Piotr Skrzynecki Monument (Skawińska Street)
Kraków Artists: Theatre, Cabaret and Film
A monument in Kazimierz at Skawińska Street 8, unveiled on 27 November 1998 in front of the Second Department of Internal Medicine of the Jagiellonian University Medical College, dedicated to Piotr Skrzynecki, creator and animator of the Piwnica pod Baranami cabaret. It shows two acrobats: a man standing on movable blocks, on whose shoulder a woman stands with raised arms; in his outstretched hand the man holds a bell, Skrzynecki's inseparable attribute. The plinth bears the inscription "In memory of Piotr Skrzynecki". The bronze was funded by Prof. Andrzej Szczeklik, head of the clinic, a long-time friend and physician of Skrzynecki; the sculpture is by Karol Gąsienica Szostak.
History
The monument was unveiled on 27 November 1998 in Kazimierz, at 8 Skawińska Street, in front of the 2nd Department of Internal Medicine of the Jagiellonian University Medical College. The sculpture shows two acrobats: a man standing on movable blocks and a woman standing on his shoulder with her arms raised. In the hand he holds out for balance, the man has a little bell - Piotr Skrzynecki's inseparable attribute. The pedestal bears the inscription "In memory of Piotr Skrzynecki". The sculptor was Karol Gąsienica Szostak.
The bronze was funded by Professor Andrzej Szczeklik, head of the clinic and the artist's friend of many years. Skrzynecki was his patient for almost twenty years, and Szczeklik used his award from the Foundation for Polish Science to pay for his friend's monument.
In 1956 Piotr Skrzynecki founded an artists' club in the cellars of the Palace Under the Rams on the Main Market Square, which grew into the Piwnica pod Baranami cabaret. Songs, short stage pieces and outdoor shows were created there. Skrzynecki ran the cabaret until his death in 1997.
Did you know?
For the last five years of his life, Professor Szczeklik's clinic was a second home for Skrzynecki. He called it the "hotel of dreams".