Oskar Hansen's Unrealized 1958 Auschwitz Countermemorial Challenged East-West Art Binaries
In 1957, an international contest for a memorial at Auschwitz-Birkenau was initiated by survivors in Vienna, collaborating with the International Union of Architects. The jury, led by Henry Moore, featured members such as Odette Elina, Giuseppe Perugini, Jacob Bakema, August Zamoyski, and Pierre Courthion. A total of over 400 submissions from 36 nations were received. A groundbreaking proposal from a Polish team, headed by Oskar Hansen, envisioned a 'countermemorial' consisting of a 70-meter-wide, 1,000-meter-long black tarmac road that would maintain the foundations while eliminating vertical markers. Although initially popular, the design encountered pushback from survivors. Moore raised doubts about whether art could convey the atrocities of Auschwitz, resulting in no winner being chosen. Hansen later withdrew, leading to a compromise memorial in 1967. His work significantly impacted Polish public sculpture and questioned Cold War narratives, as explored in Katarzyna Murawska-Muthesius's essay.
Key facts
- The International Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Competition launched in 1957.
- Henry Moore chaired the jury, which included international artists and architects.
- Over 400 designs were submitted from 36 countries.
- Oskar Hansen's team proposed a black tarmac road as a 'countermemorial'.
- The road was 70 meters wide and 1,000 meters long, cutting diagonally across the camp.
- The jury initially favored Hansen's design but did not declare a winner.
- Hansen withdrew, and a compromise memorial was erected in 1967.
- The essay critiques East-West binaries in post-1945 art history.
Entities
Artists
- Oskar Hansen
- Zofia Hansen
- Jerzy Jarnuszkiewicz
- Julian Palka
- Henry Moore
- Odette Elina
- August Zamoyski
- Pierre Courthion
- Julio Lafuente
- Pietro Cascella
- Andrea Cascella
- Maurizio Vitale
- Giorgio Simoncini
- Tommaso Valle
- Pericle Fazzini
- Katarzyna Murawska-Muthesius
- Darek Mitura
- Maryla Sitkowska
- Jolanta Gola
- Andrew Causey
- Robert Burstow
- Axel Lapp
- Paul Wood
- Rosalind Krauss
- Christo
- Romuald Gutt
- Jerzy Soltan
- Jerzy Zachwatowicz
- Irena Grzesiuk-Olszewska
- James E. Young
- Jochen Spielmann
- Monica Bohm-Duchen
- Wojciech Wlodarczyk
- Anna Król
- Hanna Kotkowska-Bareja
- Andrzej Oseka
- Wojciech Skrodzki
- Donald Hall
- Roger Berthoud
Institutions
- International Union of Architects
- Henry Moore Institute
- Henry Moore Foundation
- Museum of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw
- MIT
- UNESCO
- International Congress of Modern Architects (CIAM)
- National Museum in Warsaw
- Birkbeck College, University of London
- Royal Academy of Art
- Oxford University Press
- Yale University Press
- Prestel
- State Museum of Auschwitz
- Noack foundry
- Comité
Locations
- Auschwitz-Birkenau
- Poland
- Vienna
- Austria
- London
- United Kingdom
- Leeds
- Perry Green
- Warsaw
- MIT
- United States
- Milan
- Italy
- Rotterdam
- Netherlands
- Paris
- France
- West Berlin
- Germany
- Otterlo
- Strasbourg
- New Haven
- Washington
- Moscow
- Russia