Rising Monument to the Burden of Freedom

Technique: concrete sculpture

Dimensions: 1.7 m (height of the sculpture), 3.10 m. (height with plinth), 4 m (height with pinwheel)

Object: Jerzy Dobrzański’s Rising Monument to the Burden of Freedom forms part of the Gdańsk Open-Air Sculpture Gallery. It was created as part of the “Crossroads of Freedom” Festival of Spatial Forms, inspired by the idea of freedom in Gdańsk. The event took place from 2009 to 2019 and included an international spatial form and artistic installation competition, an international wood sculpture plein-air, a seminar on art in public space and numerous accompanying events. Freedom, the main idea of the festival, was also the theme of the annual competition. It was understood not only in terms of the subject matter, but also form of execution and freedom of artistic expression.

Rising Monument to the Burden of Freedom won first prize in the festival competition and was subsequently erected in Gdańsk’s Ronald Reagan Park. The sculpture, placed on a plinth, depicts a full-figured young boy in a standing position. He is dressed in shorts and a red and white striped T-shirt. In a gesture of victory, the boy raises a pinwheel in his left hand; his head is tilted back. On the front of the plinth is an inscription reading “A breath of freedom”, which gave the monument its customary name. The sculpture is made in a very realistic fashion; you can look at it from all sides to admire details such as precisely made shoes or fastening on the clothes. The idea behind the work refers to the communist era in Poland, when the then authorities would erect pathetic monuments commemorating the heroes of the revolutionary deed. Today, these statues represent an immovable testimony to the enslavement and political manipulation of the time, and have lost their liberating character. The artist wanted to restore the memory of the true, forgotten and underestimated, heroes of the revolutionary deed, that is ourselves, when we were kids and felt truly free playing with a balloon or a pinwheel. Dobrzański managed to convey this sense of carefree joy and freedom through the figure of the happy little boy.

Place: The Gdańsk Open-Air Sculpture Gallery, established as part of the “Crossroads of Freedom” Festival of Spatial Forms, is located in the park named after President Ronald Reagan, an honorary citizen of Gdańsk. The gallery may be found in the part of the park situated in the Brzeźno neighbourhood. The 85 ha park stretches along the coastal belt of Gdańsk, encompassing the districts of Przymorze Wielkie, the western part of Brzeźno and the eastern part of the Żabianka-Wejhera-Jelitkowo-Tysiąclecia quarter. This area used to be occupied by temporary allotment gardens and wasteland. The plan to develop the seaside area for recreational purposes was drawn up in 2001 and implemented in stages until 2014. In addition to areas where one can relax, engage in physical activity or make a bonfire, the park was diversified with outflow ponds with living shorelines and nesting islands for waterbirds. In 2008, the Ronald Reagan Park in Gdańsk received a distinction from the Society of Polish Town Planners (TUP), which recognized it as the best managed green space in Poland.

Information about the author: Jerzy Dobrzański (b. 1976 in Rzeszów) is a sculptor and designer. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and received his PhD at the Faculty of Industrial Forms of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. He creates sculptures, installations and functional objects meant for the public space. In his art, he is especially fond of subjects related to social and political phenomena. Dobrzański has won the Must Have award at the Łódź Design Festival and Top Design Award at the Arena Design in Poznań. His designs include the façade of the New Praha Cinema in Warsaw and the statue of Kazimierz Deyna together with the surrounding space in Starogard Gdański.

Condition of the object: partly damaged

Owner/guardian: Gdańsk Community Foundation

Author of the entry: Dorota Kucharczyk