Monument to unborn babies

A monument created by a Catholic action group to commemorate unborn babies, erected at a cemetery in the southern town of Zabkowice Slaskie, has caused many to scratch their heads in bemusement.

The Monument of Conceived and Unborn Babies, which is located in the avenue of the honoured at a Silesian cemetery, was the idea of the local Catholic Action group headed by priest Marek Zoltenski.

The monument shows various parts of a woman, a mother – legs, breasts, legs and vagina – in a abstract form which is not the to the taste of many who like their sculptures a little more representative in style.

“What’s the point of showing breasts without a head? And what are all these contorted children’s faces and tree branches which resemble spread legs for?” a local resident Magdalena Pokryszka told the Polska daily. Another resident of the town says that she has written a letter to the local mayor asking who agreed to erect such a “hideous” monument and why it depicts only a woman and not a man.

“It looks like a complete amateur who has no idea about composition and form made that trash. Instead of placing the pseudo sculpture in a public respected place the poor mediocrity should rather put it in their room or garden. At least then it would not hurt people’s eyes,” says Maria Bor, sculptor and expert on modern art.

Local scouts who helped erect the monument say that they did not see its design beforehand. “At the Catholic Action’s request I signed a petition to free the monument from cemetery fees, but I had no idea it was so hideous,” says Beata Klita from then Polish Scouting and Guiding Association. Local authorities cite the same argument.

“If I were the author of the monument, I would try to make it easier and clearer in reception,” says the mayor of Zabkowice Slaskie Krzysztof Kotowicz and adds that one man’s garbage is another man’s art. (mg)