A laser-lit wire sculpture will simulate the old Laurinská Gate.photo: Visualisation of architectural firm Bogár Králik Urban
The Sculpture and the Object, Bratislava Old Town. Outdoor sculpture exhibit through the end of August.
Don't be confused by the strange wire city gate replica which will be suspended over Laurinská Street near SNP Square this week. It and the other wooden, metal and plastic abstract and modern constructions which will start sprouting up around the city on June 26 are all part of a large, open-air summer sculpture exhibit entitled the "The Sculpture and the Object".
This 4th annual exhibition by more than 40 fine artists from Slovakia and abroad will include non-conventional multi-media projects in the city, large-scale plastic art constructions, and impressive light and laser installations in the streets and squares of Old Town. The exhibit is part of the larger Bratislava Summer Culture Festival program.
Apart from the installation of organic sculptures with abstract names, people walking on the "Korzo" pedestrian mall or sitting outside will be greeted this year by a special laser line in the air. This will be a variation on last year's successful installation of laser line connecting Michalská Gate and Laurinská Street which followed the course of a historical promenade through the city. In contrast to some of last year's strange street sculpture, which confused some residents last year, this interactive display won success.
This year's laser exhibit is a continuation of the effort by the Bratislava City Council to try to familiarise citizens with the city's history after years of total devastation of Old Town buildings and streets. This year's laser effect is not only one green line connecting a few points but will present the borders of Medieval Bratislava by linking the sites of the four ancient entrance gates - Michalská Gate, the only gate restored in Bratislava, Vydrická Gate, Laurinská Gate and Rybárska Gate. The laser lines will then create a cross linked together with mirrors and other light and glass installations.
The attraction will also feature a suspended "metal screen" symbolising the "Laurinská brána" (Laurinská Gate) which once existed just a stone's throw from Tesco. Designed by the architecture studio Bogár Králik Urban, this copy of the gate will be situated in front of P.O. Hviezdoslav Theatre. The gate also includes a town seal made of glass through which the laser lines will pass.
While walking nearby the "Čumil" statue, Bratislava's favourite manhole dweller, you will be standing under the Old Town "cross" connecting the streets of Rybárska, Sedlárska, Panská and Laurínska streets.
The best of the summer's fine art will be shown also in Gallery Z (Zichy Palace on Ventúrska Street), Pálffy Palace (Panská Street), the courtyards of Primaciálne Palace and Pálffy Palace and the summer reading room of Restaurant Červený Rak, (off Michalská Street). The exhibition is taking place in cooperation with the British Council, the French Institute, the Austrian Culture Centre, the Czech Centre and The Cultural Institute of Hungary. And though the sculptures will be removed by the end of August, a continuing project of lighting the Roland fountain on the Main Square will be installed for future years.
