On Friday 30 May, the BWA Awangarda Gallery held the formal opening of the Velodream bicycle exhibition organised as part of 4. International Biennale of Outdoor Art. The bicycle-related meetings, events and activities in Wroclaw will continue for three months until the end of August. Next weekend on 7 June, the residents of Wroclaw, or at least some of them, will have a unique opportunity to visit the velodrome, a special arena for track cycling, on ul. Żmigrodzka. The arena, which was erected in 1930, served as a training ground for Józef Grundmann and the Olympic medallist Janusz Kierzkowski. Those who decide to join the picnic will be able to take part in a race and see Luc Battison's bicycle sound system, which is known as Godziella. The next bicycle picnic has been scheduled for 8 June in Tołpa Park on ul. Nowowiejska. The picnic's programme includes various games and competitions, bicycle shows and service workshops.
BWA's Head Marek Puchała, who is a keen cyclist and bicycle constructor himself, recommends the Biennale's bicycle and artistic events.
"I'm a collector of unusual bicycles myself," says Marek Puchała. "I collect and assemble bicycles, but I tend not to go over the top. I happen to buy various spare parts at bargain prices and then they gather dust for a long time until I finally use them to create a bicycle that is both useful and pleasing to the eye. The Internet is a great place to search for spare parts without even leaving your home. You can sit for hours and browse websites devoted to bicycles. I can buy a really rubbish bicycle if I only spot that it shows some hidden potential. I assemble bicycles for my friends and I have become a sort of brand, but I don't do this to make money. It's my hobby, or a passion, as they say.
I have caught a cyclosis, which is how I call by bicycle disease, because I'm a guy from the mountains. As a child, as MTB's were yet to come, I was using a riding bicycle all the time, with these wafer-thin tyres they have. It was out of necessity that I took tarmac roads, downhill rides and doglegs in the vicinity of Jakuszyce and Szklarska Poręba, and I did not even realise that there were any flat areas to cross on a bicycle. I was involved in a number of accidents, including a head-on collision with a DDR-produced bus. Luckily, I came intact, because the bus had a soft bonnet, and before the driver realised what had happened I was already on my way (laugh). When I grew out of this craze to ride downhill I took to DIY. I started to learn more about bicycles and how to put them together. This gives you real satisfaction. I don't assemble line-produced bicycles, I do hybrids that are suited to the needs of the people that wish to use them.
I'm too old to take part in races, they do not make me tick any more. I can hardly enjoy the competition between the amateurs of fat tyres and those who prefer thin tyres and close-fitting outfits. I prefer trail cycling. Trails uphill are there to climb on your bicycle and then to go down. This gives you a lot of pleasure and I recommend the activity to all of those who find it difficult to relax and take their minds off work.
When you have covered these two trails, it's finally the time for the last stage of your cyclosis. And I don't mean collecting bicycles or buying new ones, what I'm after is testing the ideas to create amazing bicycles. The Velodream features a number of such extraordinary machines. You can do almost everything with your bike. There's a bicycle machinery designed specifically to toot a horn, a bicycle with an arm to create murals, a cardboard bike or a bicycle that resembles a motorbike or a futuristic vehicle. Our exhibits have been selected by French curators Blandine Roselle and Sarah Cnudde from the KRAFT Association, but they are just a part of a broader phenomenon. Such exhibits are designed and created all over the world, but we focus primarily on those functions of theirs that promote physical activity and let people go out to the country. This year's OUT OF STH is more than just tourist or sports attractions. It sets out to fulfil an ambition to unite all the cyclists. That's why I would like to invite everybody to Wroclaw's velodrome, which is usually unavailable to the public and can be accessed by racing maniacs only. We will try to bring together the amateurs of close-fitting outfits with those who love fat tyres and baggy clothes and city cyclists as well. The city will have an opportunity to turn into a never-ending velodrome because the bicycle is not an artistic theme, but a part of our everyday reality".
Noted by Agnieszka Kołodyńska
OUT OF STH - 4. International Biennale of Outdoor Art, 30 May - 31 August 2014. Velodream exhibition at the BWA Awangarda Gallery (ul. Wita Stwosza 32)
FAMILY AND BICYCLE PICNICS Welodrom, ul. Żmigrodzka 243 7 June 11:00-16:00 Picnic on the Velodrome cycling races, children's races, mobile offset workshop, service workshop Organised in collaboration with the BIKE DAYS Bicycle Film Festival Tołpa Park, on ul. Nowowiejska and Prusa 8 June, 12:00-17:00 Picnic in Tołpa Park as part of the Wroclaw Bicycle Festival 12:00 - Chic Racing Pack from Plac Nowy Targ 14:00 Bajk Piknik in Tołpa Park ames and competitions, bicycle shows and service workshops, offset workshop and live music. There are also bicycles to win. To find out more please visit: http://rowerowy.wroclaw.pl/swieto/ Actiivities in collaborations with the Wroclaw Bicycle Festival MIASTOPROJEKT - EDUCATIONAL AND EXHIBITIONS SERIES Studio, ul. Ruska 46a, 3rd floor 20 June at 19:00 Studio's opening and new ideas: MIASTOPROJEKT Vernissage: Artists: Karolina Freino, Karolina Zajączkowska, Krystian Czaplicki Truth, Zbiok Czajkowski, Paweł Kowzan, Piotr Skiba, Kama Sokolnicka, Piotr Kmita curators: Joanna Stembalska, Zbiok Czajkowski SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS BWA Garden 30 May - 30 June Ekorebelia 1-31 July Cyclists in photos from the Magazyn Rowerowy
