A new mural has appeared on the wall of a tenement house at 42 Witczaka Street in Bytom. It is Rozbarczanka in traditional costume, which was created by Jakub Bitek and Łukasz Chwałek. The street artists covered the entire surface of the wall with paint.
The mural was created as part of the nationwide competition Let’s paint something in Bytom announced by the Bytom City Hall. This was a way of celebrating the 770th anniversary of the granting of city rights to Bytom.
The creator of the portrait of Rozbarczanka is Łukasz Chwałek, who has been designing and creating murals for fifteen years. The artist does not limit himself to painting. For several years, he has been creating paintings using a technique based on painting with a roller. This technique was also used to paint Rozbarczanka.
Jakub Bitka can also boast considerable experience in creating large-format works. Together with Łukasz Chwałek, they have already painted thousands of square metres of walls decorated with murals. The new mural in Bytom was created after analysing archival photographs.
The inspiration for this work is, of course, the traditional, very distinctive women’s rozbarski costume. While preparing this project, I read about the history of Bytom and Rozbark, which, after all, nurtures the memory of Silesian traditions all the time,” says Łukasz Chwałek, a graffiti artist from Zielona Góra nicknamed Waek.
In the course of the project, some details related to the costume and colours were changed in order to reproduce as faithfully as possible the richness of the Rozbark outfit, which is one of the most beautiful folk costumes. The final version of the project was consulted with the staff of the Ethnography Department of the Upper Silesian Museum.
photo: Grzegorz Goik – archives of the Municipal Office in Bytom
source: UM Bytom
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