Gdansk. Look at the winning entry of the competition announced for the design of the city centre underpass: a mural inspired by the history of the city
In the best traditions of Gdansk School of Mural or Street Art, a competition was announced for the arrangement of the underpass in the city centre. The winner was
a mural inspired by the history of our town.
The work of David Celek from Wroclaw won the first prize.
Photo: ZDIZ
His design is a mural inspired by the rich history of Gdansk, but in such a way, that it also leaves room for the present. It draws a passer-by to the graphic representations of some of the city historical sites. The composition consists of copies of old drawings of the city, including images of the immediate neighbourhood, interspersed with characteristic Gdansk portal entrances to the buildings.
Using the images of old, decorative doors as part of the mural, restores the human scale and city cosiness to the "cold" underpass and creates a friendly atmosphere. The subject matter of paintings presents pedestrians with the history of the city and areas surrounding the underpass, and draws attention to the fact that this place once belonged strictly to the tight urban centre. A passer-by is immediately surrounded by the atmosphere of old, narrow-street medieval Gdansk.
It should be noted that Gdansk has a rich tradition of street art and murals. The first murals on side walls of a residential block in Gdansk Zaspa were created in 1997, during a festival organized to celebrate the millennium of Gdansk.
In 2008, on the block of flats, where Lech Walesa lived with his family in the 80s,
a mural was painted by Peter Szwabe, commemorating the Nobel Peace Prize for the leader of "Solidarity,". In 2009, when Gdansk applied for the title of European Capital of Culture, as part of an organized for the first time Monumental Art festival, other murals were created. Now there are a total of 45. Each one was created by a different artist - from Poland and the world, including Spain, Italy and Germany.
The beauty of Gdansk murals was appreciated by the Huffington Post. Thanks to the collection of murals in Zaspa district, Gdansk is the only Polish city among 26 cities in the world that can boast to be the home of the most beautiful works of large format wall painting. Other cities mentioned by the Huffington Post include Melbourne, Cape Town, Moscow, Lisbon, Los Angeles, Dublin, London, New York, Prague, Paris, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Istanbul. I hope the residents and visitors will appreciate the new mural in the underground passage and accept it as their own.
Photo: Dominik Werner
Photo: muralegdanskzaspa.pl
Photo: muralegdanskzaspa.pl