Zaspa has been converted into an open-air art gallery with 60 murals
A priori, ** Zaspa ** had everything against appearing in the travel guides. Polish dormitory neighborhood of large concrete towers with gray as the common thread, raised in the 70's with the functional and uniform design that characterizes the housing blocks erected by the Soviet Union throughout its territory. Little or nothing had to do to rival the beauty of the reconstructed historic center of Gdańsk (north of Poland ) .
But a priori is one of those terms used to speak based on probability, figures and stable and manageable material. A priori is a term that could not foresee that the financial crisis of the 1980s would cause the outlined plans for this neighborhood to fall into oblivion and that **it would be art, in the form of mural paintings and graffiti **, which years later would allow stand up to social problems that had developed in the neighborhood.
Art as an engine that changes profiles, gives hope and generates opportunities
“The first murals were created in Zaspa thanks to Rafael Roskowiński [Polish artist], who organized the international festival of murals , they explain to Traveler.es from the city's Institute of Urban Culture.
ran 1997 and the city celebrated its 1,000 years of existence. Zaspa gave her the first 10 murals of what is now a collection that already has 60 pieces.
And it is that the idea of creating a open-air gallery with murals returned to the neighborhood in 2009 . Then, "Gdansk was struggling to win the title of European Capital of Culture 2016 and the artist Piotr Szwabe aka Pisz commissioned the first edition of the Monumental Art Festival”.
Funded by the Institute of Urban Culture, an institution managed by the City Council, this festival was born with an expiration date , that of the resolution of this title that finally fell to the also Polish Wroclaw and San Sebastián.
Getting neighbors in daily contact with art
However, during its seven editions added 38 new mural paintings and graffiti of artists from all over the world to this open-air urban art gallery, fulfilling their local priorities. “One of his goals was visually enhance the uniform space of this block district and allow your neighbors were in daily contact with art” , count from the Institute of Urban Culture.
Furthermore, since then, “We have not stopped the collection. In recent years a series of murals have been created: one in honor of Tamara Lempicka (Polish painter) or The final judgement in pixels because the famous painting by Hans Memling is in the National Museum in Gdansk”.
Thus, "thanks to the Monumental Art Collection , Zaspa is one of the most famous blocks of flats in Poland. It has garnered worldwide recognition, media attention and receives trips from foreign tourists” , analyze.
“Zaspa is very well kept and it is a green and colorful neighborhood. It is very good to live here: it is a quiet place and its beautiful surroundings have made it a one of the most desired areas to live in Gdansk”.
The neighborhood has become one of the most desirable areas to live in the city
And it is that Zaspa became handsome (and continues to do so) allowing artists the same creative freedom that in its day had the architects who raised their blocks in what were the facilities of an old airport near the sea.
A) Yes, the murals have permeated the local community and their language . "It's not uncommon to hear 'see you near the driver' or 'see you in the points'. These phrases refer to the most characteristic murals in the neighborhood.”
Why yes, this collection gave the neighborhood an identity and its neighbors a sense of pride which has led some of them to mobilize and launch **a project of local guides** that started in 2011 to share your story.
An hour and a half walk through the history of Zaspa
After half a year training in which they learned about the authors of the paintings, the origin of the initiative and the details of the works, these guides “they are the ambassadors and the best source of knowledge about this large-scale art gallery created in their district”.
During hour and half , talk about the history of Zaspa and, with it, that of Poland; of its legends, its architecture, of the curiosities and anecdotes of each mural, of the trajectory of the authors and, of course, they answer the questions that visitors want to ask them. In summer they organize three tours per week . You can get all the information about these routes and make your reservation through the Cultural Information Point.