Grand Opening of POLIN Museum’s Core Exhibition in Warsaw

OCTOBER 29, WEDNESDAY
 

• 10 AM – 11 PM( Polish time) – (E) Visits to the Core Exhibition A 1000-Year History of Polish Jews and the temporary exhibition How to Make a Museum? Last entry at 10.00 PM  Prior reservation required.

• 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM – (E) Eight Galleries, Eight Stories – living library
  
  Have you ever talked to a museum curator about their creative process? Challenge the gallery curators, ask questions and make your own suggestions. 

• 3:00 PM – (E)  Raise the Roof: the Gwoździec Synagogue – film screening 
  
  The reconstructed roof and ceiling of the 17th-century wooden synagogue of Gwoździec is one of the most spectacular objects in the Core Exhibition. Discover how it was brought to life by over 300 experts and volunteers. 

• 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM – The Jewish Town – family workshops 
  
  We invite parents and children aged 4 to 12 to explore the Jewish Town gallery – the Jewish home, the marketplace, and Jewish religious life in the 17th and 18th centuries. Tour followed by a workshop at the Education Center. Reservation required.
   

• 5:00 PM – (E) 

  The Historian in the Museum – lecture by prof. Antony Polonsky

   

  Prof. Antony Polonsky (Brandeis University), chief historian of POLIN Museum, will discuss the challenges faced by the creators of the Core Exhibition. 

• 6:30 PM – (E) My Happiest Day, film, dir. Michał Bukojemski, 2013
  
  Can the “happiest day” in one’s life be one’s first day in Auschwitz? Marian Turski (b. 1926) explains this paradox, sharing his personal story. Screening followed by a meeting with Mr. Turski and the director, Michał Bukojemski. 

• 8:00 PM – Polin – museum game 
  
  Visitors of all ages are invited to discover key figures and moments in the history of Polish Jews. Storytellers and musicians will provide clues. Winners will receive their very own Polin game. Number of places limited; reservation required.

• 8.00 PM  Ircha: Mikołaj Trzaska’s clarinet quartet – concert

  Improvised music by four clarinettists: Mikołaj Trzaska, Michał Górczyński, Paweł Szamburski and Wacław Zimpel, combining Hasidic tradition and modern jazz. 

• 8:30 PM – (E) Minkowski | Saga, film, dir. Rafael Lewandowski, 2013
  
  The renowned French conductor Marc Minkowski returns to Poland to explore the history of his family – assimilated Jews, who belonged to the elite of the Second Polish Republic. Screening followed by a meeting with the director, Rafael Lewandowski. 

• 9:30 PM – Polin Choir – premiere concert
  
  A month ago POLIN Museum invited Varsovians – professional musicians and amateurs – to take part in choral workshops inspired by the Polin legend. The choir is conducted by Sean Palmer, an independent British artist and conductor.

• 10.00 PM – David Krakauer’s Ancestral Groove – concert
  
  From Szeroka Street to POLIN Museum: the Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow invites you to a concert by legendary New York clarinettist David Krakauer and his Ancestral Groove band. 

OCTOBER 30 – THURSDAY
 

• 10 AM – 11 PM – (E) Visits to the Core Exhibition A 1000-Year History of Polish Jews and the temporary exhibition How to Make a Museum? Last entry at 10.00 PM  Prior reservation required.

• 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM – (E) Eight Galleries, Eight Stories – living library
  
  Have you ever talked to a museum curator about their creative process? Challenge the gallery curators, ask questions and make your own suggestions. 

• 4.00 PM – (E) Fifth Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising – film

  Reconstructed 10-minute documentary in Yiddish, presenting the unveiling of the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes in 1948. Screening followed by a meeting with Yaakov Gross, the director’s son. 

• 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM – On the Jewish Street – family workshops 
  
  Parents and children aged 4 to 12 will discover the interwar gallery, On the Jewish Street. We will visit a pre-war cinema and youth club, learn Polish words derived from Yiddish and write our names in Hebrew. 
  
  Number of places limited; reservation necessary (NOT AVAILABLE)

• 5:00 PM – (E) Core Exhibition, a Story in Many Voices – panel discussion
  
  How did the exhibition evolve from the first conception to its realization today? What makes this exhibition different from others? What were the greatest challenges? Join Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Kathy Jones and Mirosław Nizio to learn the answers. 

• 6:30 PM – (E) Krakowiaczek Ci ja…, film, dir. Tomasz Magierski, 2011
  
  An intimate retrospective of Yoram (Jerzy) Gross, who escaped from the Krakow ghetto and survived the war in hiding to become a creator of animated films. Screening followed by a meeting with Mr. Gross and the director, Tomasz Magierski. 

• 8:00 PM – Polin – museum game 
  
  Visitors of all ages are invited to discover key figures and moments in the history of Polish Jews. Storytellers and musicians will provide clues. Winners will receive their very own Polin game. Number of places limited; reservation required.

• 8.00 PM                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               The New Tradition – concert by Adam Baldych and Yaron Herman. A Polish violinist living in France and an Israeli pianist construct their musical language in a time when jazz is being redefined. 
   

• 8:45 PM – (E) H I Jew Positive, dir. Ronit Kerstner, 2013
  
  Agnieszka, Leszek, Małgosia, Larysa and Łukasz discovered their Jewish origins when they were teenagers or adults. Their parents did not reveal their Jewish roots to them for various reasons. Now, they have to decide – who are they? Screening followed by a meeting with director Ronit Kerstner and the protagonists. 

• 9:30 PM – Polin Choir – premiere concert
  
  A month ago POLIN Museum invited Varsovians – professional musicians and amateurs – to take part in choral workshops inspired by the Polin legend. The choir is conducted by Sean Palmer, an independent British artist and conductor.

• 10.30 PM – Ceratitis Capatita – concert by Paweł Szamburski

  Szamburski – a clarinet improviser and composer of film and theater music – engages in a dialogue with the musical traditions of five religions originating in the Mediterranean.

• 11.00 PM – Klezzmates – concert

  The Klezzmates from Krakow, led by violinist Bartosz Dworak, explore relations between Jewish music and the world of contemporary sound. 
   

The Grand Opening program also includes:
 

• Meetings with Witnesses of History

  (E)
  
  Come face to face with personal experience of key events of the 1920s and 30s, the Second World War, and the postwar period. Discover the history of Polish Jews through the eyes of witnesses. 

• Our Way of Showing 1000 Years of History – film (E)

  Why tell the story in many voices from the past, when a historian could narrate the whole exhibition? Why focus on the experience of “ordinary” people? We invite you to listen to the voices of the scholars and curators who created the Core Exhibition. (E)

• Opening of the Resource Center

  Find out more about your family or hometown, explore the history of Polish Jews and Jewish life in Poland today. You will find local history, genealogical, and oral history resources: books, historical maps, archival material, and databases. 

• Chill-out Zone / Silent movie theater with music

  Relax in the Chill-out Zone, inspired by pre-war cinema, watching silent movies accompanied by soft background music.

• Grand Opening Tram

  Hop on a special historical tram, which drop you off near the Museum and provide you with all the information you need on the Museum and the Grand Opening. 

• Jewish cuisine across Warsaw

  Restaurants, cafes, and clubs are invited to join in the celebrations by featuring Jewish specialties on their menu during the Grand Opening, October 28–30. 

About the Museum

The Museum of the History of Polish Jews opened its doors to the public in April 2013. It currently functions as a cultural and educational center with a rich cultural program, including temporary exhibitions, films, debates, workshops, performances, concerts, lectures and much more. The opening of the Core Exhibition, presenting the thousand-year history of Polish Jews, is scheduled for autumn of 2014.

Formally founded in 2005 by the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland, the City of Warsaw and the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Museum is an unique and unprecedented initiative, spanning many fields of research and drawing on the expertise of scholars and museum professionals from around the world. We also work with the community at large to create a vibrant place of exchange and dialogue where all have the opportunity to express their views, ask questions and grow.

Occupying around 4 000 sq m (ca. 43 000 sq ft), the Museum’s Core Exhibition will immerse visitors in the world of Polish Jews, from their arrival in Po-lin as traveling merchants in medieval times until today. The exhibition was developed by an international team of more than 120 scholars, working under the direction of Professor Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett from New York University. It is being produced by the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland thanks to the support of donors from all over the world. Each of the eight galleries will present a different chapter of the story of Polish Jews, enabling visitors to come into intimate contact with those who lived that story through images, artifacts, first-person accounts and interactive multimedia.

The Museum stands in what was once the heart of Jewish Warsaw – an area which the Nazis turned into the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. This significant location, coupled with the Museum’s proximity to the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, demanded extreme thoughtfulness on the part of the building’s designers, who carefully crafted a structure that has become a symbol of the new face of Warsaw. The design by the Finnish studio Lahdelma & Mahlamäki was selected in an international competition. In 2008, with the building still under construction, it received the prestigious Chicago Athenaeum International Architecture Award (2008)