I Won’t Give up, I’ll Survive. Paintings by Władysław Wałęga

POWERBANK / The Strength of Women

Our powerbank is a space for building and charging energy. Once this was the branch of a large bank, today it’s a place of new kind of power.

Instead of credit, saving, and accounts, we offer objects to stir the imagination. Every one of them is the point of departure for stories about women who are tangled up in the history of the Ethnographic Museum in Krakow in different ways.

Where a bank machine once stood, herbs bloom. Several dozen women’s faces stare down from the walls of the treasury. Women’s voices ring out in the old staff room.

Siberia. Voices from the North

Siberia is already here. The connection between Krakow and Siberian North is tangible and long-lasting, beautiful and surprising. In the exhibition, you can see the objects which people condemned to exile in Siberia for participating in the January Uprising brought back with them. There were also those who went there voluntarily to experience an adventure and get rich. And this all happened at the time when the grandparents of today's grandparents were children!

The Quarantine Collection

The Quarantine Collection is a virtual exhibition which consists of stories about things we experience during the pandemic: moments of uncertainty and horror, joy and emotion, fatigue, anger, powerlessness and loneliness.

You can keep an eye on how the collection is being created. You can also make it together with us. Will you join us?

Heródek

He was a shepherd and he was hired to do various jobs. His employers would also provide some kind of accommodation for him. He had a rare talent which the locals did not find out about even though they liked Karol. He experienced the world in his own way. He also wanted to change it, improve it, and protect it. Fifty years after the death of Karol Wójciak, we keep on wondering about the secret of his life and his carvings.

The Riddle of the Sphinx

“See you later!”, I say to Andrzej at the end of our meeting.
Andrzej stops. He hesitates for a moment and replies, “We, the blind, rather say ‘feel you later’”. He bursts out laughing and then says from the corridor, “See you!”.

Joanna Helander, Ladies Looking: Photographs 1976–2012

The leitmotif of Joanna Helander’s oeuvre is the world as seen from the perspective of women, of neighbours: those from next door, as well as those who know nothing of each other, even though they coexist on neighbouring frames of a contact sheet.

Terribly Close: Polish Vernacular Artists Face the Holocaust

Terribly Close: Polish Vernacular Artists Face the Holocaust introduces forgotten works by some of Poland’s best known "folk" artists from the postwar People’s Republic of Poland, discovered in Polish and German ethnographic museums and private collections.

WHAT MAKES A VILLAGE? – outdoor exhibitions

Does a fascination with the village mean abandoning the city? Is it possible – when referring to village traditions – to escape restrictive norms? Can one dare to experiment? Is it possible to use local sources for inspiration without duplicating their well-known motifs? How can we awaken the power of heritage? Two of our outdoor exhibitions attempt to answer these questions – What Makes a Village? Playing with Tradition / Playing with Imagination will take place on the Wolnica Square in Kraków, and in the Sądecki Ethnographic Park we will present What Makes a Village? On Your Own / Custom-made to Fit.

No Matter Where It Is In The World

We would like to introduce you to a man who is constantly and attentively looking for his own truth about the world and about himself. And although Stanisław Baj speaks from a particular spot on Earth, he talks about what is important, honest and dear, no matter it is in the world.