Opening of Monumental Art Festival. Last time in Zaspa

This is the end of the Festival, but not the end of the collection – says Barbara Sroka from the City Culture Institute. The last opening parade with live music will take place on July 8 at 6:00pm next to Kamil Kuzko’s mural at ul. Skarżyńskiego 12d. All in all, Monumental Art Collection will count 58 large format works. The opening will end with the picnic next to Plama GAK and dance party for the citizens, who could enjoy the music from 70s, 80s, and 90s performed by Zespół Cieśni i Tańca. Admission free! 

Works of Monumental Art Festival and Gdansk School of Mural were executed in 1997 to commemorate 1,000 years of Gdańsk and they compose an integrated gallery of mural art created by many respected artists from all over the world. Piotr Szwabe, artist, painter and murals’ creator, is the festival’s curator, whereas Barbara Sroka from CCI is a coordinator. Each edition is held under different theme. The artists painted murals connected with the anniversaries (2009), then there were the following editions organised: “Freedom in the Times of Crisis” (2010), “Love is Temptation” (2011), “Is Everything for Sale” (2012), “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” (2013), “Road is the Happiness” (2014), “Each Day Counts” (2015), and finally “Waiting” (2016).

At this year’s edition of Monumental Art Festival four new works will be created which will relate to curator’s, Piotr Szwabe, concept “Waiting”. The projects were prepared by two Argentinian artists – Jorge Pomar and David Petroni, and Polish artists – Kamil Kuzko, and a team working together – Dariusz Milczarek, Jan Podgórski, Tomasz Prymon and Artur Prymon from Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (Artur Prymon – Academy of Fine Arts from Warsaw). After the opening the Monumental Art Collection will count 58 murals.

The opening of new works will take place on July 8 at 6:00pm in Gdańsk Zaspa (starting point: ul. Skarżyńskiego 12d). The participants will be passing the route where festival murals were created. They will be entertained by live music and the artists talking about their works. Finally, everyone is invited for a picnic and dance party at Klub Plama GAK, where Zespół Cieśni i Tańca will perform at the rooftop.

You can visit Zaspa and Monumental Art Collection all summer with our Local Guides. The walks take place three times a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays at 5:30pm, and Saturdays at 1:00pm). More information can be found here: http://ikm.gda.pl/alternatywne-spacery/.

We encourage you to visit Zaspa during Festival where you can observe the artists during their work! You can find useful maps and information about murals here: http://muralegdanskzaspa.pl/en/.

As it is our last edition, some of the murals “came to life”. You can see the animations here:http://muralegdanskzaspa.pl/konkurs-na-dwa-tygodnie-przed-monumental-art/.