Time travel from Berlin to Gdańsk: Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki’s 18th century journey revisited – contemporary renderings and Interpretations

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki’s journey on horseback from Berlin to his hometown Danzig in 1773 is well documented through a diary and a carefully constructed series of more than 100 drawings. These give valuable insights into the artist’s observations and serve as rare documents of a city and landscape which was lost and in part reconstructed. As a man of diverse cultural roots, Chodowiecki also attempted to position himself within a rapidly changing political framework and, through his images, addressed questions of cultural affiliations and identity. In this, he was as much a forbearer of European ideals, as an inspiration and starting point for a group of Polish artists who in 2018 embarked on a journey in the his footsteps and, reflecting on Chodowiecki’s journal and his drawings, created works, which underline the value of the source materials, whilst picking up on issues such as the transient role of cultural identity, the changing face of travel in a more global yet deeply divided society, or issues of displacement – which remain equally relevant to this day.