subject matter. It stood, moreover, for only two months. Will it return?
Typical for Poland, the monumentalism in the last decade avoided Poznań. This is because the city has protected itself from the onslaught of occasional committees attempting to erect unsuccessful sculptures or installations. All thanks to the so-called monument resolution approved by councilors in 2014, which quite precisely defined the procedure by which decisions on erecting new monuments can be made. Basically, a professional competition for their form must be held.
Previously, it was enough for councilors to agree to the proposed location of a monument, and after that (with the exception of conservation comments in some parts of the city) there was no longer any sieve to stop unsuccessful sculptures or compositions. The monument resolution was the aftermath of a 2013 debate on monuments arranged by the Open initiative. The debate, in turn, was a reaction to the proliferation of ideas for bizarre commemorations, led by the rebuilding of the monumental Christ the King statue and a caricatured sculpture of Paderewski playing something like a keyboard.
debate on monuments, organization: the Open initiative, September 2013 - the meeting took place within the monument to the Army of Poznan
source: FB /Open
team, horse and emotions
According to the resolution, a team for erecting monuments was also established (its composition is renewed each term of the local government), which reviews applications and the preliminary concept of the sculpture or block (if the committee provides it). Only if the members of the team consider the submitted work to be of artistic merit can they recommend abandoning the competition. The need for opinions and the requirements imposed on committees have inhibited the erection of new monuments, and the "pushing" of already finished sculptures to the City.
Monument to the Expelled Wielkopolans, Poznan, designed by Karol Badyna - close-up on the figural part of the composition, with the residential and office complex on Towarowa Street in the background
photo: Jakub Głaz
However, the provisions of the resolution did not solve all the problems, especially those that were and are derived from strong emotions. This includes the case of the monument to the Expelled Wielkopolans, designed by Karol Badyna (the "Forma" sculpture studio from Krakow). It was unveiled on November 5, the 85th anniversary of the first expulsions, after more than a decade of effort. The authorities had already designated the site for the monument in 2014: near the Central Station, on the edge of Marcinkowski Park, at the intersection of Powstańców Wielkopolskich and Towarowa streets - by one of the pedestrian routes leading from the station to the center. Then, however, artistic, procedural and - perhaps above all - emotional problems began to pile up.
Monument to the Expelled Wielkopolans, Poznań, designed by Karol Badyna - view of the "reverse" of the monument from Towarowa Street, with Marcinkowskiego Park and the Nowy RYnek office complex in the background
photo: jakub Głaz
The monument was awaited by families of Poles, associated in two associations, who were expelled from the city and the region by the German authorities primarily in 1939 and 1940. Understandably, the most active were seniors approaching old age who had experienced these forced evictions as children. The evictions were very severe: surprised residents were given a quarter of an hour to pack up essential and low-cost belongings. From Greater Poland, which was incorporated into the Reich, they were deported to the General Government (without being provided with housing there).
Before that, however, the expellees were sent for hard winter weeks or even months to a resettlement camp in Poznań's outlying district of Główna. Using this stage (or without it), the Germans resettled several hundred thousand Greater Poland residents. Their apartments, houses and movables were taken over by Germans from the depths of the Reich or "repatriated" so-called Baltendeustche (Germans from Latvia and Estonia - incorporated into the USSR in 1940). Poles were also displaced within Greater Poland, e.g., to inferior housing or barracks (so-called " internal rugosities").
not enough drama
There were three approaches to building the monument . In 2016, the monument team agreed to abandon the competition and pursue a proposal by Jaroslaw Mączka. His concept depicted a small, blanket-covered girl against the backdrop of a cracked obelisk. However, the proposal submitted by one of the associations was successfully protested by the other association. The form was said to be too undramatic and not to depict the tragedy of the expellees.
Monument to the Expelled Wielkopolans, Poznań, - the first and ultimately rejected proposal by Jaroslaw Mączka
source: gloswielkopolski.pl
So a competition financed by the City took place. It took place two years later, but only two awards (no prizes) were given. According to the jury, the proposed forms seemed too distant from the idea being commemorated. The communitiesagain lacked emotion and dramatic overtones. In fact, the first of the awarded works, although formally successful, referred to the shape of an air raid shelter, which has little connection to the expulsions. The second honorable mention: the form showing a broken table covered with a tablecloth handled the symbolism better, but turned out to be "too small" for such an important topic.
Monument to the Expelled Wielkopolans, honorable mention in the first competition - designed by: Michał Gdak, Otylia Śleziak, Ewelina Gdak
source: poznan.pl
Monument to the Expelled Greater Poland Region, honorable mention in the first competition - designed by: Zbigniew Mikielewicz
source: poznan.pl
Piotr Libicki, a member of the monument team (also in his capacity as presidential plenipotentiary for the aesthetics of the City) commented on the matter hotly:
The important question is to whom this monument is to be directed. After the debate on the subject, I get the impression that it is to cater primarily to circles that have been experienced by history, and not necessarily to tell the story to new generations.
So another competition was held, in which the more literal work just mentioned and realized won. The description reads:
Suspended over the rising "road", the monument to the expelled Greater Poland residents is an attempt to show two phenomena. On the one hand, the mental state of people who have to leave their home at a moment's notice, and on the other, the nightmare and terrifying fact of expulsion and placing people in crowded freight cars.
Monument to the Expelled Wielkopolans, Poznań, designed by Karol Badyna - view towards Towarowa Street
photo: Jakub Głaz
skate monument?
To some extent, the form of the figural monument harmonizes with this description and - from a workshop point of view - generally seems correct, although conservative. At the same time, however, it is a bit too literal and prone to unwanted interpretations. "Suspension" of the figure above the "road" is too reminiscent of scenes of mass executions on the gallows. Finally, the motif of the road slumped upwards shows how important it is to recognize and feel the context in these types of cases . Two hundred meters away, in the same park, there is an extensive skate park, whose ramps are confusingly reminiscent of the monumental form.
Monument to the Expelled Wielkopolans, Poznań, designed by Karol Badyna - boards informing about the expulsions standing next to the monument, with the New Market office complex in the background
photo: Jakub Glaz
Thus, Poznań gained an important monument, better than several other specimens erected after 1990, but at the same time far from the perfection of perhaps the best post-war monument dedicated to the Poznań Army (designed by Anna Rodzińska and Józef Iwiański). Completed in 1982, the composition is also narrative, but operates with abstract forms, and its embedding in its surroundings seems downright perfect. It is worth noting at the same time that it would probably not be possible to realize it today. Veterans of September 1939 were unlikely to like the conventional form. Only that more than 40 years ago, artistic and architectural values (political, of course, also) were more important during the decision-making process, and emotional values were less important.
burned for beer
The tragic, albeit distant in time, event was also commemorated this year by a monument to the Witch, which stood in the Old Warta River Park, near Chwaliszewo, a part of downtown Poznań that was a separate episcopal city until the 18th century. This idea also waited a long time to come to fruition, although efforts were less intense. The idea of commemorating Poland's first woman burned at the stake in 1511 for "witchcraft" (allegedly spoiling brewed beer) came eight years ago from Ewa Łowżył, a photographer, cultural animator and co-founder of KontenerART, a place also located on Chwaliszewo that has a lot of merit in the return of urban life to the river.
In 2016, Łowżył dedicated an art performance to an unnamed woman condemned by the Chwaliszew authorities and called for the erection of a monument to her. All to draw attention to the cruelty against women and the making of victims. Decision-makers, however, did not pick up on the idea, and right-wing representatives were critical of it. Unsurprisingly, this year Dominika Kulczyk's foundation, which took over the organization of the debt-ridden Malta Festival, declared its willingness to finance and implement the statue. Kulczyk herself was said to have found that the idea resonated with the new formula of the event geared toward promoting women's achievements, culture and activism. The root of the word witch, meaning "one who has knowledge," was also not without significance.
Witch sculpture/monument, Poznań, park in the Old Warta riverbed, 09.2024 - designed by Alicja Biała, view towards the Warta River
photo: Jakub Głaz
appears and disappears
So a sculpture was commissioned from Alicja Biala, a recently popular visual artist native to Poznan, and the matter was put on an official track. Here, however, the stairs began, because - in accordance with the monument resolution - there was no way to unveil the sculpture in September, during the opening of the festival, as intended by the Kulczyk Foundation. So a formal ploy was resorted to, and the Witch was submitted as an outdoor sculpture, which is subject to a much faster review by the team for artistic objects in public space (the undersigned is a member). It worked, and the shiny steel figure stood in the park on September 7 during a fun and unpretentious opening of the festival, which managed to harken back to Malta's best years.
Witch's sculpture/monument, Poznań, park in the Old Warta riverbed, 07.09.2024 - Malta festival opening ceremony and unveiling of the monument
photo: Jakub Głaz
Popular in form and easy on the eye, the steel statue by Alicja Biala depicts a life-size female figure with somewhat conventional shapes and no detailed face. Thus conceived everywomen stood without any pedestal directly on the ground among the greenery. The mirrored shape reflected the surrounding area and passersby approaching the Witch. They were reflected because in early November the sculpture disappeared from the park.
Sculpture/monument to the Witch, Poznan, park in the Old Warta riverbed - designed by Alicja Biala, with Ostrów Tumski and cathedral towers in the background
photo: Jakub Głaz
The foundation explains that restoration work is necessary, the sculpture is currently standing at the Festival's headquarters, and "an educational program will be conducted around it." However, it fails to mention that - as a temporary art object - the Witch had to be dismantled and will now go through the formal path discussed above to become a full-fledged monument. Hence the lack of a specific date for the return of the Witch, which is ultimately to be permanently attached to the ground and accompanied by an informative plaque.
Sculpture/monument to the Witch, Poznań, park in the Old Warta Riverbed - designed by Alicja Biała, with the chimney of the Old Gasworks in the background
photo: Jakub Głaz
While the announcement of the return of an unpretentious and important sculpture may be welcomed, the formal forays raise some concerns. After all, the initiators of monuments of dubious quality, from which Poznań has managed to defend itself in recent years, may start acting in a similar manner. It is also regrettable that no serious competition was held for the monument to the Witch. The topic is very catchy and it would be interesting to see other, including less literal proposals.
