The Trzepak*
A social sculpture and workshop-based project about community, place, and imagination. Based in Łódż, Poland.

2023

*A trzepak (CHEH-pock, carpet-beater) is a monument to a communist past that still exists in the urban landscape of former Eastern Bloc countries and regions. Neighbors hung their household carpet over their closest trzepak, beat the dirt and dust out of it and brought it home. Trzepaki were usually placed in central, semi-public spaces such as in the courtyards of apartment complexes. Although intended to serve a specific function, the tzrepak soon also became a community meeting place. Children in surrounding buildings used it as a makeshift playground and climbing structure, and local teens used it as a place to hang out. The trzepak was a place where the private and public met.




Part 1:
The Workshops

This project started as a workshop series with textiles students at the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódż, and eventually grew to include the tenants of Piotrkowska 36/38 (a building complex in the city’s downtown), and Stowarzyszenie dla Rodziny, a non-profit organization that was housed in the complex, which supported eldercare, people with physical and intellectual disabilities, and those experiencing mental illness.

Inspired by its role in play and as a meeting place, the students chose to create a set of floor cushions that could be placed around the trzepak to facilitate conversation. Over the course of the academic year, I led six textile workshops during which students, tenants, and the non-profit’s clients and staff created fabric elements based on the project themes, which were used to create fifteen large floor cushions. These were freely used by the community as extra seating at dinner parties and events, and reflected their makers as well as Polish folk art and craft traditions. The cushions officially debuted during a neighborhood celebration in the courtyard of Piotrkowska 36/38. There, the different groups of students, residents, and other participants had a chance to meet, and the project was widely shared on social media. Afterwards, the cushions continued to be used as seating in the courtyard and at a neighboring cafe.