National Museum: the exhibitions we will see in 2021

Hits of 2021. Must-see exhibitions

First of all, the announced retrospective by Magdalena Abakanowicz. ‘At the end of December, as a Christmas gift’, announces Barbara Banaś, Deputy Director of the National Museum. ‘The idea of presenting the entire collection in our possession is the result of the historical acquaintance between Magdalena Abakanowicz and Mariusz Hermansdorfer – the former director of the museum, the long-year promoter of the artist’s works and the curator of her foreign exhibitions,’ explains Barbara Banaś.

The deputy director stresses that the outstanding sculptress, who died in 2017, donated her works, particularly her legendary fabrics known as “abakany”, to the National Museum in Wroclaw. The exhibition entitled AbakanowicZ. Total will occupy one half of the space of the Four Domes Pavilion and will cover the entire artistic path of Magdalena Abakanowicz. ‘We will see her as an artist and a person who acted consciously and uncompromisingly in the field of art, without giving the reins to curators,’ adds Barbara Banaś.

BYpass. A Pandemic Exhibition [BYpass. Wystawa pandemiczna] 

BYpass. A Pandemic Exhibition

in the Four Domes Pavilion looks particularly intriguing. ‘The word “bypass” means the treatment that saves life at the critical moment when the heart fails. We treat this exhibition as a time of waiting until the moment when we can enter into co-operation with external partners,’ admits Barbara Banaś.

And the producers have looked into resources and will show what is hidden in spacious repositories of contemporary art of the National Museum in Wroclaw (containing as many as 20,000 objects). Works by Polish and foreign artists, painting objects, installations, sculptures, pottery and glass will be presented. ‘The painting being created in this way is a colourful mosaic that we can watch in various ways,’ encourages the deputy director of the National Museum.

Repairers [Naprawiacze]

For upcycling fans, the exhibition Repairers in the Ethnographic Museum is going to be a great event. ‘In the present situation, we need to look at the surrounding world in a slightly different way and to recognise the decaying objects as items that we can revive by ourselves,’ explains Barbara Banaś. We will see primarily exhibits from private persons and find out how various small devices were renovated and restored. We will have an opportunity to learn how to deal with objects fairly and not to replace them with new ones right away,’ remarks Barbara Banaś.

Wroclaw According to Bach [Wrocław według Bacha]

Fans of old views of Wroclaw will experience a sort of déjà vu at Wrocław According to Bach – an exhibition with paintings of Wroclaw dating back to the early 19^th century, and it will be the first presentation of an excellent set of 190 drawings made by three students: Heinrich Mützel, Heinrich Hillebrandt and Ernst Wiedemann under the supervision of Carl Daniel David Friedrich Bach, the first director of the Wroclaw School of Arts, in the years 1823–1828. ‘It is a mysterious, picturesque and romantic Wroclaw, of which only some traces have remained today,’ announces Director Piotr Oszczanowski.

The exhibitions that we will see in 2021:

• Jorzeit: The Time of the Hasidim [Jorcajt - czas chasydów] (Ethnographic Museum, 30/01–27/06/2021)
• A Pandemic Exhibition [BYpass. Wystawa pandemiczna] (Four Domes Pavilion, 27/02–16/05/2021)
• Deep Inside the Painting. Escape Room Hide in the Museum/Hide in the Painting/Sources of the Painting [W głębi obrazu. Escape Room Schroń się w muzeum/Schroń się w obrazie/Źródła obrazu] (Main Building, March–June 2021)
• Gallery of Fashion [Galeria mody] (Main Building, 27/04–29/08/2021)
• Following the Route of Dreams. The Health Resort Culture in Europe [Podróż za marzeniami. Kultura uzdrowiskowa w Europie] (Ethnographic Museum, 21/05–26/09/2021)
• An Intriguing Collection by Ms Augusta Stenzel [Intrygująca kolekcja Pani Augusty Stenzel] (Main Building, 1/06–5/09/2021)
• On White. American Installations by Ewa Kuryluk [Na bieli. Instalacje amerykańskie Ewy Kuryluk] (Four Domes Pavilion, 13/06– 29/08/2021)
• Peonies in a Seladon Vase. Chinese China from Master Jiang’s Manufacture [Peonie w seladonowej wazie. Chińska porcelana z manufaktury Mistrza Jiang] (Main Building, 6/07–5/09/2021)
• The Środa Treasure. Emperors, Kings and Princes [Skarb Średzki. Cesarze, królowie i książęta] (Main Building, 1/10–31/12/2021)
• Repairers [Naprawiacze] (Ethnographic Museum, 23/10/2021–30/01/2022)
• The Clan of the Maszkowski Family [Klan Maszkowskich] (Main Building, 26/10/2021–20/02/2022)
• Wooden Jewel Boxes of Ladies. The History of Women Preserved in Furniture [Drewniane skarbczyki dam. Historia kobiet w meblach zapisana] (Main Building, 9/11/2021–30/01/2022)
• Wroclaw According to Bach [Wrocław według Bacha] (Main Building, 9/11/2021–27/02/2022)
• The Whisperers of Time. Carollers’ Ritual Theatre [Zaklinacze czasu. Kolędniczy teatr obrzędowy] (Ethnographic Museum, 20/11/2021–27/02/2022)
• Total [AbakanowicZ. Totalna] (Four Domes Pavilion, 18/12/2021–24/04/2022)