Event
14–15.12.2024

Closing of the exhibition "(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt"

These are the final days of the temporary exhibition which focuses on the unknown history of Opatów, one of many Polish towns inhabited before the war by both Poles and Jews. Inspired by the colorful and bustling world depicted in Mayer Kirshenblatt’s paintings, we invite you to join us on a multisensory journey through the shtetl and discover fragments of our shared past.

Highlights include a family Hanukkah celebration filled with the smell of donuts, workshops, curator-guided tours, musical tour of Mayer's paintings, walks, and a performance based on herstories which reclaims the Yiddish language, created in collaboration with two Jewish female artists, Maria Ka and Betty Q.

Above all else, on this December weekend, you will have the last chance to admire the exposition of paintings by Mayer Kirshenblatt, a former resident of the town of Opatów, who began to paint his memories at the age of 73, and to see post-Jewish objects related to the town of Opatów. The exhibition—a unique chronicle of a place that has been severed from its Jewish identity—provokes us to raise questions about the past of towns that we come from.

Buy a ticket to the exhibition →

Detailed program

14 December (Saturday)

  • 11AM – 12.30PM Family art workshop in Ukrainian
     

    What games did children play 100 years ago? We invite you to a series of artworkshops centered around fun activities and games from the past. We’ll play counting rhymes, battleships, air hockey, marbles, and other mobile games created during the workshops. During these sessions, we’ll learn about the childhood of our grandparents. We’ll listen to stories about the games they played and how they used to get the materials needed for their activities.

    The workshop will be run by Liliya Stadnik, a Ukrainian from Kherson, an artist, art therapist and art teacher.

  • 12noon – 1.30PM Curator guided tour of the "(post)JEWISH…" temporary exhibition
     

    Dr. Justyna Koszarska-Szulc and Dr. Natalia Romik, the exhibition curators, will talk about where the idea for the exhibition came from and what does the term "post-Jewish" really stands for.

  • 7PM Sounds from the paintings. Musical tour in the footsteps of Mayer
  • admission with a ticket to the exhibition
     

    What were the sounds of the world depicted in Mayer Kirshenblatt's paintings? Children's rhymes, games, hustle and bustle on a market day, a tailor's workshop, the joy of singing nigunim together... As part of the (post) JEWISH... exhibition's closing weekend, we invite you to join us on a musical tour of Mayer's paintings. Mariza Nawrocka (vocal), accompanied by Agnieszka Waśniewska (oboe) and Jan Tarkowski (cello), will be our guides.

15 December (Sunday)

  • 3PM – 6PM Hanukkah with little Mayer
  • NO SEATS
     

    We invite you to celebrate the Hanukkah holiday with us! Let us meet at the Museum at this special time, filled with the smell of donuts and candlelight.

    This year, little Mayer—the protagonist of our temporary exhibition—will accompany us in our celebration. In one of the paintings displayed in the exposition, an entire family is sitted at the table, singing Hanukkah songs and playing dreidl.

    The program for the family Hanukkah celebration at POLIN Museum includes a Hanukkah game, guided tours of the exhibition "(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt," tours of the Core and temporary exhibitions with an audio-guide, and a photobooth.

  • 12noon – 1.30PM guided tour of the "(post)JEWISH…" temporary exhibition, Franciszek Bojańczyk

  • 1PM – 2PM "In the Footsteps of the Residents of Shtetls," exhibition tour in Ukrainian

  • 2PM – 3PM "In the Footsteps of the Residents of Shtetls," exhibition tour in Belarussian
  • 7PM "The Landscape of Opatów. Female Voices"
  • download a free ticket →
     

    An artistic initiative at the intersection of art, activism, and performance, in which Maria Ka and Betty Q, two Jewish artists, explore the herstories of women from pre-war Opatów. The project, accompanying the exhibition "(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt," reclaims Yiddish as a natural element of everyday life in the shtetl Opatów while using it as a modern means of communication and artistic expression.

Logos of organizers and partners of "(post)JEWISH" exhibition.