Grand Opening of the Core Exhibition
The Core Exhibition, which explores 1,000 years of Jewish life in Poland, lies at the heart of the Museum and occupies one-third of the building. Developed by an international team of historians, museum experts and Jewish Studies scholars from Poland, the United States, Europe and Israel, it presents the thousand-year long history of Polish Jews, their culture and heritage, which remain a source of inspiration for Poland and the world. This millennium-long journey spans eight galleries – from the earliest period of Jewish settlement until modern times and the gradual revival of Poland’s Jewish community after the fall of communism in 1989. It is a narrative exhibition – visitors are immersed in a story told by artefacts, paintings and interactive installations, replicas and models, video projections and testimonies.
OCTOBER 28 – TUESDAY:
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
The official Opening Ceremony of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews Core Exhibition with the highest state authorities in attendance.
Monument to the Ghetto Heroes Square. Free admission to Sector D.
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
The opening event: concert of David Krakauer, literary spectacle directed by Andrzej Strzelecki and the premiere performance of Tomasz Stańko’s composition dedicated to the POLIN Museum.
The outdoor show in Willy Brandt’s Square. Free admission.
9:00 PM – 12:00 PM
A night tour of the Core Exhibition – A Thousand-Year History of Polish Jews and the temporary exhibition How to Make a Museum
Free admission, prior reservation required.
OCTOBER 29 – WEDNESDAY
10 AM – 11 PM – THE CORE EXHIBITION A THOUSAND-YEAR HISTORY OF POLISH JEWS (last visitors admitted at 10:00 pm)
On October 29-30, we will invite visitors to the Core Exhibition individually. There will be no guided tours for groups with the exception of school groups. School groups can reserve guided tours at 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM. Prior reservation required.
Remaining groups which would like to participate in guided tours are invited to visit the Museum after October 30.
10:00 AM – 11:00 PM – TEMPORARY EXHIBITION: HOW TO MAKE A MUSEUM (last visitors admitted at 10:00 PM)
The exhibition tells a story of how the POLIN Museum came to being, from the first activities undertaken by the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland in 1993, up to the inauguration of the Museum in a new building – 20 years later.
The exhibition reveals detailed process of creating a modern museum – collecting funds and taking diplomatic measures, formulating the mission and the vision of the institution, developing a historical narration, designing, production and implementation of the exhibition, collecting documentation, architectural competition and, finally, construction of the building. Process of preparations for extensive cultural and educational activities will also be presented.
Visitors will be able to follow the history of creating the Museum through written documents, letters and projects pulled out of “office drawers,” as well as films and photographs.
The questions and dilemmas faced at various stages by the Museum creators, as well as the choices they had to make will be revealed: Which of eleven architectural designs should they choose? What kind of logo would best reflect the idea of the Museum? Which exhibitions would work?
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM – EIGHT GALLERIES, EIGHT STORIES: A LIVING LIBRARY
Have you ever had a chance to sit at a table with an exhibition curator and speak to them about challenges he or she had to face? During the Grand Opening of the POLIN Museum, this will be made possible by way of “the living library.” It will be possible to borrow “living books” from there – to meet the creators of respective galleries of the Core Exhibition, to listen to their stories and ask them questions. A face-to-face meeting will enable you to get acquainted with their perspective, obtain more insight into their ideas and broaden your knowledge of historical periods depicted in the exhibitions.
Languages: Polish and English; translation into Polish sign language.
3:00 PM – RAISE THE ROOF: THE GWOŹDZIEC SYNAGOGUE – FILM SCREENING
Special screening of a film retelling the story of Gwoździec Synagogue reconstruction, one of the most spectacular items within the Core Exhibition. When American art historians, Rick and Laura Brown, masterminds of the project, heard about magnificent wooden synagogues unique to the 18th century Poland, they immediately got hooked on the idea to reconstruct one of them. Inevitably, they encountered numerous problems on the way.
How were these multi-ton, elaborate structures erected? What symbols were concealed in magnificent iconography and polychromes, including beautifully painted animals? What was the social status of Polish Jews at the time of cultural and economic development of their community? The film shows a team of over 300 students, lecturers and experts from 16 countries during their three years of work in Poland; the years of struggling with “period” tools and techniques, manual mixing of paints and hewing wooden beams.
Languages: Polish and English
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM – FAMILY WORKSHOPS
We invite parents and children aged between 4-12 to discover the Core Exhibition of the POLIN Museum. Let us have a look at the “Miasteczko” (Shtetl) gallery and at Jewish customs and traditions. Let us take a glimpse into traditional Jewish home - learn about everyday objects, visit a market place and familiarize ourselves with the rules of kashrut. We will also pay a visit to a synagogue and learn about the rituals that take place there. Afterwards, at the Education Center, we will participate in a quiz, trying to match names with particular items from the Jewish home and the synagogue.Finally, we will be able to produce our own stamp with the Exhibition emblem, our own paper gadget from the Exhibition and a mini-model of a synagogue.
Number of places is limited; reservation is required.
Language: Polish
5:00 PM – THE HISTORIAN IN THE MUSEUM – LECTURE BY PROF. ANTONY POLONSKY
Prof. Antony Polonsky, POLIN Museum chief historian, will discuss problems historians encounter while trying to present their vision of the past in the form a museum exhibition. It is a big challenge because scholars usually communicate by way of a written word, while museum exhibitions are composed of images and objects often requiring an additional explanation.
Moreover, in historical texts, it is possible to interpose various reservations and doubts while the message of an exhibition ought to be clear. The lecture will be an attempt at explaining how the contemporary knowledge of history and culture of Polish Jews has been presented at the POLIN Museum Core Exhibition.
Antony Polonsky is Albert Abramson Professor of Holocaust Studies at the Lown Center for Judaica Studies, Brandeis University. He was a founder of the Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies at the University of Oxford.
Languages: Polish and English; translation into a Polish sign language.
6:00 PM – 11:00 PM – FILM SCREENINGS AND MEETINGS WITH FILM DIRECTORS AND PROTAGONISTS
The films presented during the Grand Opening are feature-length documentaries made by experienced authors and acclaimed by critics. They address the issue of the identity of Polish Jews. The stories they tell are not merely interesting portraits of individuals, but also an attempt to find an answer to the question: what does it mean to be a Polish Jew? That is also a question raised by the Core Exhibition. The screenings will provide a starting point for discussions between the audience and the film directors and protagonists on the subject of being Jewish, being Polish and reconciling both identities.
Languages: Polish and English
6:30 PM – My Happiest Day, dir. Michał Bukojemski, 2013
The happiest day was the day when Marian Turski was “selected” to stay alive in Auschwitz. Marian Turski, born Mosze Turbowicz in 1926, speaks about human solidarity in the Łódź Ghetto, about the nightmare of death marches, about finding his rescued mother, about his post-war involvement with the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR), about long years spent at the “Polityka” weekly and about his engagement in the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. As both a participant of events and a distant observer, he guides the audience through several dozen years of the Polish-Jewish history.
8:00 PM – Minkowski | Saga, dir. Rafael Lewandowski, 2013
Marc Minkowski, a world-famous French conductor returns to Warsaw to learn the story of his ancestors – assimilated Jews who had belonged to the elites of the Second Republic. Visiting the Otwock house of his great-grandfather August – son of a Rabbi from Mińsk turned an affluent banker, and exploring life stories of his sons and his grandfather, Eugeniusz, Minkowski shares not only his family saga, but also a typical saga of a Jewish family from Central Europe. It is a film about emptiness filled with memories and music.
8:00 PM – POLIN: MUSEUM GAME (QUESTING)
During the Grand Opening, we invite people young and old to participate in a museum game in which – in a non-standard way – they will be able to explore selected topics presented in the Core Exhibition. While playing, participants will encounter facilitators, storytellers and musicians who will help them discover various aspects of the history and culture of Polish Jews. People who complete the game will be rewarded with a limited issue publication – the “Polin” educational game. The game is an excellent source of information which will broaden your knowledge on Polish-Jewish history.
Number of places limited; reservation required.
Language: Polish.
9:30 PM – THE POLIN CHOIR – project premiere
The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews has invited residents of Warsaw to participate in a unique musical project – to become co-founders of the choir which will prepare its own composition inspired by the legend of Polin.
During the Grand Opening, the composition premiere will take place. We invited professionals and amateurs, youngsters, adults and seniors, and in particular representatives of ethnic minorities, to participate in the project. The word Polin in Hebrew and Yiddish means both “Poland” and also “you will find a resting place here.” Those meanings intermingle in the legend on the arrival of Jews in Poland.
Aside from traditional techniques of work with voice, the choir will develop extraordinary means of expression: sounds, melodies and interpretations will be effects of individual or group explorations in the fields of emission, rhythm and sound.
The workshops will be hosted by Sean Palmer – an independent British artist who has lived and worked in Poland since 1999. He is a founder and conductor of the Gre Badanie – the Experimental Choir Group.
OCTOBER 30 – THURSDAY
10:00 PM – 11:00 PM – CORE EXHIBITION A THOUSAND-YEAR HISTORY OF POLISH JEWS (last visitors are admitted at 10:00 pm)
10:00 PM – 11:00 PM – TEMPORARY EXHIBITION HOW TO MAKE A MUSEUM? (last visitors are admitted at 10:00 pm)
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM – EIGHT GALLERIES, EIGHT STORIES: A LIVING LIBRARY
Have you ever had a chance to sit at a table with an exhibition curator and speak to them about challenges he or she had to face? During the Grand Opening of the POLIN Museum, this will be made possible by way of “the living library.” It will be possible to borrow “living books” from there – to meet the creators of respective galleries of the Core Exhibition, to listen to their stories and ask them questions. A face-to-face meeting will enable you to get acquainted with their perspective, obtain more insight into their ideas and broaden your knowledge of historical periods depicted in the exhibitions.
Languages: Polish and English; translation into Polish sign language.
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM – FAMILY WORKSHOPS
We invite parents and children aged between 4-12 to discover the Core Exhibition of the POLIN Museum. Let us have a look at the “Miasteczko” (Shtetl) gallery and at Jewish customs and traditions. Let us have a glimpse into traditional Jewish home - learn about everyday objects, visit a market place and familiarize ourselves with the rules of kashrut. We will also pay a visit to a synagogue and learn the rituals that take place there. Afterwards, at the Education Center, we will participate in a quiz, trying to match names with particular items from the Jewish home and the synagogue.Finally, we will be able to produce our own stamp with the Exhibition emblem, our own paper gadget from the Exhibition and a mini-model of a synagogue.
Number of places is limited; reservation is required.
Language: Polish
5:00 PM – THE CORE EXHIBITION – A STORY OF MANY VOICES – DEBATE
During the debate, we will recap the principal premises of the Core Exhibition and move on to philosophy of the process as well as challenges met and changes made in the process of creating the Exhibition. We will discuss principles and various ways of presenting history in the exposition, about the “theatre of history” and about living history.
Challenges, dilemmas and controversies included in the process of creating the exhibition will also be addressed. We will also try to answer the questions: What does this Exhibition offer as opposed to what we can find in books and films? Is the Core Exhibition at the POLIN Museum different from other similar museum exhibitions?
What would the Exhibition authors have done differently, had they commenced the work on the project again today?Participants in the debate include: Prof. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Program Director of the Core Exhibition, Mirosław Nizio, main designer of the Core Exhibition, and Kathy Jones, principal consultant of Event Communications, the London-based design company . The debate will be moderated by Joanna Fikus.
Languages: Polish and English; translation into Polish sign language.
6:00 PM – 11:00 PM – FILM SCREENINGS AND MEETINGS WITH FILM DIRECTORS AND PROTAGONISTS
The films presented during the Grand Opening are feature-length documentaries made by experienced authors and acclaimed by critics. They address the issue of the identity of Polish Jews. The stories they tell are not merely interesting portraits of individuals, but also an attempt to find an answer to the question: what does it mean to be a Polish Jew? That is also a question raised by the Core Exhibition. The screenings will provide a starting point for discussions between the audience and the film directors and protagonists on the subject of being Jewish, being Polish and reconciling both identities.
Languages: Polish and English
6:30 PM – Krakowiaczek Ci ja…, dir. Tomasz Magierski, 2011
The film protagonist is Yoram (Jerzy) Gross, author of animated films watched by generations of Australian children. He begins his journey into the past in Australia, from there he travels to Kraków (where he was born in 1926), to Warsaw where he was hiding during the war, to the Film School in Łódź and finally to Israel where he shot his first documentaries. It is a very intimate journey, on which the author is joined by his audience as well as his closest family, retelling the story of the Survivor for the sake of future generations.
8:45 PM – H I Jew Positive, dir. Ronit Kerstner, 2013
Agnieszka, Leszek, Małgosia… “new Polish Jews”, as they are referred to by the film director, discovered their origins when they were teenagers or grown-ups. For various reasons, their parentshid their true identities from them. Now they have to decide whether to keep the tradition in which they were brought up or to become Jews not fully aware of what it really means to be a Jew. H I Jew Positive is a sequel to the film entitled Secret, which was made towards the end of the 1990s. 15 years later, Ronit Kerstner revisits her protagonists and the questions about their identities.
8:00 PM – POLIN: MUSEUM GAME (QUESTING)
During the Grand Opening, we invite people young and old to participate in a museum game in which – in a non-standard way – they will be able to explore selected topics presented in the Core Exhibition. While playing, participants will encounter facilitators, storytellers and musicians who will help them discover various aspects of the history and culture of Polish Jews. People who complete the game will be rewarded with a limited issue publication – the “Polin” educational game. The game is an excellent source of information which will broaden your knowledge on Polish-Jewish history.
Number of places limited; reservation required.
Language: Polish.
9:30 PM – THE POLIN CHOIR – project’s second premiere
The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews has invited residents of Warsaw to participate in a unique musical project – to become co-founders of the choir which will prepare its own composition inspired by the legend of Polin.
During the Grand Opening, the composition premiere will take place. We invited professionals and amateurs, youngsters, adults and seniors, and in particular representatives of ethnic minorities, to participate in the project. The word Polin in Hebrew and Yiddish means both “Poland” and also “you will find a resting place here.” Those meanings intermingle in the legend on the arrival of Jews in Poland.
Aside from traditional techniques of work with voice, the choir will develop extraordinary means of expression: sounds, melodies and interpretations will be effects of individual or group explorations in the fields of emission, rhythm and sound.
The workshops will be hosted by Sean Palmer – an independent British artist who has lived and worked in Poland since 1999. He is a founder and conductor of the Gre Badanie – the Experimental Choir Group.
The Grand Opening program also includes:
MEETINGS WITH HISTORY WITNESSES
During the Grand Opening, we invite you to meet the history witnesses, who will tell stories of their wartime and post-war experiences, challenges related to being a Jew, attempts at maintaining their Jewish identity and their recollections of the Polish-Jewish relations. Times of the meetings will be posted at the POLIN Museum website in due course.
Languages: Polish and English
HOW TO SHOW 1,000 YEARS OF HISTORY – FILM SCREENING
Creating an exhibition retelling the 1,000-year history of Polish Jews is not an easy task. The matter of choice was not merely what to show in the exhibition, but also how to show it. A short film to be screened during the Grand Opening will present a number of principles according to which the team working on the Core Exhibition proceeded. Why tell the history in many voices coming from the past instead of presenting it through the eyes of contemporary historians? Why, instead of typical synthetic studies concerning religion and tradition, not present them through examples set in concrete place and time? Why present histories of “common” people instead of focusing on heroes? None of those choices was accidental. We invite you to listen to the authors of the Core Exhibition.
Languages: Polish and English.
THE OPENINING OF THE INFORMATION CENTER
During the Grand Opening, the POLIN Museum visitors will have an opportunity to use - for the first time - the content of the Information Center, the place where it will be possible to broaden one’s knowledge of history, culture and contemporary life of Polish Jews. The Center’s collections focus on local histories, genealogy, social and oral history. The Center provides extensive information on the Core Exhibition and enables access to the integrated data concerning the existing global content connected with the Jewish history. The Information Center offers, inter alia, a rich collection of books, specialist databases (e.g. USC Shoah Foundation, Virtual Shtetl, Centropa, JRI-Poland), collections of historic maps of the Second Republic, artistic installations presenting archival material and tyflographics.
CHILL-OUT ZONE / SILENT MOVIE THEATRE WITH MUSIC
We invite all those who should need a moment of rest during the Grand Opening to visit the Chill-Out Zone. Here we will recreate the ambience of the pre-war cinema. The screen will be filled with images from silent movies with soothing music at the background.
THE GRAND OPENING TRAM
During the Grand Opening, a special old-style tram will be touring Warsaw and carrying passengers to the vicinity of the POLIN Museum. Information on the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and its programmes will be available on board of the tram.
THE GRAND OPENING – JEWISH CUISINE ALL OVER THE CITY
We encourage Warsaw restaurants, cafes and clubs to join the Grand Opening celebrations of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. To join the celebrations, it is enough to include dishes of traditional Jewish cuisine in the menu on three consecutive days – October 28, 29 and 30. The outlets which will join the celebrations will be specially labelled. There will be posters/leaflets informing the public about the opening of the POLIN Museum there, and addresses of the venues will be posted in a special file at the POLIN Museum website. For more details, please visit the Museum website.
We also invite you to participate in the events prepared by our partner institutions:
Teatr Wielki Opera Narodowa:
„Jewish Artists in Postwar Poland (1948-1989)" – exhibition, from October 20.
„Jews, Sport, Warsaw" – exhibition, from October 20.
„Masters and Young Talents" – concert of Akademia Operowa Teatru Wielkiego, October 29.
The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (New York):
“Letters to Afar” – exhibition, from October 21.
The State Jewish Theatre in Warsaw:
"Mazel Tov" – a spectacle, October 26. Guest of Honour: cantor Yaakov Lemmer.
Shalom Foundation: “And I still see their faces” – photography exhibition at the State Jewish Theatre in Warsaw.
IMKA Theatre: “Remember This: Walking in the Footsteps of Jan Karski" – spectacle, October 29-30.
The Jewish Historical Institute (Żydowski Instytut Historyczny): “OCALAŁE. Kolekcja ŻIH” (What Has Remained. The JHI Collection) – exhibition, from October 30.
During the POLIN Museum Open Days admission to all events and exhibitions is free. Reservations are necessary for touring the Core Exhibition, workshops, and museum game. All other events are open to the public. Number of participants is limited.
Grand Opening of the Core Exhibition under the Honorary Patronage of President of the Republic of Poland.
Educational program of the Museum Open Days is supported by Norway Grants and EEA Grants from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
Supported by Boeing Company
