Wroclaw: Gnome Street Art?

Recently, there has been an explosion of interest in renegade street artists. Mostly fueled by photoblogs and Banksy's indie film Exit Through the Gift Shop. Street art has become a medium for revolutionary political and social statements for generations. This is based on the presumption that once seen, this art can start the public thinking. And thinking can lead to change.

I found a few articles about a certain city in Poland famous for little sculptures that could be seen as street art. In the 1980s the Polish Orange Alternative used these little statues to protest Stalinist authoritarianism through peaceful means. Instead of confronting authorities in mass protest, which often leads to violence as seen recently in the Occupy Movement in the United States, the people of Wroclaw set up a multitude of little gnome statues doing harmless gnome-like things. The idea: how can you arrest someone for something so silly and expect the public to take you seriously? Waldemar Fydrych put it this way, "how can you treat a police officer seriously when he is asking you the question: why did you participate in an illegal meeting of dwarves?"

This, of course predates Banksy and the recent street art medium fad, and it uses gnomes to spread revolution. Pretty awesome.

There are a some articles from travel blogs about Wroclaw. Here are a few:

Feidler a's Blog

Europe a la Carte

Here are some more pictures of the Wroclaw gnomes. enjoy