Today marked the 45th anniversary of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. The attempt was to liberate the Polish capital from German control before the arrival of the Soviet army. A liberated Warsaw was to demonstrate sovereignty in order to withstand the Allied devision of Eastern Europe. The uprising was expected not to last longer then a week, lasted for 63 days with a quarter of million lives lost.
To coincide with the anniversary of the uprising the exhibition Miasto Feniksa - War*Saw Everything is on view at Krakowskie Przedmiescie 64 for all of August. The exhibition contains 28 photographs that are montages of images from the Warsaw Uprising with images taken from the same viewpoint of present day Warsaw. A thoughtful project, but I have to admit after seeing the exhibition the end result is somewhat poorly executed. Snowy streets from 1945 combined with heels and miniskirts form 2008 doesn’t really seem to fit well together.
The image above, of downtown Warsaw was originally taken between January 19th and 21st 1945. While in the background most of today’s postwar downtown cityscape.
Links:
+ Miasto Feniksa - War*Saw Everything (the exhibition)
+ Warsaw Uprising (an overview)
+ Palac Kultury (about the tallest building in the photograph)
During the last seven weeks I found myself bouncing from Poland to Canada and back again. And for the last seven(ty) minutes I’ve been battling with what delightful insights about the trip to post here. A couple of photos is a good start, but a helping hand from a friend only way to go:
“Canada is one of those places that you can never leave behind…yes, it may appear to be somewhat dull and ordinary to some, but to those who have experienced it, it’s so much more. I told myself that it was about seeing the sights and experiencing nature again, but if I was really honest with myself (and my parents) I’d say that it was 100% about seeing my beautiful and witty friend Monika. My best friend in the whole world for whom I’d cross over burning coals and swim across an ocean. If it wasn’t for the convenience of flying I actually would have swam across the Atlantic for this spectacular person…”
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Needless to say, it was great seeing Monika, friends and family. The seven week and seven city tour was amazing and flew by too quickly. For more photos can be found on: Flickr. Slowly but surely, I’ll be adding more images from the trip.
Now that things are settling back to normal here in Krakow, a couple of projects that will hopefully be done in the near future:
+ Michal Kowalczuk - Drawings
+ JK Fotografia
+ Budonis
Gdansk is located on the Baltic Sea on the norther part of Poland. Gdansk and the greater area (Sopot, Gdynia, Nowy Port, etc) is worth visiting all year round. Off season can be exceptionally beautiful and peaceful.
+ More images on Flickr.
+ Wikipedia: Gdansk, Sopot, Gdynia.
+ A great place to stay when visiting: Old Town Apartment.
+ Must see while visiting Gdansk: The Red Room in the Main Town Hall.
+ Going out: U Literatów Cafe and Cafe Ferber.
Last Migration Series drawing:
+ materials: filament tape, paint and magnets on paper on board.
+ size (approx): 5′ x 4′, each panel.
Plus a bird drawing:
+ materials: filament tape, paint on paper on board.
+ size (approx): 12″ x 24″
