You Can’t Take Me I’m Free

Technique: metal installation

Dimensions:

Object: Majid Haghighi’s You Can’t Take Me I’m Free installation 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.

You Can’t Take Me I’m Free won first prize in the festival competition and was consequently erected in the Ronald Reagan Park. The metal installation is composed of five upscaled chairs arranged in the form of a pyramid. The chairs have elongated and curved legs. On level one, the base of the structure, there are three chairs in blue, purple and green. On level two is a yellow chair, followed by an orange one and a pink one on top. The composition is supplemented by three objects in the form of clouds placed on the upper levels of the installation.

The colours of the individual levels of the work form a rainbow, which in Greek mythology symbolized a path between heaven and earth. In Indian mythology, it was an attribute of the god of lightning and thunder. Scandinavian mythology saw the rainbow as a bridge connecting the world of gods with the world of people. Perhaps the best known myth originated in Ireland: a pot of gold hidden at the end of the rainbow. In the Old Testament, the rainbow was a symbol of the covenant between God and man. Nowadays, in the 1990s, the rainbow was adopted by the LGBTQ+ community as a sign of their equal rights. The LGBTQ+ flag has fewer colours than the traditionally depicted seven-colour rainbow. The rainbow symbol in the installation can be read as a reference to equality, tolerance and respect, which the LGBTQ+ flag represents and which is a symbol of freedom not only for the queer community, but for all people.

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: Majid Haghighi (b. 1983 in Tehran, Iran) is a sculptor and interior designer. He graduated in sculpture and interior design from Tehran University. Haghighi is a member of the International Association for Monumental Sculpture Events. He is fascinated by calligraphy.

Condition of the object: partly damaged

Owner/guardian: Gdańsk Community Foundation

Author of the entry: Dorota Kucharczyk