State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw

The State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw, founded in 1888 on the initiative of Jan Maurycy Kamiński and Jan Karłowicz, is one of the oldest ethnographic museums in Poland. Initially, the collections were gathered at the Warsaw Zoological Garden, and in 1896 they were moved to the Museum of Industry and Agriculture. The museum gained renown for its ethnographic focus, and under the leadership of Eugeniusz Frankowski in 1921, it transformed into a modern scientific and exhibition institution. In 1939, the collection, comprising around 30,000 objects, was destroyed during World War II. After the war, the museum was revived as the Museum of Folk Cultures, with its first post-war exhibition taking place in 1949. In 1959, the museum was granted a new home in the reconstructed building of the Land Credit Society, where it remains to this day. As a self-governing cultural institution coordinated by Dr. Kazimierz Pietkiewicz, it achieved the status of a national cultural institution in 1992. Its record-breaking collections, particularly in the library with approximately 30,000 volumes, include a rich array of ethnographic materials, such as documents, manuscripts, photographs, and multimedia. The museum organizes permanent exhibitions, such as "Ordinary – Extraordinary" and "Time of Celebration in the Cultures of Poland and Europe," which showcase traditions and objects related to folk culture, enriched with interactive multimedia. Interestingly, the museum publishes the scientific journal "Etnografia Nowa" and has an education department focused on children. It hosts many valuable exhibits, including artifacts, folk costumes, craft tools, and unique collections from various regions of the world, such as Asia and Australia. It is also worth noting that the Ethnographic Museum runs active educational and exhibition programs, striving to bring the richness of ethnographic traditions closer to the public, making it an important venue on Poland's cultural map.