To understand the presence of these dwarves in Wrocław, we need to go back to the 1980s when the Orange alternative movement was active in Poland. Their purpose was to use nonsensical ways of protesting, to poke fun instead of other more confrontational means. They were a branch of Solidarity, Solidarność.
They started off by painting dwarves over the efforts by the police to cover over anti-government slogans. Although they stopped being active in 1989, in 2001 they reactivated, and dwarves started to reappear on the streets of Wrocław, though this time they were small statues rather than graffiti.
Since their first appearance, their numbers have been growing steadily. Although new ones appear each year, sadly some are disappearing.
This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy.
Like this card. Thanks for the history. I'm rather fond of dwarves. Happy PFF!
ReplyDeleteThese statues remind me of the small statues in one of the New York City subway stations: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=new+york+subway+artwork+statues
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting!
Happy PFF! Sorry to hear some are disappearing.
ReplyDeleteWroclaw caught my eye....I like dwarves and gnomes...and enjoyed the history too.
ReplyDeleteHappy PFF and hope you have a wonderful weekend
ReplyDeleteI love the ones on the poles. How fun!
ReplyDeleteI love dwarves and gnomes and other magical creatures! In fact, I'm reading a book with faeries and other fey in at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI thought we have visited Wrocław before (or Vrotswaf!). i remember the beautiful tower from your last post.
What interesting information you share with us.
ReplyDeleteI missed the dwarfs when I was in Breslau!
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