The first batch of Biennale pieces is ready

21 października 2022

The first stage of the Biennale, consisting of events such as artist meet and greets, workshops and film screenings, has come to a close. Two of this year’s works are on display in the city and an exhibition telling the stories of all the Biennale pieces is available for viewing at Traffic Design HQ.

The very first work introduced to the public realm is COMB, an installation designed and produced by a Rotterdam-based collective, The New Raw. COMB is a relief assembled from modules that were made in and transported from the TNR workshop in the Netherlands. The abstract form was fabricated using recycled plastic, sourced from old and discarded fishing and shipping ropes.

In their day-to-day work, The New Raw designs and fabricates in the spirit of circular economy, creating objects such as city benches, beach changing rooms and other urban furniture. Panos Sakkas and Foteini Setaki shared the specifics of their work during a show and tell meeting in Traffic Design Association HQ in Gdynia. Additionally, Dorota Balewicz from Polish Boomplastic collective shared her own expertise on repurposing plastic waste.

The piece is on display on 15 Polska Street, on a cold room building of the Lacpol trading company.

The next piece is likewise a result of a Polish-Dutch creative partnership. The, roughly 50 meters long, mural by Studio Thonik is now a part of industrial space of Gdynia harbour on Kadłubowców Street.

At the beginning of the collaboration with the Dutch studio, we encouraged them to reference the shipyard and its history. We were delighted to discover that, instead of using one of the local ship or street names, they chose to approach the problem in an indirect manner by quoting a Nick Cave’s song titled 'The ship song' in which the ship is a poetic metaphor – explains Monika Domańska, a member of Traffic Design.

Mural is located in the industrial area of the Gdynia's port at Kadłubowców Street.

A keen eye will recognise Fernhout, previously starring in visual identity of Dutch Design Week, as the typeface used for this mural, since both concepts were developed by Thonik. The font is directly referencing the typographic poster from 1963 by Wim Crouwel which was designed to promote an Edgar Fernhout solo show.

Next pieces in line are: a mural by Feixen studio, interspecies sculptures by Olia Hordiienko, a mural by Blanka Byrwa and an installation by a design duo Malwina Konopacka and Jacek Walesiak. All of the above are going to be on display in Grabówek district in the span of the next few weeks.