Dancing Girl

The sculpture crowning the fountain in Wybicki Square in Wrzeszcz depicts a girl in a dancing pose holding an umbrella. It was created by Sławoj Ostrowski, who made it in 2002.

Object: Sławoj Ostrowski’s sculpture Dancing Girl is mounted on a granite obelisk at the centre of the Grass Fountain basin. The bronze figure depicts a slim, slender girl with pigtails, holding an umbrella in her right hand. The figure is dressed in a short dress, lifting her right leg and both arms in a dancing pose, her face turned upwards. The umbrella, open high above her head, is openwork, consisting only of a curved handle and thin metal ribs.

The sculpture portrays Tulla Pokriefke, a character from Günter Grass’s novels Dog Years and Cat and Mouse. In close proximity to the fountain is a gazebo with a metal bench featuring two figures: Günter Grass and his literary character Oskar, playing a tin drum. These sculptures were also created by Sławoj Ostrowski. https://gaps.gda.pl/en/obiekt/little-oskar-statue-oskars-bench/

Surrounding the pillar topped by the Dancing Girl are five concentric circles. The first one is the granite slab basin floor, encircled by the second circle: a stone wall with a polished magmatic rock façade. This wall features 16 evenly spaced rectangular pillars housing the fountain jets and lighting fixtures. The third circle is a walkway made of concrete paving stones, around which is the fourth circle: a low wall of rustic magmatic rocks with four ‘entrances’, each flanked by polished magmatic rock pillars. These pillars also serve as bases for metal light posts styled as gas lanterns. The fifth circle is an outer walkway, accessible from nearby streets and the square. The fountain basin and its surroundings were designed by Grzegorz Sulikowski.

Location: Opened in 2002, the fountain is located in Dolny Wrzeszcz, in the green area in the western part of Józef Wybicki Square, at the junction of Jana Pestalozziego, Joachima Lelewela, and Grażyny Streets. After the war, this square became the central point of the district due to a large marketplace located there. In 1945, the market was relocated to Gołębia Street, and Wybicki Square was converted into a public green space. The ground floors of the surrounding buildings housed shops and service workshops.

The fountain (sometimes referred to as a water reservoir in historical sources) has been present in Wybicki Square since the 1920s. As described by Gabriela Danielewicz: ‘[it] was surrounded by a low wall made of dressed stone blocks and erratic boulders with a decorative surface. It survived the war and the early post-war years when it was functional and sprayed water. However, damage to the water system in the 1950s led to its deactivation’. For years, the fountain was neglected, and its basin filled with dirty water, algae, and rubbish. Due to its depth, it became hazardous for children, so the water was drained. The empty basin was still filled with scrap metal and broken glass, so for safety reasons, it was filled with sand to the level of what is now the bottom of the fountain’s basin.

In the latter half of the 1990s, the basin was converted back into a fountain. In 2000, it underwent significant redevelopment: the height of the basin walls was raised, the walkway surrounding the fountain was reconstructed, an additional outer stone wall with benches was added, four decorative entrances with lighting were installed, and the water system was replaced.

Conservation officer Wacław Rasnowski proposed placing several freestanding classicist sculptures in the basin, made in light colours, to further enhance the site. While the idea garnered much interest, it was never implemented. Sculptor Marzena Turowska-Głowacka suggested placing several sculptural groups depicting playing children on the upper surface of the basin wall. This proposal was brought to the attention of local councillor Wiesław Kamiński, who suggested that the children depicted should be characters from Günter Grass’s novels. Grass, who was born and raised nearby on what is now Lelewela Street, most likely played in this very spot as a child.

Ultimately, the project was designed and completed by Professor Sławoj Ostrowski, a sculptor from the Gdańsk Academy of Fine Arts.

Information about the author:  Sławoj Ostrowski (b. 14 December 1943 in Słupca, d. 9 March 2018) was a sculptor and pedagogue. Between 1963 and 1969, he studied at the State School of Visual Arts in Gdańsk at the Faculty of Sculpture. He was a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk and headed the Sculpture Studio. He received a professorship in 1996. Ostrowski is the author of numerous works in public space: statues, sculptures, memorial plaques, commemorating such figures as Zbyszek Cybulski, Zbigniew Herbert, Antoni Abraham, Jakub Wejher or Günter Grass. He mostly worked with polychromed wood, stone and bronze. Ostrowski took part in many exhibitions in Poland and abroad, and won multiple sculpture competitions.

Condition of the object: very good

Owner/guardian: Gdańskie Wody

Author of the entry: Anna Szynwelska