Barbara Dunin
I was born in Cracow on February 17, 1983, as the daughter of Piotr and Danuta Dunin, and the younger sister of Piotr Włast. I graduated from the August Witkowski 5th High School in Cracow, class with extended course of French language. From an early age until the end of high school I practiced equestrian sports in the jumping section. After passing the high school final exams I studied Film Studies at the Jagiellonian University for one semester, after which I began studying at the Faculty of Industrial Forms at Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow.
During the first year at the Academy, I attended part-time at the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing in Warsaw. In 2004 I spent several months in New York City, where, in addition to work, I gained experience on American film sets. As part of a scholarship program, I completed the first semester of the third year at the École Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg. Upon returning to Krakow, I defended my diploma in Visual Communication Design, obtaining a Bachelor's Degree. Thanks to the artistic scholarship from the French Government, I spent the first year of my master's studies at the prestigious and demanding L’École de Design Nantes Atlantique in Nantes. In 2008 I defended my diploma in Industrial Design and completed my studies at Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow with a Master's Degree. That same year I was admitted to the Film Directing Department at the Conservatoire Libre du Cinéma Français in Paris, where I began studying from the second year.
In 2011 I moved to Warsaw, where I studied film directing part-time at the Academy of Film and Television for two years. However, I gradually began to drift away from the film world, devoting more and more time and energy to painting and analog collages. I have been painting and creating collages for as long as I can remember and these forms of artistic expression have always been present in my life to a greater or lesser extent. In 2012 I obtained the status of a Full Member of the Association of Polish Visual Artists and at the end of 2015 I opened my own art studio in Warsaw's Żoliborz district.
In 2018 I returned to Cracow, where I continued my artistic activities until 2021. At the end of 2021 I organized a charity auction of all my painting works in support of the Pani Ani Foundation, which supports young adults who have undergone cancer treatment. In March 2022 I organized a charity auction of collages, donating all proceeds to help Ukrainian animals.
In mid-2022 I completed a yoga instructor course and began my teaching path. In 2023 I published an album featuring my paintings enriched with original texts, intended to culminate and conclude over two decades of my painting period.
I have participated in many charitable activities. I volunteered at a Senior Center and in the Polish Association of the Deaf. I took part in support groups, addiction and trauma therapies, self-development workshops, self-awareness sessions, sessions dedicated to working with emotions, music therapies and movement and body therapies. I have become acquainted with the issues faced by elderly people, the deaf, the blind, those with difficult experiences and those from dysfunctional backgrounds.
I am fluent in English, have a communicative level in French and I am constantly learning Polish Sign Language (PJM). I used to study Spanish and the Shipibo language, but it was too long ago and for too short a time for anything significant to remain from it.
I love art - both classical and contemporary. I also love writing. I enjoy movement, activity and working with the body. I like to travel - not just to see something unknown, but more to experience life somewhere else. I am passionate about self-development and acquiring knowledge and I am driven by the opportunity to help others.
For seven years in Warsaw I worked as an assistant dealing with restitution and compensation for properties expropriated by the state, which provided me with a solid foundation to handle family properties affected by the same issue.
After my father's death in 2020, I became one of the three co-owners of the palace-park complex in Głębowice. It was quite an unexpected situation for me, but I believe I will rise to the challenge that lies ahead. I will make every effort to restore the place, which will revive its history and at the same time build its future.
M. Eng. Architect Danuta Dunin
In 1972, Danuta Dunin defended her diploma at the Faculty of Architecture of the Tadeusz Kościuszko University of Technology in Krakow, obtaining the title of Master of Engineering in Architecture. Five years later, she completed a three-year postgraduate program in the Conservation of Architectural and Urban Heritage at the Institute of History of Architecture and Conservation of Monuments at the Krakow University of Technology.
Working from 1973 to 1991 at the Department of Architecture and Conservation of Monuments of the Krakow University of Technology under Prof. Wiktor Zin, she, along with her team, carried out adaptive, conceptual-urban, architectural-conservation projects, among others, in the Decius Palace, Niepołomice Castle, at Jan Matejko Square and Holy Spirit Square in Krakow, in the House of Creative Work in Janowice, on the Market Square in Zamość, in the Third Armenian Block, as well as small architecture, pavements, fences, and lighting of the Krakow Planty or the pavements of old Krakow.
In 1992, she founded her own design studio, Projekt Ekspres, where she carried out architectural and construction works as well as conservation projects of tenements within and in close proximity to the Old Town in Krakow (e.g., at ul. Szpitalna 40, św. Tomasz 35, Krótka 4, Dolne Młyny, św. Marka 7,9, Krowoderska 57, Jan Matejko Square), tenements in Warsaw (e.g., at ul. Kazimierzowska), adaptations of manorial buildings (e.g., granary and outbuildings in Gierałtowiczki), extensions, superstructures, and conceptual designs of contemporary and historic objects (e.g., manor house in Odonów, manor house in Hucisko), architectural and construction projects of modern apartment buildings (e.g., Villa Botanica at ul. Żółkiewskiego in Krakow), or conceptual designs for amusement parks, and much, much more.
Thanks to Danuta's over 20 years of efforts, the palace-park complex in Głębowice returned to the Dunin family. Already in the 1970s, as part of the postgraduate program in Conservation and Urban Planning, Danuta prepared a very detailed adaptation project for the palace in Głębowice, which only indicates her early interest in heritage.
