Joanna Rajkowska Greetings from Jerusalem Avenue The Charles de Gaulle Roundabout in , opening of the project: 12.12.2002, planned until 12.12.2003, continued until today. Production: CCA Ujazdowski Castle; Collaboration: Institute for Promotion of Art Foundation, Pracownia Konstrukcji, and the authorities of the capital city of Warsaw phot. Mariusz Michalski

The most renowned installation in the public space of Warsaw takes the form of an artificial palm tree 15 meters in height. The project, originally anticipating an entire row of trees, has its origins in the artist’s 2001 journey to . Rajkowska wanted to convey a view natural for the streets of Israel to a War- saw street, whose name is identified with the country. The intentions of this were to remind about the Jewish community that once represented a significant portion of Warsaw’s residents as well as to give a concrete context to the name Jerusalem Avenue, which has been considered unclear in meaning. It was also a kind of experiment, examining whether Polish society is ready to accept an element so alien to the Polish landscape. The palm tree aroused long-term controversy, which not only involved the fact that it was situated in one of the city’s busiest intersections, but also its maintenance costs, as well as its difficult legal and political issues. The work was repeatedly used in a variety of actions, demonstra- tions, and protests regarding current events and socially important problems. At the present time, it no longer evokes such strong emotions; the work has become a recognizable object and a popular symbol of Warsaw, to which the residents have become accustomed. For some it is a surreal „monument of a good mood,” others notice the critical potential in it. The work of Joanna Rajkowska continually returns as an essential point of reference in discussions concerning the development of the most appropriate concept of the existence of artistic objects in public space. In October of 2014, the Artists Archives of the Museum of Modern Art disclosed the archive of Joanna Rajkowska’s work online. The archive contains materials devoted to the first in , and of such great significance, work in public space. It consists of photographs, newspaper articles, films, and documents related to the object itself, as well as the process of its formation and the events organized around it. Presented on a tablet are the photographs collected as part of the action Zbuduj z nami archiwum Palmy (Build the Palm Tree’s Archive With Us), revealing the personal nature of the involvement of the many people in the phenomenon of this palm tree, which functions both in public space and individual imagination. Joanna Rajkowska (b. 1968) – studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków in the studio of Jerzy Nowosielski, as well as art history at the in Kraków. Her early works were connected with corporality, self-knowledge, memory, and the disintegration of the body. Presently, she is known primarily for the public projects she has carried out in the urban fabric. In 2007, she was awarded the prestigious Polityka Passport Award for „the remarkable projects implemented public space, and for reaching out a hand towards those wandering the city.”