After a break, the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews opens its doors to visitors and invites them to the exhibition "Here Muranów". - a unique story about the history of the Warsaw neighborhood and its residents.
The story of the history of Warsaw's Muranów will begin in the 18th century, the next stage of the journey will be a walk through the former Northern Quarter - the pre-war center of Jewish life at a time when Warsaw was home to Europe's largest Diaspora. We will also learn about the dramatic fate of the Jews imprisoned in the ghetto created here. We'll also learn how the planners lifting the capital from the rubble of war were establishing a new modernist neighborhood, and even what children played in the backyards of postwar Muranów. The creators of the exhibition, co-authors Beata Chomątowska and Professor Jacek Leociak, and curator Kamila Radecka-Mikulicz, invite you to this fascinating journey in time.
Bridge over Chlodna Street connecting two parts of the ghetto, February 1942
photo: NAC
The most important thing in telling the story of Muranów, from the curator's point of view, was to show the layered nature of its history in such a way as to focus attention equally on each of the historical periods presented and the fate of the people living at the time, reveals exhibition curator Kamila Radecka-Mikulicz. We address the exhibition not only to Varsovians, but also to those who are more broadly interested in the social history of cities, architecture, urban planning. We hope that it will prove interesting because of the personal stories it presents and the universality of the topics it addresses, such as social change over the years, urban utopias, domiciliation or, finally, locality, civic and neighborhood activism and urban nature," she adds.
Muranów housing development from the intersection of Gen. Karola Świerczewskiego Avenue and J. Marchlewskiego Street
photo: Zbyszko Siemaszko, NAC
A collage-muralwas created in the exhibition space, a work by Jadwiga Sawicka reminding of the multi-layered human history of Muranów. It was created moments before the museum reopened, as a result of layering and peeling off several layers of prints with the word "voices" in Yiddish, Polish and English.
Peeling off successive layers is the opposite process of the natural build-up of layers of meaning, Sawicka explains. It is a conscious act; at the same time a will to know, to get to the bottom/sediment, as well as a formal action: a desire to create a holistic image in which all these layers would be present at the same time, the artist adds.
Also on view from mid-July will be an installation by artist Artur Zmijewski and Holocaust memory researcher Zofia Waślicka-Zmijewska. It is thanks to their project that for the first time a temporary exhibition will also be viewable outside the museum. The subject of the photographs and films are archaeological objects found during the construction of the POLIN Museum, such as a baking tray, cutlery, glasses, glasses, or an ordinary watch.
Scissors. photo taken by Artur Zmijewski in the workshops and studios. They show archaeological objects - objects of everyday use - excavated from the ground during the construction of the POLIN Museum.
Photo: Artur Zmijewski
We thought that the photos should be a subdued but emotional story about these things. We found a corresponding contemporary context for each of the selected objects. We placed rusty tailor's shears among unfinished clothes in a tailor's shop and photographed them that way. The kitchen utensils ended up between today's pots and cutlery on fresh tablecloths," say the Zmijewski family.
The exhibition can be seen from June 26 this year until March 22, 2021. More information can be found here.
what else besides the exhibition?
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog, a collection of twenty-one essays by historians, artists and varsavians - "Here Muranów. A district above the rubble". The authors of the book look into the depths of the city, revealing the multi-layered history of Muranow, looking at it from different perspectives: historical, archaeological, sociological, psychological, architectural and natural. They tell the story of the district's residents - those of the past and those of the present. You can hear more about the book at a meeting in the POLIN Reading Room series scheduled for Tuesday, June 30 (broadcast on the POLIN Museum's Facebook profile at 7:30 pm).
In parallel to the exhibition, the podcast "Tu Muranów" was created , a kind of " Muranów story in episodes." What were the sounds of the pre-war Northern Quarter? Which way did little Marian Kuszner manage to get out of the ghetto? How did the world change as observed over the decades from the window of an upholstery shop on Karmelicka Street? In the podcast, witnesses of history, including Halina Birenbaum, Krystyna Budnicka, Jozef Hen and Marian Marzynski, as well as contemporary residents, regulars and people connected with Muranow, talk about their neighborhood. The author of the "Tu Muranów" podcast is Bartosz Panek, an author of reports and radio journalist. The podcasts will be made available in July on the polin.pl website and podcast apps.
The exhibition will also be accompanied by participatory activities, there will be a social Muranow installation, which will be created by family mementos, documents, photographs and objects brought by residents and residents of the neighborhood. Thus, those who are usually visitors will become co-creators of the story of Muranow's history, sharing their experiences and memories of Muranow's farther and nearer past, as well as of Muranow's present, including the last months of the pandemic. Anyone whose fate has at some stage been linked to Muranow can become a co-creator of the installation - just send a photo of a commemorative item with a brief description to start. The call for applications runs until July 5 at: muranow@polin.pl.
elabor. ed.
Illustrations courtesy of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews POLIN
