Hiding Places: The Architecture of Survival
“Hiding Places. The Architecture of Survival” is an article that summarizes the preliminary stage of my artistic studies on the architecture of hiding places. In the first part of the text, I discuss the historical context in which Jewish hiding places appeared on Polish territory during the Second...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw
2020-01-01
|
| Series: | Miejsce |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://miejsce.asp.waw.pl/en/english-hiding-places-the-architecture-of-survival/ |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | “Hiding Places. The Architecture of Survival” is an article that summarizes the preliminary stage of my artistic studies on the architecture of hiding places. In the first part of the text, I discuss the historical context in which Jewish hiding places appeared on Polish territory during the Second World War; outline the subject matter of my studies, pointing to a paucity of research on the hiding places, in terms of both Polish and international reflection; and present my key theoretical and methodological inspirations, including, in particular, the interdisciplinary concept of “critical spatial practice” proposed by Jane Rendell. In the second part of the article, I consider the research and theoretical challenges associated with the study of the hiding places today, and suggest that a reflection on their architecture and the stories associated with them accords us an opportunity to critically revisit the complicated Polish-Jewish relations in the 20th and 21st centuries. Finally, I present summary case studies of three hiding places I have researched: the cellar of a house in Siemianowice Śląskie; a bunker at the Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw; and the interior of an oak named Józef in Wiśniowa. Drawing on my analysis of archival materials, site visits and interviews, I present the stories of the individual hiding places and the people who inhabited them; analyze the structure and space of the respective facilities, with attention to their functional, sensory and emotional aspects; and trace the links between these secret hideaways and the historical and contemporary local social and architectural landscape. Drawing on the artistic know-how I have developed, I also present proposals for commemoration of the individual hiding places, the implementation of which will constitute my project’s final stage. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2450-1611 2956-4158 |