2024
object, concrete, glass, resin

On Saturday, 14 October 2023, a hunter shot a family of eight wild boars on the sports field of Gdańsk’s Primary School No. 38: two adult boars and their six small young. The temporary monument erected on the anniversary of this tragic event is dedicated to these and other wild boar victims.

Walking around Niedźwiednik, close encounters with wild sows, boars, and their young strolling between buildings are commonplace. These animals live in close proximity to people and are almost daily visitors to the estate. And while they may cause trouble by digging up gardens and municipal green areas, and rummaging through rubbish bins in search of food, these are otherwise gentle, harmless creatures. Moved by the events of last autumn, the artist wanted to pay tribute to the slain animals and emphasise the need for gentleness and understanding in difficult inter-species relations.

Rooted or turned-up ground is an integral landscape feature in areas populated by wild boars. In her sculpture, Dominika Olszowy chose to reference this practice. She created her wild boar monument from concrete casts made in ground rooted by these animals.

DOMINIKA OLSZOWY (b. 1988) is a visual artist working at the intersection of various media. Between 2009 and 2012, she studied at the Faculty of Intermedia of the University of the Arts Poznań. In her practice, she employs video, performance, installation, and a distinctive blend of truth and confabulation. Olszowy sometimes treats her works as amulets intended to charm and tame a reality in crisis. She draws on personal experience, transforming it into universal statements about the human condition and time, with a touch of subtle humour.