Night of the Museums has long expanded beyond being a museum-event only. In addition to Poznań's museums, this May 18th event has come to include universities, art galleries, libraries, cultural centres and even a barber shop.
The museums themselves not only allow the public to see their permanent and temporary exhibitions, but also offer special events. In the main building of the National Museum, you will be able to meditate in peace. "Welcome to MedMoba! You can sit in the Hall of the Spanish National Museum and ponder amidst the works of such artists as Zurbaran and Strozzi", explains project manager Marzena Prusińska. In addition, thematic guided tours, some of them in English, will be available in the Al. Marcinkowskiego buildings.
In Przemysł Castle, a large crossword puzzle is being prepared, with clues related to individual exhibits. Pop into the Wielkopolska Military Museum for "The Time of Sarmatians": a demonstration by the Poznań Fencing Group Salut. The Ethnographic Museum is arranging something that will stay with us for more than a night. It is a workshop designed to create the world's biggest Bamber cornet. After Museum Night is over, the instrument will adorn the hall of this museum, appropriately located next door to the Poznań Bamber Museum, which is also worth a visit. Like every year, the majority of the museums will feature another edition of the national project The Lost Museum, which is designed to recall works of art lost or destroyed during World War II.
While there is not a single person in Poland who has not heard of Nicolaus Copernicus, only a few are aware that he was also a translator. Step into the Raczyński Library and you will see more than just On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. CK Zamek (The Castle Cultural Centre) has prepared a tour of famous buildings along ul. Św. Marcin. You will be able to enter the Post Office, the former headquarters of the Regional Committee of the Communist Party, as well as the Altus hotel in one of the high-rises of the former Alfa department store. This year's musical attractions have been prepared by the Poznań Institute of National Remembrance: a vintage bus will take you on a historic tour of Poznań's student clubs of the 1960s. More vintage public transport vehicles will be available for viewing at the ul. Madalińskiego depot. During the night, you will also be able to enter the atomic shelter in Krzyżowniki, or an air shelter in the Łazarz district in Grade School 9, where the Virtual Lazarus Association will put on the exhibition "The Charm of the People's Republic of Poland in Łazarz", intended to allow the young generation to learn about the times of their parents, and the older generation to recollect on the brighter and darker sides of the bygone era. Another chance to travel through time will await you in the Adam Szulc Barber Shop in os. Stare Żegrze, which is planning to display men's cosmetics from the times of the People's Republic of Poland.
Finally, in Porta Posnania, Night of the Museums will premiere an all-new attraction: the Poznań Science Trail on the Royal-Imperial Route, linked to the celebration of the centenary of the University of Poznań. Participants will stroll through the streets of Poznań and look at the historic spaces of the city to find traces of Poznań scientists, discoverers, innovators and inventors and other attractions. It is really worth giving them this night.
Jan Gładysiak
translation: Krzysztof Kotkowski
Night of the Museums, 18 May; most institutions open at 5pm or 6pm; for a detailed programme, see www.nocmuzeow.poznan.pl
© Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania 2019