The Fort Kosocice Foundation was established in 2023 by the sculptor Mirosław Baca and the Krakow artist Anna Weronika Zięciak.
The initiative to revitalize Fort Kosocice and create a place for art residencies is an undertaking that is part of the overall strategy of protecting and revitalizing the facilities of the historic Fortress Krakow, earmarking them for museum and cultural activities in order to make them available to the city’s residents. We cooperate closely with the city government authorities, the City Conservator, cultural institutions as well as historians, scientists, architects, artists and other organizations in Poland and abroad.
The International Art Residency Center is a project involving the construction and creation of professional studios for artists, the adaptation of the fort building for their accommodation and the provision of creative stays. Fort Kosocice is located in the southern outskirts of the city and includes the historic building of Fort 50 ½ W (West) and a 4-hectare green area with embankments, moats, a caponier, and a fighting plain. The entire area will be revitalized in accordance with scientific studies and conservator’s guidelines, transformed into a publicly accessible Sculpture Park implemented as part of the Foundation’s statutory programs. Currently, Fort Kosocice houses ceramics, scenography and sculpture studios. The facility is entered in the register of monuments and is part of the historic Fortress Kraków built during the Austro-Hungarian partition.
The statutory goals of the Fort Kosocice Foundation are to obtain funds for the construction of the International Art Residency Center, carry out conservation and revitalization works on the Fort, organize art residencies, create a collection for the Sculpture Park, support artists by implementing artistic and cultural projects on a regional, national and international scale. We focus on fine arts with special emphasis on sculpture and ceramics. We implement projects related to the protection of monuments, cultural heritage, popularization of folk art and artistic crafts.
The Fort Kosocice Foundation team consists of artists, art conservators, people involved in culture, and enthusiasts of art and history.
Mirosław Baca (Founder, President of the Board) is a world-renowned sculptor who has been creating large-format works in public spaces for many years, organizing exhibitions and artistic events in Japan, the United States, Mexico and European countries. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, a scholarship holder of the Mexican and Japanese governments, a former lecturer in sculpture at the Hokkaido University in Japan. A member of the Royal Society of Sculptors in London since 2005. He currently works in a studio on the premises of Fort Kosocice.
The artist’s achievements include solo exhibitions in Poland (Butohsfera Warsaw, Dom pod Jedlami Zakopane, Collegium Broscianum Krakow), Japan (Iwamizawa JR Station, Sapporo Clock Tower Gallery, Ube Biennale), the United States (Margaret Thatcher Project New York, Cochran Gallery, Lamar Dood Center LaGrange Georgia, R. MacNamara Foundation Maine, I-Park Foundation Connecticut), Denmark (Hollufgård Skulpturpark Odense), Canada (KIRA New Brunswick), India (Craft Beton Project), Mexico (Jardin de las Esculturas Xalapa Veracruz) and group exhibitions in Italy, France, Great Britain, Japan, the United States, Canada, Mexico, India, Denmark. Awarded in Poland, Great Britain, Japan, Italy (Ube Biennale, Kraków City Scholarship, Premio Trinacria, Kajima Sculpture Competition). Artist Residency programs in Denmark, Canada, India, the United States, Japan, Mexico and Switzerland. As a sculptor, he collaborates or has collaborated with many cultural institutions (Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Kraków, Lamar Dodd Art Center in the United States, Instituto Veracruzano de la Cultura in Mexico), artists and architects (Masashi Futakami, Ken Yasuda, Archidea Łódź, Rawlins Design New York).
Portfolio:
Anna Weronika Zięciak (Founder, Board Member) deals with scenography, photography, choreography (education in psychology (WSE), ceramics (AGH)). For over 20 years she has been running a ceramics studio at Fort Kosocice, closely cooperating with the CANDELUNA brand. Participant of fairs both in Poland and abroad (Folk Art Fairs in Kraków, Gdansk, Wrocław, Potsdam Art Fair, Berlin Art Fair). She has collaborated on scenographic projects in Kraków, Warsaw, Wrocław for numerous theaters and Polish Television. She co-created the Fortress Kraków Museum on the Tadeusz Kościuszko Mound, is a co-founder of the photography group Fotoplastikon (exhibitions in Kraków: Provincial Library, Small Market Square). She worked at Radio RMF and Radio Alfa. As the hostess of a historic fortress building (a ceramics studio, the seat of the Foundation), Anna Weronika Zięciak has been carrying out artistic projects related to preserving and “saving” old fragments of wooden architecture in combination with elements of newly created ceramics referring to the folk culture of the region.
Porfolio:
Michał Czerski (Program Counsil Member) is an entrepreneur operating in the cultural sector. As the President of the Management Board of IMAGO Centrum Sztuki Ludowej Sp. z o.o., he is the main figure behind the organization of prestigious cultural and trade fair events in the heart of Kraków, with particular emphasis on the International Fair of Folk Art and the Fair of Borderlands of Cultures. These events provide a unique platform where artists, craftsmen and folk creators can present their work to a wide audience.
With passion and commitment, Michał Czerski serves as a manager in the cultural sector, while also acting as a patron of crafts and artistic handicrafts. His dedication to the welfare of craftsmen and folk creators is evident in every aspect of his activity.
He is dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Poland’s cultural heritage. Thanks to his activities, folk art and artistic crafts become more visible and accessible to all. He is an innovator introducing modern elements to traditional cultural events, which ensures their timelessness and lasting significance. As a patron of these fields, it supports creators, enabling them to develop their potential and strengthening Kraków’s position as a centre of Culture and Art.
Marta Bobek (Program Council Member) is a graduate of the Faculty of Conservation of Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków and the History of Art at the Jagiellonian University. For 15 years she has been running the Conservation of Art Studio, where she deals with the renovation of historic paintings and sculptures. She collaborates on the implementation of conservation and construction projects in the field of execution and development of concepts and work programs. She implements artistic projects under the “Dobra Koncepcja” brand in the field of arrangement of historic interiors and revitalization of historic spaces for contemporary utility needs.