The group of figures, titled Unrecognized (Nierozpoznani) by the artist, is the first monumental, open-air sculpture by Magdalena Abakanowicz to be installed in Poland.
Figures - Panorama, Unrecognized, 2002 photo by Maciej Kuszela One hundred twelve headless, iron sculptures by Magdalena Abakanowicz, an exceptional Polish artist renowned throughout the world, have been installed in the Citadel, a vast park located on a hill near the center of the city of Poznań, created in an area previously occupied by a 19th century Prussian fort that was mostly destroyed during World War II. The group of figures, titled Unrecognized (Nierozpoznani) by the artist, is the first monumental, open-air sculpture by Magdalena Abakanowicz to be installed in Poland. It consists of a crowd of two-meter tall, mysterious wanderers in forward strides who express the emotional dimension of contemporary times. Hollowed out, deprived of flesh, they speak to the phenomenon of life and touch upon issues like dignity, courage, survival, describing the presence of Man in the omnipotent political and technical space of today's world. They are a mythical crowd emerging from the nature that surrounds them - from a grove of trees, from the ground, from the clouds above them. Each of them bears the trace of a different spine and each strides in a different direction.
Magdalena Abakanowicz has said of the Unrecognized:
This is my most important production. It is to me a sign of a lingering fear, a confrontation with numbers and with myself." Art critic Danuta Wróblewska was quoted by "Gazeta Wyborcza" as saying: "In this work the artist attempts to answer the question, What is Man in pure form? She also asks, From where are we coming? Who are we? Where are we heading? How and in what way are we changing history? Which instinct is strongest in Man?
