Traumas of War at the National Museum in Szczecin. A New Exhibition on World War II
The National Museum in Szczecin has opened an exhibition called "Traumas of War", which tells the story of the experience of World War II from the perspective of artists. Photo. Agata Jankowska
Works by Tadeusz Kantor, Marian Tomaszewski, Jadwiga Sawicka, Władysław Hasior and Jonasz Srebrna can be seen at an exhibition at the National Museum in Szczecin from Tuesday. It tells about war experiences and shows ways of expressing them through art.
The ceremonial opening of the exhibition took place on Tuesday, April 29 in the building of the National Museum at Wały Chrobrego. The authors of the exhibition were present, as well as witnesses of history. During the opening speeches of "Traumas of War", the significance of the experience of World War II in Polish consciousness and memory was emphasized. The authors: Agnieszka Kuchcinska-Kurcz and Magdalena Lewoc mentioned the transmission of war trauma to subsequent generations, post-memory and post-war silences, which affected especially the victims of the Soviet system or members of the Home Army.
The exhibition is divided into several thematic sections, e.g. "dehumanization", "death", "memory", etc. It shows works by artists created in the post-war years, as well as installations, paintings and contemporary objects - including works by Szczecin artists. There is no shortage of historical artifacts from the era, for example, belongings of prisoners of the camps in Police, there were war documents, books and weapons. The collections of two branches of the National Museum in Szczecin were presented - the Przełomy Dialogue Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as works from the collection of the Zachęta Contemporary Art Association in Szczecin. Among them there will be unique mementos from family archives and archives of Polish and foreign institutions, including works by renowned Polish artists.
- Although 80 years have passed since the end of the war, the subject of war and its consequences is still alive – it is popular in the world of science, art, and pop culture. In narratives about the experience of war, alongside the heroic threads of struggle and resistance, there is also a different perspective – one that exposes its traumatic potential and long-term socio-psychological consequences. The exhibition "Traumas of War" follows this very path. The material traces of war are accompanied by dozens of works by contemporary artists. Some of them were personally affected by the catastrophe of World War II (Władysław Hasior, Tadeusz Kantor, Jerzy Krawczyk, Jonasz Stern, Marian Tomaszewski). However, most were born after the war and experienced its impact in the second and third generation, engaging in the work of post factum memory and observing the dynamics of war and violence from a different, often controversial perspective (Oskar Dawicki, Ryszard Górecki, Jerzy Kosałka, Kamil Kuskowski, Zbigniew Libera). The exhibition also presents works by artists for whom the Second World War is not a source of direct inspiration, but they express emotions that invariably accompany the experience of war – hatred, fear, physical and mental trauma, loss of security and the omnipresence of death (Bogna Burska, Hubert Czerepok, Jadwiga Sawicka, Tomasz Tatarczyk) – inform the organizers.
The exhibition will be open until September 28, 2025. Agnieszka Kuchcińska-Kurcz and Magdalena Lewoc are responsible for the concept and implementation of the exhibition. ©℗
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Kurier Szczecinski
