Alina Szapocznikow Documents. Works. Interpretations
Tomáš Pospiszyl Alena Šapočniková: Prague years of an aspiring sculptress

How did Alina Szapocznikow become a sculptress? This is a question that will probably remain unanswered. All we can do is analyze the few existing archival documents and personal recollections from 1943 to 1947.

The paper, based on newly conducted research, will try to trace Szapocznikow’s anabasis though different ghettos and concentration camps and reconstruct her early years in Prague. The presentation will include memories of Szapocznikow’s schoolmates and friends at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, selections from previously unpublished correspondence from Szapocznikow’s archive and newly discovered documents from various archives in the Czech Republic. The juxtaposition of this material may help to explain historical, cultural and political contexts that shaped Szapocznikow’s formative years.