As I stepped out of our taxi from the airport to our hotel, the first thing I did was nearly trip over this little guy. He was sat quite happily outside of our hotel, and, clearly not having done my research properly before I came to Wroclaw, I had no idea that he would not be the only dwarf that I would see.
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| Arcik the Traveller |
You see, Wroclaw happens to be famous for its little dwarf statues. They are everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. They are on street corners, up lamp posts, on window sills, inside hotels and pubs, sitting on water fountains, holding onto shopping trolleys, perched on top of street signs and even on rooftops.
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| Professor Medyk |
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| Tourist |
They are outside the University, shops, bars, restaurants, inside the zoo, outside the aqua centre, at the airport and train station, in the market square, next to church's and on top of bridges.
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| Christmas Dwarf |
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| Railway Dwarf, Suitcase Sitter |
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| Olawaska Street Polers |
Finding them becomes a game, and one you can see people playing all over the city. You see, there are over 300 of these little dwarves scattered from one end of Wroclaw to the other, and more are appearing every month. Many businesses will commission their own dwarf as a unique marketing feature.
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| Rogalik (Mr. Croissant) |
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| Bavarian, one of the handful of female dwarves |
They have their own props, unique and individual expressions, and some come complete with their own miniature set! They didn't start off with such a quirky purpose though...
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| Withdrawer |
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| Withdrawer |
They first appeared on the streets in 2001 to commemorate the Orange Alternative movement. During the politically turbulent 1980's, the Orange Alternative, an underground movement, used absurdity and nonsense to stage peaceful but subversive protests against city censorship and communism.
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| Giftgiver |
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| WrocLover |
When the establishment covered up protest graffiti, the Orange Alternative would come along and re-graffiti the same space, using the symbol of the dwarves (or gnomes). The movement quickly grew in popularity and soon the Orange Alternative and the dwarves were intrinsically linked together.
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| Firemen by St Elizabeth's Church |
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| Sleepy, guarding the City Armory |
Soon protests and marches, celebrations and cultural events in Wroclaw were filled with people dressed as gnomes and dwarves. By International Children's Day in 1988, people were celebrating with dwarf hats and flags. After the fall of communism the dwarf remained a well loved figure within the city.
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| Little Snorer |
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| Veteran by St Elizabeth's Church |
In 2001, the first Wroclaw Dwarf figure, Leader, was placed on the steps of Ĺwidnicka Street, site of the Orange Alternatives headquarters, to commemorate their work, making Wroclaw one of the few cities in the world who think nothing of honoring a subversive group that tried to undermine their authority.
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| Leader |
In August 2005 Tomasz Moczek, a graduate of the Wroclaw Academy of Art and Design, was commissioned to design 5 more dwarves which were placed in various locations around Wroclaw, including the Swordsman, the Butcher, Sisyphers and the Odra Washer Dwarf.
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| Butcher on Na Jatkach |
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| Swordsman |
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| Sisypher |
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| Sisyphers |
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| Sisypher |
Since then, it is as though the flood gates have been opened and dwarves can now be found throughout Wroclaw. Some are engaged in hardworking, time honoured crafts, others are going about day to day activities such as withdrawing money or checking the internet. Others are far more interested in play and can be found drunk, or well on their way to complete inebriation!
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| Drinker and Boozer, the friendly drunks |
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| Busker and Music Lover |
Others are commissioned by organisatons to either raise awareness of their work, or as a visible and quite honestly adorable mascot!
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| Chopper Dwarf, mascot for the Motorcycle Club |
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| Chopper Dwarf, mascot for the Motorcycle Club |
Still more are city commissions to raise awareness for campaigns. I particuarly love the three below, the mascots for Wroclaw Without Barriers, a city wide campaign to raise awareness of the challenges facing citizens with disabilities in Wroclaw.
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| Deafie, Blindie and W-Skers, part of the Wroclaw Without Barriers campaign |
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| Airport Charity Dwarves |
There are maps available to help guide you around the city to find the dwarves, but in all honesty I don't think you can ever hope to find them all on one break, there is no guarantee that the map is up to date and it's much more fun to walk up and down the streets, keeping your eyes peeled and yelling 'DWARF!' every few minutes.
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| Water Keeper |
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| Pigeon Keeper |
It is also a brilliant way of forcing you to look around the city. You cannot help but take in the architecture, the fresco's and the all the fine details of the city that, in all honesty, you would probably otherwise not spot.
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| Wiesiek Partnersk |
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| Well Wisher |
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| Globetaster |
The dwarves are incredibly popular with both the local residents and the tourists. Many of them have their own stories and personalities, they have relationships and have their own particular friends within the city.
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| Smithy |
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| Ringer |
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| Registrar |
They are ruled over by Papa Dwarf, who regulates the amount of ice cream they are allowed to eat and punishes unruly dwarves who have misbehaved. The dwarves have people who spend hours tracking them (we spent a whole morning on a dwarf hunt) and they even an official
website dedicated to them!
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| Barton, the ice cream shop dwarf |
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| Prisoner outside the old Municipal Jail |
I am genuinely wondering if I could persuade Canterbury City Council that this whimsical, beautiful idea is something they would consider taking up on our streets.
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| Amorinek and Cakey, passing the cakes down |
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| Broker |
What do you think?
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| Keymaker |
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