Gallery "Arms and Uniforms in Poland" (picture intensive thread)

wolviex · 22nd October 2009, 01:38 PM

Dear Friends!

First of all, welcome back

I think I should make this post few months ago, just after the opening of the exhibition I would like to advertise to you. Below I try to explain the story as short as possible, and after that you’ll find some pictures from the show. For more pictures please visit THIS SITE where you will find much more pictures.

The National Museum in Krakow (Poland) holds a huge permanent exhibition of antique military objects. In fact, this is probably the biggest such exhibition in Poland, and one of the biggest in Central Europe. Around 2000 square-metres, and over 2000 objects of high historical importance, dated from the medieval times up to the 20th century. This is, next to the Museum of Polish Army in Warsaw, the biggest collection of Polish National treasures, with many unique objects and remembrances after the most important people in the Polish (and European) history. And this is only the part of the collection, which number is about 12000 objects, but most of it is not on show.

This gallery has its long history. It exists from the 1991 but in fact it was never finished. So when years passed by it became less attractive and neglected, with the number of visits going constantly down. But there is no doubt it was really dull, despite the great objects: no historical paintings or drawings, no window curtains (so the daylight was really disturbing, reflecting from the showcases), not covered windows were always dirty, old floor, dirty walls, old and ugly cellar lamps, and many more embarrasing defects.

Around 2007 the management of the Museum started to consider a serious change of the gallery into the modern exhibition, but it was clear it won't happen before 2012, as this operation required a lot of resources. The first project was priced for the 2,000,000 USD! This was the price for the complete arrangement, repairs of the building, new showcases and much more. It was a lot of money so the Director started to consider closing the exhibition down.

But thankfully in 2008 the light in the tunnel has appeared. The meeting of the NATO countries was planned in Krakow, and the organizers of the meeting decided to give a huge banquet for the special guests in the National Museum building. It was decided that all visitors should have a possibility to see this huge exhibition. The Minister of the National Defence decided to refinance the Gallery for some changes. Considering the amount of money originally planned for the change, the donation of 120 000 $ (against 2 million) seemed to be very low. But with great effort of few museum workers, with a very short time of 3 months that has left to the "banquet deadline", the miraculous change has been done! In the first 2 months the gallery was dismantled and renovated.

This is how it looked after taking the objects down:

Then only 1 month left to arrange the whole exhibition again with all planned changes. There were people who didn’t believe it is possible – but fortunately (almost) everything was set and ready for the NATO guests.

The Gallery was opened in time, first for Ministers of Defence of the NATO countries, and one month later for the public. It quickly became one of the most popular exhibitions in the Museum (which keeps around 10 big permanent galleries and many temporary ones) with 10,000 visitors during first month (comparing to a few hundreds per month before the renovation).
The Gallery of “Arms and Uniforms” is a permanent exhibition. It means you should have a lot of time to see it (approx. around 2 years) before any major changes will be made. But with present geopolitical situation everything is possible, so to be sure you won’t miss it, go see it as soon as possible

PICTURES:

wolviex · 22nd October 2009, 01:38 PM

More pictures:

wolviex · 22nd October 2009, 01:40 PM

and more:

wolviex · 22nd October 2009, 01:40 PM

few more:

wolviex · 22nd October 2009, 01:44 PM

and some pictures from the opening the exhibition - great fun for kids as there are some places where they can (as well as adults too) try to wear or handle antique-look like objects prepared for them:

You can also see the promo-clip of the gallery from the TV and museum on youtube here

Hope you'll enjoy, much more pictures available with link posted above in first thread.

Michal

Jim McDougall · 22nd October 2009, 11:52 PM

WELCOME BACK MICHAL!!!!!!
Sure have missed you around here, and thank you so much for sharing this link and photos of these magnificent displays.
Congratulations on the superb work you have done in assembling these, and it is fantastic to see these items preserved for all to admire, and to learn from.
All best wishes for every continued success!!

Jim

22nd October 2009, 01:38 PM	#1
wolviex Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Poland, Krakow Posts: 418	Gallery "Arms and Uniforms in Poland" (picture intensive thread) Dear Friends! First of all, welcome back I think I should make this post few months ago, just after the opening of the exhibition I would like to advertise to you. Below I try to explain the story as short as possible, and after that you’ll find some pictures from the show. For more pictures please visit THIS SITE where you will find much more pictures. The National Museum in Krakow (Poland) holds a huge permanent exhibition of antique military objects. In fact, this is probably the biggest such exhibition in Poland, and one of the biggest in Central Europe. Around 2000 square-metres, and over 2000 objects of high historical importance, dated from the medieval times up to the 20th century. This is, next to the Museum of Polish Army in Warsaw, the biggest collection of Polish National treasures, with many unique objects and remembrances after the most important people in the Polish (and European) history. And this is only the part of the collection, which number is about 12000 objects, but most of it is not on show. This gallery has its long history. It exists from the 1991 but in fact it was never finished. So when years passed by it became less attractive and neglected, with the number of visits going constantly down. But there is no doubt it was really dull, despite the great objects: no historical paintings or drawings, no window curtains (so the daylight was really disturbing, reflecting from the showcases), not covered windows were always dirty, old floor, dirty walls, old and ugly cellar lamps, and many more embarrasing defects. Around 2007 the management of the Museum started to consider a serious change of the gallery into the modern exhibition, but it was clear it won't happen before 2012, as this operation required a lot of resources. The first project was priced for the 2,000,000 USD! This was the price for the complete arrangement, repairs of the building, new showcases and much more. It was a lot of money so the Director started to consider closing the exhibition down. But thankfully in 2008 the light in the tunnel has appeared. The meeting of the NATO countries was planned in Krakow, and the organizers of the meeting decided to give a huge banquet for the special guests in the National Museum building. It was decided that all visitors should have a possibility to see this huge exhibition. The Minister of the National Defence decided to refinance the Gallery for some changes. Considering the amount of money originally planned for the change, the donation of 120 000 $ (against 2 million) seemed to be very low. But with great effort of few museum workers, with a very short time of 3 months that has left to the "banquet deadline", the miraculous change has been done! In the first 2 months the gallery was dismantled and renovated. This is how it looked after taking the objects down: Then only 1 month left to arrange the whole exhibition again with all planned changes. There were people who didn’t believe it is possible – but fortunately (almost) everything was set and ready for the NATO guests. The Gallery was opened in time, first for Ministers of Defence of the NATO countries, and one month later for the public. It quickly became one of the most popular exhibitions in the Museum (which keeps around 10 big permanent galleries and many temporary ones) with 10,000 visitors during first month (comparing to a few hundreds per month before the renovation). The Gallery of “Arms and Uniforms” is a permanent exhibition. It means you should have a lot of time to see it (approx. around 2 years) before any major changes will be made. But with present geopolitical situation everything is possible, so to be sure you won’t miss it, go see it as soon as possible PICTURES:

22nd October 2009, 01:40 PM	#3
wolviex Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Poland, Krakow Posts: 418	and more:

22nd October 2009, 01:44 PM	#5
wolviex Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Poland, Krakow Posts: 418	and some pictures from the opening the exhibition - great fun for kids as there are some places where they can (as well as adults too) try to wear or handle antique-look like objects prepared for them: You can also see the promo-clip of the gallery from the TV and museum on youtube here Hope you'll enjoy, much more pictures available with link posted above in first thread. Michal

22nd October 2009, 11:52 PM	#6
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,748	WELCOME BACK MICHAL!!!!!! Sure have missed you around here, and thank you so much for sharing this link and photos of these magnificent displays. Congratulations on the superb work you have done in assembling these, and it is fantastic to see these items preserved for all to admire, and to learn from. All best wishes for every continued success!! Jim