Walking around Wroclaw in Poland is an exercise in observation. Exploring a new city often invites gawping at random sights, but in the capital of Lower Silesia, the residents do it as much as the tourists.
Over the last ten years, at least 280 gnomes (“krasnale” in Polish) have invaded the city and they’re increasing their ranks all the time. It began when a large “papa dwarf” statue was put up in honour of the Orange Alternative, a surrealistic anti-communist art group that operated in the 1980s.
They would cover government propaganda with orange paint and then add little dwarves, parodying the small-man mentality of the ruling political ideology.
Their campaign was a huge embarrassment for the party and once the communist regime had well and truly fallen, the freed city wanted to commemorate the movement.
What began with one official statue was quickly followed by more, and dwarves started popping up everywhere, with different companies and organisations queuing up to get permission to have them displayed.
Since new dwarves appear every other month, it’s hard to find any up-to-date record of them all, so you’re left to wander about randomly and seeing how many you can spot.
It’s good fun and certainly surreal, as well as perception-expanding. Most of the gnomes are context-appropriate too, with the one outside the old stock exchange building counting his shares, while the dwarves outside a supermarket try to make off with a trolley.
These three disabled dwarfs were installed by the town hall as part of the “Wroclaw without barriers” campaign. Photo: netsnake
