We are pleased to announce that on May 23, 2023, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Faculty of International and Political Studies of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and the Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków regarding the cooperation between the Museum and the Jagiellonian Research Center for African Studies (an interfaculty unit co-created by the Faculty of International and Political Studies). The agreement aims at cooperation in the field of African studies in the scope of scientific, educational, and organizational activities. As part of it, it will be possible to carry out joint research and educational projects, organizing workshops, seminars, academic and popular science conferences, as well as exhibitions. The agreement also enables student internships at the Museum for the Faculty students.
Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków
The Ethnographic Museum of Kraków first opened on February 19, 1911, thanks to the unflagging efforts of Seweryn Udziela, pedagogue, community volunteer, and author of many ethnographic works. Taking advantage of the climate of the preparations for the patriotic anniversaries in Kraków and appealing to the community for donations, the Museum announced that it was collecting any objects connected to the life and artistry of rural populations on Polish and neighboring lands, as well as collections from more distant countries “as long as they are donated by Polish travelers or collectors”. In 1913, the museum established its seat in the Wawel Castle. The collection was systematically growing thanks to the involvement of community activists and collectors, at the outbreak of the Second World War it numbered 30,000 objects. In 1945 the Ethnographic Museum Society handed over its collection to the state. Three years later Tadeusz Seweryn, Udziela’s successor, managed to secure, through great effort, a new office in the former Town Hall in Krakow’s Kazimierz district. In 1951 he oversaw the Museum’s first permanent exhibition. In 1986 the Museum was given, in perpetuity, the use of a second historic building on the 46 Krakowska Street, known as “The Esther’s House”.
The collection of the Ethnographic Museum in Krakow is the largest and oldest ethnographic collection in Poland. Since its establishment, the Museum has expanded it to over 80,000 objects. The Museum conducts research, as well as scientific, publishing, educational and exhibition activities. The core of its collections are objects from the pre-war and present-day Poland. No less important and valuable are the collections from other countries and other parts of the world (including the world’s oldest Siberian collection, collections from Asia, America, Oceania, and Africa).
The African collection includes collections from the area of today’s Namibia and Botswana related to the culture of the San people (Bushmen) donated by Roman Stopa, an outstanding Africanist and professor of the Jagiellonian University. A unique collection of over 1,000 photos from Morocco was donated to the Museum by Marian Maurizio Abramowicz - mountain climber, poet, traveler, agricultural engineer. The Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Krakow has organized several exhibitions related to African cultures. Among others, in 2017 there was an exhibition entitled “Against all odds. Kabylia” where Kabyle jewelry from the private collection of Urszula Zanotti was presented. It was the first Polish exhibition presenting the culture of Kabylia, a region of Algeria that has maintained its own identity for almost two thousand years, against all odds.
(based on materials from the official website of the Museum and the website of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship https://www.malopolska.pl)
Official website of the Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków https://etnomuzeum.eu
Facebook profile of the Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków https://www.facebook.com/etnomuzeum.krakow