june-2010

June / July 2010 18 WIZZ magazine
However, if you have a serious craving
for some truly offbeat music, says Kasia, turn
to another Wrocław institution, Firlej (ul.
Grabiszyńska 56). Always one step ahead of
the mainstream, Firlej invites avant-garde
musicians to perform for non-conformist
audiences seeking out fresh independent
music. “You will not know any of the songs
played there and that is priceless in times of
mass commercialisation,” says one regular.
Despite her long fascination with
Denmark, where she recently exhibited her
poetry-inspired Light Years collection, she
declares to be a great fan of her hometown.
Wrocław born and bred, she is moved by the
city, its creative atmosphere and its cultural
flux, but what really inspires her is nature.
No surprise, then, that she recommends
Studio na Grobli (ul. Na Grobli 30-32),
the city’s vigorous art centre responsible
for festivals, workshops and theatre
performance, as it seems a peculiar synthesis
of Kasia’s two sources of inspiration –
offering both an electrifying culture and a
tranquil riverbank setting.
For an artist, the heart lies where
inspiration is. For Kasia that place is also
her home. “Pawłowice – it is one of the
undiscovered treasures of Wrocław,” she
enthuses. “It is lovely – full of old trees,
with a beautiful broad horizon and eerie
misty light.” The special light and colour
found in Pawłowice, dubbed the garden
town and made part of the city district since
1970, became the theme of a series of
Kasia’s paintings. Its soothing climate
is just what you might need after a night
of artistic revelry.
“Paintings are both private and public.
They are available for everyone to look at,
but at the same time they become private,
unique in the eye of the beholder,” explains
Kasia. And in a way, it’s the same with
Wrocław. Like Kasia’s work, the city is
what you make of it. It is the ultimate
public space, but at the same time, a space
for interpretation and, thus, a space of
private experience.
If hometowns define people, they define
artists doubly. From what I saw, any artist
would be lucky to be defined by Wrocław.
Catch Kasia’s exhibition in Galeria
Miejska (ul. Kiełbaśnicza 28) this October,
or earlier in Warsaw at the Danish Cultural
Institute until 15 June. www.banas.art.pl
Above: US
hip-hop artists
Dälek (pronounced
“Die-a-leck”)
perform at Firlej
(see bottom right),
one of Kasia’s
favourite venues on
the avant-garde
music scene
Right: Kasia’s
painting is inspired
by Lysår, a
poem by Henrik
Norbrandt
“I am amazed
at the city’s
ability to wow.
Wroc³aw
affects both
the legions
of stag-do
revellers
and the
arty crowd.”
WIZZ
writer Ewa
Tomankiewicz