The artificial palm tree at the intersection of Jerozolimskie Avenue and Nowy Świat Street in central Warsaw has shed its leaves. Its designer Joanna Rajkowska has decided the time has come to modernize the palm, which is almost five years old. This involves replacing both the trunk and leaves. The structure, which has been badly knocked about by the wind, has not only lost its looks but could pose a threat to the safety of city traffic.

The palm will soon be secured by scaffolding and a net. But Rajkowska lacks the money to carry out the renovation work. The National Securities Depository (KDPW) has come up with half of the sum, zl.70,000. If there are no other serious sponsors, Rajkowska hopes to collect the remaining sum needed from the city's residents, friends and fans of the palm.

Contributions to save the palm are already flowing into a special account of Anda Rotenberg's Institute for Art Promotion. Donation certificates or "bricks" are also available for zl.200. Rajkowska is offering a piece of a real palm leaf with her project's logo and stamp.

The palm on the Rondo de Gaulle'a traffic circle has become part of the Warsaw landscape, but continues to stir controversy. It is famous around the world. Prestigious foreign newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and Süddeutsche Zeitung, have described the palm as a symbol of the new Polish reality.

Rajkowska intended to use the palm to change the identity of the surrounding area and, on a wider scale, to influence the mindset of Varsovians and Poles as a nation. Rajkowska believes that many of the capital's residents still think in stereotypes and cannot open up to other cultures or find common ground with other people. "I am putting a tree in place and treat it as an element of communication between people which is non-verbal and does not engage their intellect," says Rajkowska.

The palm's opponents claim that it is culturally alien to Warsaw. The exotic tree is in fact, a kind of souvenir from Rajkowska's trip to Israel. It is a characteristic feature of Jerusalem that has been duplicated on Warsaw's Jerozolimskie (Jerusalem) Avenue.

The street also has other connotations, known only to a few Varsovians. Jerozolimskie Avenue refers to the Nowa Jerozolima (New Jerusalem) settlement established at the end of the 18th century in Warsaw for Jewish residents.

The palm refers to the concept of assimilation of other cultures and of a multicultural society. Rajkowska believes that the palm has not yet fulfilled its goal because, she argues, strongly rightist groups are in power in Poland and the country is closing in on itself.

Under the plans, modernization work on the palm is to be completed by June 1.
Anyone who wants to help preserve the palm can go to www.rajkowska.com for more details.