Do weapons as war-related objects have a place in a museum dedicated to art?
This dilemma has accompanied the National Museum in Cracow since its inception in 1879, when the first gifts and deposits consisting of military historical memorabilia began arriving in Cracow. Poles from all annexations, thrilled by the idea of establishing the first national institution on Polish soil, wanted to support it generously with all donations in the form of personal and family trinkets, among which a sizable number were old militaria. In time, they formed one of the largest collections of ancient weapons on Polish soil, and at the same time a treasury of memorabilia considered important to Polish and world heritage.
The exhibition seeks to partially answer these dilemmas by showing ancient weapons and colors in a context that goes beyond military history. Old military memorabilia, appearing here as an element of broadly understood culture and art, reflect the processes that create historical and religious identity, being carriers of meanings and symbols, closely united with secular, religious, military and civilian rituals, and consequently with human spirituality and psyche.
The old weapons shown at the exhibition are finally a living witness to history. These are souvenirs characterized by a personal, but also collective emotional charge. Arranged chronologically in the exhibition, they are a reflection of historical, political, social and customary processes in the lands of Poland and its neighboring countries.
Placing the collection in the former arsenal of Krakow restores the historical memory of this important place on the map of Krakow, associated with its defense. The immediate proximity of the National Museum’s collection of militaria to the Czartoryski collection reveals the similarities and commonality of ideas of these two, the most important Krakow collections, focusing on documenting the past with both real and sentimental mementos of historical events and personalities.
The exhibition grapples with the above issues, attempting to tackle the daunting task of redefining in the collective consciousness the image of the militaria housed at the National Museum in Krakow, whose role is to bear witness to “national and all-Holocaust values.”
National Museum in Krakow
ul. Pijarska 8
31-015 Kraków
