Getting to know Łódź through its street art

Street Art, Graffiti, Lodz, Poland, Etam Crew

 The Polish city of Łódź first came on my radar after reading an interview with film Director, David Lynch. Captivated by the city, he went on to use it as a filming location for Inland Empire (2006).

The more I read about Łódź, the more I wanted to visit. Aside fulfilling my Lynchian desires, I was also keen to explore the city’s street art.

Street Art in Łódź

Before heading to Łódź, I did a little research and found a group on facebook called Street Art in Łódź, and was astounded by the amount of street art that was being posted and shared in the group. Not only that, but most photos in the group also detailed the location of each work to make finding them easier. Yey!

In addition to this, I stumbled across the Urban Forms website, and was amazed to find a comprehensive map of the city that pinpointed out a significant amount of street art. So, with a little help already in hand, my plan was to explore Łódź through its street art.

With the map provided by Urban Forms, I followed the location of each one, and soon realised it was the perfect way to explore the city. I walked down residential flats that I wouldn’t have ventured down otherwise, and got to see a more local side of Łódź away from the Manufaktura and Piotrkowska street.

There’s a lot of street art in Łódź, and I don’t just mean the odd slapdash piece of graffiti. The street art has turned Łódź into a sort of outdoor public gallery, and it’s a big part of the urban development plan underway in Łódź.

Below you will find some of my favourite wall murals. Please note, as is the nature of street art, sometimes murals stay up for a while, and sometimes they are gone the next day. 

Therefore, please do keep in mind that several of these murals may have disappeared, or been painted over. If this turns out to be the case, I hope they have been replaced by other wall murals for you to enjoy.

Hygienic Dress League, street art, graffiti, Lodz, Poland, big bird

Created by: Hygienic Dress League

This colourful bird by Detroit based street artists, HDL,  can be found tucked away on Miedziana Street nearby the Museum of Cinematography.

Lodz Street art, girl, graffiti, flats, Sainer

 

Created by: Sainer

It’s difficult to miss this huge mural that fills the length of a five-storey block of flats. 

Created by Sainer, a street artist who hails from Warsaw. I love how this particular wall mural transforms a rather mundane looking apartment block into something bright and eye-catching.

Street art, Sainer, Graffiti, Lodz, Poland

Etam crew, sainer, poland, lodz, street art, graffiti

Street art, Lodz, Poland, graffiti, Aryz

Created by: Aryz

This beautiful mural titled ‘Love Letters’ can be found at 67 Pomorska street. 

Łódź: A muse to creativity?

As I’ve said before, Łódź isn’t stereotypically pretty, and it doesn’t seem too bothered about trying to be either. And I think, in a way, this is why Łódź has become an unlikely muse for creative types. There’s a certain allowance for free expression that comes in a place that doesn’t concern itself with keeping up appearances in the typical way. Instead it puts street art on residential blocks of flats, or a quiet street to brighten up the local scenery.

The brilliant thing about street art is that it’s a low cost, high impact way to transform a city. Tax payers won’t be grumbling about their money being spent on something that they won’t get a chance to enjoy for themselves. And speaking of communal enjoyment – that’s exactly what street art does, it creates conversation and debate, and at the very least it brings visual stimulation – whether you like the look of it or not.

Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing. And even if you don’t come up with a picture to cure world poverty you can make someone smile while they’re having a piss .

Street art, graffiti, lodz, poland, gregor

You can find this one on Jaracza street.

Graffiti, Street art, Lodz, Poland, Jaracza

Street art in Lodz, Poland

I’m not sure what it is, any ideas? I think it looks like a snake made out of toilet paper lol.

I found this one somewhere along Traugutta street… but I didn’t make a note of the exact location. Either way, I’m sure you’ll find more street art if you don’t manage to spot this one. That’s the great thing about exploring Łódź – each street holds something different.

Street art, Piotrakowska, Lodz, Poland, mural, famous people

Apparently this mural depicts famous Polish people, but in reality, there is supposedly very little resemblance. I’m not sure whether that was intentional or not – I hope so!

Biggest street art in lodz, poland, large

The largest street art in Łódź!

Street art, lodz, poland, flats

One of the smaller ones I came across, I chanced upon this on Przemyslowa street whilst walking to the Jewish Cemetery. It just goes to show that every corner seems to reveal a new surprise.

Street art in Lodz, Poland After my visit in December 2012, I visited again in June 2013 and spotted this one in a car park!

Where to stay in Łódź

There are plenty of places to stay in Łódź but each time I stay at Hotel Grand purely because scenes from Lynch’s Inland Empire were shot inside. It’s located on Piotrkowska street so you can’t beat it for location.

It’s impressive to think it opened its doors to the public in 1888 and has been running ever since. It’s also recently undergone a large-scale renovation so I imagine it’s pretty swanky now.

Further information

Visiting Łódź and need more inspiration on things to see and do? See this post for more suggestions.

Searching for Street art in Łódź, Poland

What city is your favourite for street art?

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21 Responses

    1. Hopefully it’s still there when I revisit, it will be interesting to feel the atmosphere of Lodz in the summer. It’s beautiful in the winter but the days are so short, making looking for street art almost possible after 4pm!

    1. Hi thanks for the link – looks like the recent developments of street art creates a hub of conversations in and out of Lodz which is exactly what the street needs!

  1. As a Łódź citizen i have to admit, that there is a lot of street art graphics in the city center, and i’m sure that i don’t know about 50% of them. It’s really nice to be surprised from time to time 🙂

  2. Thanks for posting street art of Lodz. I have collected images from around the world (using Google earth Street view). I believe you would be interested–the Brazilians do amazing things. I have posted London, Paris, Melbourne, Rio, Lisbon, etc. on FaceBook. Find me–I am the male Carroll Bible–and look under Photos/Albums.

    1. Hello Carroll! Google Earth is an amazing tool isn’t it?! Just checked out your collection, you’ve amassed some great images… and yes, Brazil is high on my list of places to experience!

      1. Thank you for checking out the photo albums of street art. You may have noted my partiality for Brazil. I caught the travel bug there as a teenager when I spent a year studying and traveling with the missionary program of my church. The desire to become a missionary faded, but the interest in the world has only grown.

        I added a new album last night after reading in the news that a section of the Berlin Wall that has hosted street art over the past few decades is being removed for construction. The more I study street art the more I see it as an avenue to understanding the world.

        I had already explored Berlin on Street View, but never came close to finding the East Side Gallery. Even alerted to the news event I could not find it. Only when I located an article that gave the street address could I see it on Street View.

        I realize you are chock full of busy with your delightful blog. But if you ever come across good street art and pass the street address to me, I would love to explore ‘long distance’. If I can use it on FaceBook I would give your blog credit. Just a suggestion–more like a plea.

        Carroll

  3. Hi! I couldn’t resist after the lecture of your vist to Łódź and I want to show you some new street art, my favourite:
    http://gfx.dlastudenta.pl/fotoalbum/7d3/d5b/cad/324/970271
    This great, cute weasels with eggs/nuts(?) are near to my flat, so I can admire it very often.

    And also this one, with an old woman holding her friend 😉
    http://gfx.mmka.pl/newsph/450309/1315613.3.jpg

    And the last one I want to tell you is a Light Move Festival, which is in October. This is a stunning event, when Łódź are living all night, parks are colorful and there are performances on buildings made with light, voices and music. See some pictures:
    http://lodz.naszemiasto.pl/artykul/galeria/light-move-festival-2012-na-piotrkowskiej-w-lodzi-rozpoczal,1582261,t,id.html

  4. Hi Asia, sorry about the late reply. Looks like I need to get back to Lodz!! I saw the old woman holding her friend but I couldn’t stop because I was in car, it’s fantastic. Thanks for letting me know about the Light Move festival, I’d love to experience it. Thanks again for sharing more information about Lodz, it’s a city which is constantly changing and its nice to keep updated with it.

  5. Great article about Lodz. A real open -air museum . I’ve just published about Lodz too. 🙂

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