Traveling piano, Vienna, circa 1820
Source: National Museum in Warsaw
Cabinet, Friedrich Gottlob Hoffmann, Leipzig, circa 1790
Source: National Museum in Warsaw
Traveling Dressing Table, Vizagapatam (India), circa 1750
Source: National Museum in Warsaw
Front of built-in wardrobe, Torun, 1762
Source: National Museum in Warsaw
Little leather mascots: a girl in a yellow scarf and a pig, Anna Narzymska-Praus, circa 1946 – 1949
Source: National Museum in Warsaw
The former building of the furniture hall will be converted into a place for storing large-scale works of art. The National Museum of Warsaw has bought a property on Puławska Street and plans to build an open studio warehouse for its design and antique furniture collections.
The new warehouses of the National Museum in Warsaw are located at 436 Pulawska Street in Ursinów. The institution purchased the building with the support of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
– The provision of new storage spaces for the National Museum in Warsaw is a sign and direction – we are interested in cultural institutions that have been operating for many years and are doing very well, and their needs, usually practical, are important to us from the museum’s professional point of view. For us, not only as organizers, but for us as recipients, said Minister of Culture and National Heritage Hana Wroblewska during a press conference on Wednesday.
As she noted, “we’re talking about warehouse spaces.” – It seems that this is not a strange thing, not something that the recipients will benefit from, but it is not true. These warehouses primarily house the best collection of industrial samples. I am very happy that it will finally have a suitable space and not only this collection, but several important collections will be housed in the warehouses, he emphasized.
– What is very important, studio magazines are organized in these places, so they will not be magazines that we, as viewers, do not have the right to watch. The warehouses will be accessible to recipients, museum employees and the public, – informed the head of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
The building is designed to accommodate large-scale exhibits
The newly purchased facility previously housed a furniture showroom. – This is one of the favorable conditions that made it meet the technical requirements, that the building can transport heavy furniture and large objects that belong to the National Museum in Warsaw, – explained Dr. Khab. Agnieszka Layus, acting director of the institution.
He added that “the main reason for searching the warehouse was to ensure the security of the National Museum in Warsaw.” It took several years to find the right facility.
– Our temporary warehouses in Tarchin cannot meet the requirements of fire safety and nature protection. The way of maintaining these works, of course, should be organized in a different way. The second place where we keep our collections is the Interior Museum in Otwock Wilkie, but it is also only a temporary home for our things, he noted.
He said that the facility in Pulavska was built in 1996 for the needs of printing activities and was completely renovated in 2021 for the needs of a furniture exhibition.
– Has solid ceilings, ramps and cargo lifts. This is the first freight elevator in the history of the National Museum of Warsaw, capable of lifting pianos, garbage and sleds, as such objects and instruments are also in the MNW collection. There is a huge area next to the building, about 90 parking spaces, and there is also a concept of expanding this building, which is currently three-storeyed and has a usable area of about three thousand two hundred square meters, – said Layus.
When can people come to the new warehouse?
This year, the museum plans to carry out design and general construction works to adapt the facility to the needs of the institution, as well as to prepare a project for arranging one floor of the building and moving the collections from the warehouse. in Tarchin. Furniture and industrial decorations are placed in warehouses. The cost of buying new space is about PLN 40 million.
When asked by journalists how long it will take to transfer the items to the new warehouse and when the public will be able to see them, the head of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage answered: “We hope that in the second half of 2026 we will start presenting them in parts of this warehouse. we will.”
The largest collection of old design and furniture in Poland
The design collections at the National Museum of Warsaw are the largest collection of Polish applied art and design in Poland and are unique in their diversity and historical value. It was founded in 1978, when, thanks to the efforts of Wanda Telakowska and the support of Stanisław Lorenz, the museum took over the resources of the Institute of Industrial Design.
“Currently, the collection contains more than 25,000 objects documenting the history of Polish design from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. It includes a wide range of objects: textiles, clothing, furniture, glass, ceramics, metalwork, jewelry, toys. and prototypes of machines and industrial devices has the advantage of having a rich set of drawings and construction models to follow the creative process – from the sketch to its implementation, the collection contains archival material, including documents and photographs, which make it unique An invaluable source of knowledge for researchers, designers and lovers of applied art, “writes the museum in its press statement.
The furniture collection in the National Museum of Warsaw is the largest collection of old furniture of great artistic and historical value in Poland. Together with other works of art, they were collected in the museum before the First World War. During the interwar period, important examples of European furniture, Polish products and souvenirs of great Poles were obtained.
Currently, the collection includes more than 2,300 artifacts, based on which the history of European carpentry and furniture production can be determined from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 20th century. The collection includes furniture made in France, England, Germany, Austria, Italy. and Spain, the largest collection of Warsaw furniture in Poland, which is more than 200 pieces, from the territory of the former Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania, there are numerous examples of Vilnius furniture. Gdańsk, Torun and Elbleg, as well as other important centers such as Kraków, Lviv, Kolbuszów and Poznań, the collection also includes clocks in cabinets, keyboards and chairs, and sedan chairs.
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Source: TVN24
Author/Author: kk
Source: PAP
Photo source: National Museum in Warsaw