2025
installation

The Great Linden Avenue runs through the Aniołki district, stretching along Victory Avenue and Steffens Park. It dates back to 1768, when it was originally planted with 1,416 Dutch linden trees. Today, the avenue boasts around 700 trees of varying ages – some planted in recent decades, others standing here for 250 years.

Lindens are long-lived trees which, in Slavic culture, symbolise peace, love and the protection of the home. In her work, Alicja Biała reflects on the condition of the trees forming the avenue. In 2017, the Pomeranian Regional Heritage Conservator published a dendrological report stating that most of the Great Linden Avenue’s trees were destined to be felled. Opinions about the causes of their decline differ: some regard it as a natural process of ageing, while others point to the effects of increased car traffic as well as air and soil pollution.

Biała’s installation addresses environmental degradation and the ecological condition of the city. Installed on the grounds of former cemeteries, delicate linden branches cast in bronze become enduring monuments. By transforming them into this lasting material, the artist pays tribute to the trees, endowing them with strength and resilience. She invites us to engage in dialogue and take action for the environment. To encourage participation, she shares linden seeds that visitors may take from the bronze flowers she has created.

ALICJA BIAŁA is a multidisciplinary and multimedia artist, a graduate of the Royal College of Art i Royal Drawing School. She works across a wide range of scales, from architectural installations and large sculptural lighting to etchings, paintings and more. Her practice combines folk and environmental motifs, bringing together the political and personal dimensions of contemporary life. Her work has been widely discussed and awarded, and is held in numerous private and public collections. She works in Poland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.