ANTI-WAR GALLERY OF MURALS IN GDANSK AS AN ART MANIFESTO OF POLISH SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to clarify the circumstances of the foundation, the thematic orientation and the content of the gallery of murals in Gdansk, in the context of Polish support to Ukraine in its military confrontation with the Russian aggressor. Methods. In the process of collecting, systematizing, and studying the research materials, the author used comprehensive, structural, and inductive methods, which became complementary in the realization of the author's intention. The research methodology is based on a visual analysis of a number of Polish street art works, analytical and art historical research methods, as well as a systematic approach. Results. It is outlined that from the beginning of a full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, the field of art in Poland became a powerful event-ground in support of Ukraine. It was discovered, that its nowadays reality is cardinally marked on the content of Polish street art, a vivid example of that is the anti-war gallery of murals in Gdansk. It was revealed that the authors of the murals and graffiti on the retaining wall of the Pomeranian City Railway (pol. Pomorska Kolej Metropolitalna (PKM)) near the station RKM ‘Gdansk Yasen’ became teachers and students of a number of authoritative educational institutions of Poland – The Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, and also Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. Conclusions. Anti-war mural gallery in Gdansk is created by Polish artists from their inner demand to visualize a "gesture of solidarity" in support of Ukraine. It is a public declaration of kindness, sensitivity, sincerity, cordiality of the Polish people, and their sympathy for the suffering of Ukrainians caused by the Russian occupation army. At the same time, it is an artistic manifest, which attests the unity of values of Poles and Ukrainians, their mutual understanding and good neighborhood. Polish anti-war street art in Gdansk is not just an artistic visualization of Polish attitude towards the Russian-Ukrainian war, in particular, its well known participants, but also the manifesta tion of the newest art of resistance.