The Museum of the History of Polish Jews Has a New Name

polin_mhzp_logo.jpg, small, Polin - Museum of the History of Polish Jews; photo courtesy of the museum, The Museum of the History of Polish Jews Has a New Name

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Two months before it opens, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews has presented its main exhibition, launched a new crowd-funding platform, redesigned its logo and given itself a new name.

The museum’s new logo incorporates its new name: Polin, which means Poland in Hebrew and Yiddish. The P symbol, which bridges the Latin ‘p’ and the Hebrew ‘pey’, will remain in the design. As the museum's director Dariusz Stola pointed out, the logo was redesigned so that the Museum of the History of Polish Jews instantly embeds itself in people's mind as the Polin Museum. According to Stola, Before, the 'P' symbol wouldn’t be clear to everyone, now, by referring to Polin as well, it makes its presence more comprehensible.

Find out more about the story behind the Museum of The History of Polish Jews in Warsaw

The Forest Gallery

The Forest - first section of the main exhibition open to the journalists; photo by Magda Starowieyska

A legend explaining the origin of the term Polin supplied the concept of The Forest, an art installation in the first section of the exhibition. The piece consists of a few glass screens onto which digitally animated trees and animals are projected. The animations depict the symbolic forest in which the first Jewish settlers found themselves back in the Middle Ages when searching for a new homeland. It was where the birds chirped to greet them: Po lin! Po lin!, which supposedly meant ‘here you should lodge’.

…Afterwards, when they looked closely at the trees, it seemed to them that a leaf from the Gemara was hanging on every branch. At once they understood that here a new place had been revealed to them where they could settle and continue to develop the Jewish spirit and the age-old Jewish learning. - reads a 1927 Yiddish book by Gershom Bader.

This story accounts for the origins of Jews on Polish lands and has been passed on for centuries. The Polin legend is inscribed in the museum building, quite literally – the museum’s glass panel façade is covered with Hebrew letters comprising the word ‘Polin’.

S ee the initial version of The Forest

Polin Day

The Forest installation will open on September 6. The programme for this day, known as Polin Day, includes story-telling workshops, typographical workshops, a lecture by Professor Barbara Kirschenblatt-Gimblett, and the Art Wastelands social project. See the full Polin Day pro gramme.

See the items designed especially for the Museum.

Design Items for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews

Stories of Polin

The museum also presented their latest Internet project – Stories of Polin, a platform gathering stories from people from all over the world about how they relate to Jewish culture. See the stories at www.storiesofpolin.com

Więcej na stronie www.storiesofpolin.com

The Opening in Warsaw and Israel

The launch of the main exhibition and the inauguration of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews as a whole will take place on October 28. A pre-launch guided tour for guests from abroad (including from Jewish communities), and a concert gala at the Wielki Theatre, as well as a special concert for Warsaw residents at the museum building, have been planned for the museum’s grand opening.

The exhibition will be open to the public after the concert, including at night, according to the organisers. The online reservation system will open a few weeks before the opening on October 28.

President of Poland Bronisław Komorowski, Minister of Culture Małgorzata Omilanowska and President of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz are among the invited guests. Representatives of the Jewish community in Warsaw will also be present at the ceremony - the Chief Rabbi, donators to and founders of the museum. Donald Tusk has also confirmed his attendance.

Israeli residents will also have the opportunity to experience the opening ceremony. An open-air exhibition giving an overview of the museum's character will be located in one of Tel Aviv's main streets. The organisers have planned a special concert where a new composition by renowned Israeli composer Ella Milch-Sheriff will be performed. Milch-Sheriff is the daughter of Baruch Milch, the Polish-born author of the moving Testament (Testimony).

source: press materials, press conference 4/9/2014; edited by mg, translated by kd

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the main exhibition of The Museum of the History of Polish Jews

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