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The Theatre Museum is located in the west wing of the Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera building in the historical Reduta Rooms, and is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and during intermissions of spectacles at the Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera.
Chief curator: Dr. Andrzej Kruczyński. Tel.: +48 22 692 07 56, +48 22 692 02 11;
Opening hours:
History The Theatre Museum, the first and only museum of its kind in Poland, was established by Arnold Szyfman in 1957 and was the culmination of years of work by many artists and petitions from scholars and luminaries from the literary arts but most of all the people of the theatre. The idea of such a museum was born much earlier. An exhibition of about 2,000 memorabilia was shown at the Warsaw City Hall in 1902. During the first period of its activity the museum functioned as a branch of the Historical Museum of Warsaw headed by chief curator Prof. Eugeniusz Szwankowski. In 1965 the Teatr Wielki building was reconstructed after being destroyed during World War II, and the museum moved into the new location. It was now under the administration of the Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera. The first exhibition was dedicated to the rebuilt theatre and commemorated 200 years of the National Stage in Poland. The first period concentrated on gathering and cataloguing the collection. The next period concentrated on developing a regular programme of exhibitions. Soon the Theatre Museum became one of the most important centres of its kind in Poland, leading in research, organising exhibitions and popularising the history and the present of theatrical life in the country.
CollectionsThe collection includes museum objects and documents. There are about 200,000 pieces all together recorded in the Inventory (by category) and in the Book of Acquisitions, illustrating almost all the periods of Polish theatre history to the present time. Among the most precious are several collections that once belonged to famous opera singers (Adam Didur, Jan Kiepura, Edward and Jan Reszke, Wanda Wermińska), actors (Wojciech Bogusławski, Maria Dulęba, Bolesław and Jan Leszczyński, Helena Modrzejewska vel Modjeska, Jan Łomnicki, Juliusz Osterwa, Wincenty Rapacki, Leon Schiller, Alojzy Żółkowski), ballet dancers (Michał Kulesza, Feliks Parnell, Wojciech Wiesiołłowski vel Woytek Lowsky), cabaret playwrights (Marian Hemar), stage designers (Wincenty Drabik, Jan Kosiński, Andrzej and Zbigniew Pronaszko, Teresa Roszkowska), and stage directors. The museum collection includes paintings, sculptures, artistic prints, drawings, a large collection of photographs, designs of decorations, three-dimensional models, costumes, manuscripts, old prints, theatrical programmes and posters, theatrical memorabilia and a rare library of play scripts, notes and records.
In publicThe location of the Theatre Museum in the Reduta Rooms allows the public from the Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera and the National Theatre to visit the exhibitions during intermissions. The museum collections are an important source for scientific and artistic organizations and the media in Poland and abroad, and for students of the humanities and art-related courses (on average about 700 inquiries a year). Current exhibitions |
