This is a story about collecting things, the value of which is measured with emotions. Collections most frequently contain object from the past, but not always. This conviction can be broken for example by the collection of intangible palindromes (over four thousands of them). It turns out that the essence of collecting is not the very object, but everything what is done to preserve, save, and maintain it. Does it make things immortal? Are these some kind of “magical” operations which set objects free from time? Certainly yes. Mr Marian Pietrzak from Sokolow does have an agreement with God, doesn’t he? Creating a collection and ordering it in a particular way is something which is most significant. Collection and exhibition works have been recently gaining ground in Poland. The attempt to describe a dozen or so of chosen private museums showed how complex and emotional museum activities are. They are related to these magical operations, full of passion, conviction, determination in getting and looking for, as one of the collectors said, they are driven by curiosity, and as Krzystof Pomian claimed, not only those who collect and present are involved in them, but also participants of these presentations. We were observing the phenomenon portraying a change in the Polish culture. We understand culture as created by people technical and usable tools, as well as sets of codes and beliefs undergoing constant reconstruction. While researching museums, we touched upon the problem of memory and places where memory is enshrined and created. Descriptions of memory processes provided by Aleida and Jan Assamann were particularly inspiring. They distinguished oral and written memory media, and Aleida Assmann defined them as two main sources of cultural memory: ars (art of remembering, mnemonic) and vis (set of operations and artefacts building and strengthening collective identity). She pointed out to opposition between history and memory in the discourse concerning remembering (“history is situated in ars, whereas memory is situated in vis processes”). In the research we can see that museums play a role both of storerooms, and places of memory.
Tadeusz Barankiewicz (Village Museum in Garwolin): As long as I live, I will be happy that I managed to save it, I will maintain it. I think that it won’t be scrapped. I think it is not in vain. Because I want it to stay here. But will it stay here? It is hard to say.
Translate: Magdalena Kargol
The research project “Private museums, local collections. Researching new cultural landscape” has been conducted within the programme „Obserwatorium kultury”, which was financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province.
Patronage: National Institute for Museums and Public Collections
Study execution: Ari Ari Foundation (Fundacja Ari Ari / www.ariari.org)
