The Garden of Hope at the Vistula Boulevards at Podgórska Street was created in 2017 thanks to Hedva Ser, the Israeli-born French artist and sculptor awarded the UNESCO Artist for Peace title in 2011. The gala opening is held during the 41st session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in Kraków. The project comprises four monumental bronze sculptures Tearing, Explosion, Interstice, Reunification, inspired by the kabbalah and donated to the city of Kraków by Hedva Ser. The symbolic interpretation of the fate of the Jewish community in Poland carries a universal message for all nations. The sculptures reveal images of subsequent stages of destruction followed by hope based on the belief that even the destroyed world has the power to be reborn. The works are dedicated to the memory of the artist’s parents; the Polish Jewish couple survived imprisonment in Auschwitz and emigrated to Israel after the end of the war.
“Through these whispering bronzes, the voices of my mother, my father, and lost generations of Poland’s Jewish community will speak of their dreams and peace for the future,” wrote the artist for the first presentation of her sculptures in Poland during the exhibition Destruction and Rebirth at the Galicia Jewish Museum in 2014. (Dorota Dziunikowska, “Karnet” monthly)
