Monuments create the landscape of our values which is why they so often evoke controversies. They commemorate statesmen, heroes, and victims of wars. They represent the commonly shared ideals, “inhabit” cities and dominate the view. For those in power, they are a tool in constructing collective identity. As borders shift and political regimes change, the monuments of the past era are torn down, recycled and renamed. The exhibition “The Monument. Central and Eastern Europe 1918 – 2018” at the Xawery Dunikowski Museum of Sculpture at Królikarnia describes the functions, histories and processes to which monuments are subject. It presents the biographies of over twenty such objects from our region of Europe, from the moment of the selection of their design, through their erection and use, until the disputes they provoke and, finally, their destruction, oblivion and decay. The presentation is not just a mere historical review but a contribution to the presently carried debates.
In 2018, the Museum of Sculpture at Królikarnia initiated an international research project dedicated to monumental sculptures in Central and Eastern Europe. The main point on its agenda is the exhibition “The Monument. Central and Eastern Europe 1918-2018”. The project also includes two other presentations: “Ivan Meštrović / Józef Piłsudski. The Story of a Monument” at the Kordegarda Gallery of the National Centre of Culture, which focuses on the pre-war design of the statue of Marshall Pułsudski in Warsaw, as well as an exhibition planned for 2019 at the Exhibition Bureau gallery. There are also plans for a conference, a series of guided walks and a book publication. The project is carried out in collaboration with the Institute of Polish Culture of the University of Warsaw, the National Centre of Culture, the National Digital Archive, TVP Kultura, and the Foundation of Polish Modern Art.
EXHIBITION: Ivan Meštrović / Józef Piłsudski. The Story of a Monument
Kordegarda. The Gallery of the National Centre for Culture
18.10–25.11.2018
EXHIBITION: MONUMENT. Central and Eastern Europe 1918–2018
The Xawery Dunikowski Museum of Sculpture in Królikarnia
16.12.2018–10.04.2019
EXHIBITION In Honour of… On Actions at Memorial Sites
The Exhibition Bureau gallery of Polish Modern Art Foundation
Spring 2019
SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE