[19 December 2011 until 26 February 2012]

The exhibition illustrates the role of gardens in European culture from the aesthetic and philosophical perspective - starting from the images of the garden of Eden to gardens as special places to the explanation of the symbolic meaning of the garden and its elements. At the same time, the exhibition aims to familiarise the visitors with the phenomenon of Silesian and Polish non-professional visual arts, a characteristic but complex component of egalitarian culture encompassing, among others, naive art, intuitive art and outsider art.

The focal point of the exhibition, that is the garden, is perceived - according to tradition and collective imagination - as a magical place, a place that is the cradle of mankind and simultaneously the promised land of Arcadia. It is therefore little surprise that, as so defined metaphysical space, it has a rich symbolism pertaining to numerous areas of human life, identical in numerous cultures. The garden also excites imagination and becomes the inspiration of many works of visual arts.

The scenario of the exhibition entails, above all, the presentation of works of self-taught artists, both those from Silesia and the most interesting ones from other regions of Poland. Thus you will see the gardens of imagination of Teofil Ociepka inspired by his theosophical interests, and gardens of love filled with the symbolism of the Far East by Erwin Sówka. You will also see a series of gardens shown in a fairy-tale-like setting filled with deeply philosophical symbolism whose author is Jan Nowak, the most prominent of Polish intuitive graphic artists. There will also be depictions of home gardens including those characteristic of the Katowice district of Giszowiec-Gieschewald , which - according to the intention of its designers - met the standards of an architectural garden city as early as at the beginning of the 20th century. Its unmatched chronicler was a resident of Giszowiec, the painter Ewald Gawlik.

Curator: Sonia Wilk

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