Rzeźby plenerowe z lat sześćdziesiątych i siedemdziesiątych XX wieku na terenie dawnej dzielnicy Nowa Huta

Abstract

OUTDOOR SCULPTURES FROM THE 1960S AND
1970S IN THE FORMER NOWA HUTA DISTRICT

Built from 1949 onward, Nowa Huta was a city designed for the working class, but at the same time its creators wanted it to be the epitome of modernity. The modern character of the city was being particularly emphasised from the mid-1950s onward, as Nowa Huta’s architecture and urban development became increasingly influenced by modernistic trends spreading to our country from western Europe. It was in that period, beginning with the 1960s, that outdoor sculptures started to be systematically installed in the public areas of the newly constructed housing estates. These works were the result of the cooperation between Kraków artists and institutions, such as the Association of Polish Artists and Designers, the ‘Hutnik’ Housing Association, Lenin Steelworks, or the Presidium of the District National Council in Nowa Huta, Kraków. These activities led to the establishment of the outdoor sculpture gallery, heterogeneous in terms of form, material (e.g. Pińczów limestone, metal, artificial stone, and ceramics), and style. Among the artists commissioned to execute sculptures were professors of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, e.g. Wiesław Bielak, the creator of such compositions as Aquarium (in Ratuszowy Park), Dynamic Form (The Shape of Space) installed at Bohaterów Września housing estate, and the sculpture titled Mater (Motherhood) at Piastów housing estate. Other artists who created Nowa Huta’s outdoor sculptures included Antoni Hajdecki (Cosmic Spiral, Tysiąclecia housing estate), Wincenty Kućma (Ripening II, Przy Arce housing estate), as well as Marian Kruczek (Acquired Space, Tysiąclecia housing estate), Waleria Bukowiecka (a group of sculptures designed to perform a recreational function in the former Children’s Park at Kolorowe housing estate; the sculptures do not survive today), and Magdalena Pruszyńska-Jaroszyńska (Little Mermaid and Seaweed Flirtng with a Shell installed in the aforementioned Children’s Park – Park Dziecięcy, currently called Wiśniowy Sad Park). Metal installations were created by Stanisław Małek (The Ascent, in the area surrounding Nowa Huta Reservoir), and Lucjan Orzech (Birds at Willowe housing estate, and Small Organs at Wandy housing estate).