Pomnik Praskiej Kapeli Podwórkowej, Warszawa

Pomnik Praskiej Kapeli Podwórkowej is a brass memorial in Old Praga celebrating Warsaw’s backyard musicians. Its ensemble of players evokes a neighbourhood performance, while its earlier text-message music system once offered Warsaw folk and wartime patriotic songs. The work was created by sculptor Andrzej Renes.

Pomnik Praskiej Kapeli Podwórkowej is a brass memorial to Warsaw’s backyard musicians. At the junction of Floriańska and Kłopotowskiego Streets, it belongs to Old Praga in the Praga-North district. The group brings together five players: violin, accordion, guitar, banjo, and drums all have a part in this compact street-corner concert.

The figures seem caught in the act of playing for the neighbourhood rather than posing for a grand ceremony. The memorial was conceived as a tribute to ordinary people of Warsaw. Bishop Sławoj Leszek Głódź proposed it after becoming an honorary citizen of the city, and donations from local residents financed it.

Sculptor Andrzej Renes created the work, unveiled on the seventeenth of September two thousand six. This corner once had its own musical voice. A built-in player offered a selection from a hundred songs by text message, including Warsaw folk repertory and patriotic pieces associated with the wartime occupation.

The device broke down, and the system was switched off in two thousand thirteen. The silent ensemble now leaves you to supply the tune yourself.