The Folds take a simple form of a three-part relief set on the Barbara building in the midst of what mainly exemplifies the modernist architecture of Wrocław after the WWII. Each part of the relief forms a curtain cast in white concrete—the most urban building material. The motif of a curtain has a broad semantic field implying a variety of possible interpretations, a diversified aesthetic potential marked with sculptural grace. Depending on how it is used, it offers protection, emphasizes importance, adds lightness, shields, but on the other hand, it conceals and separates, it bars access and blocks a view and possibly signals intentions which are not completely clear. In Gilles Deleuze’s evocative conceptualisation, the fold (le pli) is the underlying principle of the construction of the world that pertains to sustained development, change and continuity.

The Folds are embedded in the contexts of the 2016 European Capital of Culture in Wrocław, the construction of WuWa2, the rich history of our city and Lower Silesia and the perpetual European debate on the architecture and culture of our region. The lifting of the ”iron curtain” between the East and the West continues to be an important topic for European societies. As the 2016 European Capital of Culture Wrocław played an important part in transforming the old function of the curtain into a decorative feature. A potential success of this process remains to be seen.

Thanks to:
Jucha Beton, Renato Dżugaj, Dariusz Kosiarski, Impart2016, ESK 2016.

The opening was accompanied
by Sound Interference:
Alfredo Costa Monteiro & Gerard Lebik
—Sanatorium Dźwięku 2017

detail during the installation process at Barbara building

casts removed from the molds, August 2017