What Are You Breathing? mural

Object: The mural was created on the high, elongated rectangular gable wall of the Conradinum Shipbuilding and Technical School, located on the north-western side of the building and painted white. Its dominant accents are two light yellow elements: a vertical strip on the left side featuring the question ‘What are you breathing?’ running from the top to the bottom of the wall, and a circular shape high on the right side, partially obscured by a diagonal branch of a maple tree with green leaves. This arrangement creates a balanced and enclosed composition, with the white space at the bottom featuring a delicate outline of a meadow. From the meadow flow dandelion seeds labelled with tags. The mural, titled What are you breathing? and addressing the theme of clean, pollution-free air, was created using eco-friendly paints that absorb pollutants.

It was created in collaboration with the Gdańsk Energy Office, European Capital of Volunteering, and the Conradinum Shipbuilding and Technical School. It was designed by residents of Wrzeszcz and volunteers during workshops organised by the Regional Volunteer Centre in Gdańsk in partnership with the RC Foundation. The creative process was overseen by artist Iwona Zając, who prepared the project, while its execution was carried out by Good Looking Studio.

The Wrzeszcz residents selected the symbols incorporated into the mural. These include dandelions symbolising air, rising skywards, some featuring labels reading ‘us’, ‘Wrzeszcz’, and ‘Conradinum’. The mural also features the outline of a tree branch from a tree growing on the school grounds. In winter, when the tree is bare, the image will serve as a reminder of its leaves. The left side of the composition features the vertical slogan What are you breathing?, with the letter ‘O’ stylised as a tyre – symbolising the toxic materials and waste often burned in domestic stoves by people lacking ecological awareness. The slogan is painted on a slim, tapering yellow quadrilateral resembling the shape of a factory chimney. Another prominent feature is a large yellow circle with an irregular shape, reminiscent of the sun shining through the trees, radiating warmth and positive energy. The overall composition is subtle, minimalistic in both colour and form, evoking comparisons to Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints depicting nature.

Given the emerging energy crisis and the enduring climate crisis, the mural seeks to provoke reflection: on how we commute to school and work, what we burn for heating, the choices we make, and their impact on the air we all breathe – and what future generations will breathe.

Location: The mural is painted on the side wall of the Conradinum Shipbuilding and Technical School, at the intersection of Piramowicza Street and the busy Aleja Zwycięstwa.

The history of Conradinum is an essential part of Gdańsk’s 1,000-year legacy. The Von Conradi family, from whom the school takes its name, settled in Gdańsk in the 16th century. Originally, the Conradinum Educational Institute was based in Jankowo (from 1801), but in 1898 construction began on a new school building in Wrzeszcz on Krusenstraße (now Piramowicza Street). Designed by Gdańsk architect Otto Hugo Richard Schmidt (1859–1929) in the Dutch-Gdańsk Neo-Renaissance style, the building was inaugurated on 17 October 1900. The campus included the main school building, dormitory, gymnasium, sanitation facilities, and a spacious garden. Between 1972 and 1975, the school was expanded with a modernist-style new wing and a connector to the dormitory. The What are you breathing? mural was painted on the north-western gable wall of this new wing.

Information about the author: Iwona Zając (b. Gdańsk in 1971) is a painter, muralist, and author of multimedia and graphic design projects. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk in 1999, with a diploma in painting under Mieczysław Olszewski and in graphic arts under Cezary Paszkowski. Between 2002 and 2007, she was an artist-in-residence at the Artists’ Colong (now the Young City) on the grounds of the Gdańsk Shipyard, where she had a studio. Since 2000, she has specialised in mural art, creating large-format wall paintings using stencils. Zając collaborates with cultural and social institutions in Tricity as an author of educational art projects and workshops for young people.

She received the Minister of Culture and National Heritage Scholarship twice (2007, 2011) and was nominated for the Gdańsk Citizen of the Year title in 2008. In 2009, she received the Trójka Mark of Quality from Polish Radio Programme 3, and in 2010, she won the Gdańsk Storm of the Year award.

Condition of the object: very good

Owner/guardian: Conradinum Shipbuilding and Technical School

Author of the entry: Anna Szynwelska