"Here Is Muranów" exhibition takes a peek into the city’s entrails - we get acquainted with a unique, multi-layered history of Warsaw. Under a seemingly familiar layer we discover more dimensions of the past, present and future of the city and its residents. Those hidden layers have been examined not only by archaeologists and historians, but also by artists.
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fot. Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich
We are opening an outdoor installation by artist Artur Żmijewski and scholar of memory Zofia Waślicka-Żmijewska as part of "Here Is Muranów exhibition". It will be on display next to the Museum building, at the square to the left of the Monument to the Ghetto Heroesa.
The Żmijewskis’ artwork is themed around objects found during the construction of POLIN Museum. Pre-war everyday objects or their remains - cutlery, tailor’s scissors, eye-glasses, ceramic floor and wall tiles…
"Due to the conservation and safety reasons, these objects cannot be displayed outside of the Museum building. However, we can exhibit their pictures and films about them," explain the authors. "We do believe that the photos ought to create a restrained yet emotionally charged narrative about these objects. We have sought contemporary contexts which would refer to each selected object. Rusty tailor’s scissors were put amidst unfinished clothes at a tailor’s workshop and photographed there. Kitchen utensils were placed among today’s pots and pans, and cutlery was laid on fresh tablecloths," continue the Żmijewskis.
"Through these photographs, the objects enter our world without concealing their true origin. They are with us, next to us, in our kitchen, in our cupboards, on our dressing tables and in our shops. At the same time, they are stuck less than twenty centimetres under the surface of Muranów’s lawns, green squares and parks."
The outdoor installation by Artur Żmijewski and Zofia Waślicka-Żmijewska reminds us of these objects’ existence and of the people that had once used them.