The Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw, Poland, an ASEMUS member, has recently opened a new temporary exhibition entitled "Asia / Pacific / Solec 24 Str." and a new permanent exhibition, "The Sounds Zone".

 

The museum of one thousand and one journey

What was the beginning of the Asia and Pacific Museum? What kinds of treasures are hidden in its magazines?  What is the future plan of the institution? Visitors will find answers to these questions at the exhibition "Asia / Pacific / Solec 24 Str.", which opened on 24 September 2016 and will last until 15 January 2017. The exhibition is a multi-layered narrative about the institution and its collections. Archival photographs of collectors’ expeditions, mainly taken by Andrzej Wawrzyniak (the Museum’s founder, main donor and first director), represent its origins. Press releases, radio records and videos, will allow visitors to trace the 40 year long path to its current premises and audiences' reactions to the emergence of an Asian-themed Museum in Poland. "Asia / Pacific / Solec 24" also displays the most interesting exhibitions and its promotional posters, designed by outstanding Polish artists including Hubert Hilscher, Jerzy Czerniawski, and Andrzej Pągowski. The selection of 100 museum artifacts is not only a vision of the future permanent exhibition, but also a fast, imaginary trip. Exhibits have been divided into eight groups relating to regions – geographical and cultural: Muslim Central Asia and the Middle East, areas of Tibetan Buddhism (Tibet, Mongolia), India and Nepal, East Asia, Myanmar (Burma), other countries of the Peninsula of Indochina, Indonesia and Oceania. Among the exhibits a Chinese theatre costume, an Indonesian kris dagger and a mask from Papua New Guinea can be found. A curators’ team created the exhibition, involving Magdalena Ginter-Frołow, Tomasz Madej, Krzysztof Morawski, Bozena Rubczyńska, Maria Szymańska-Ilnata and Joanna Wasilewska. The exhibition was designed by Kasper Skirgajłło-Krajewski and Anna Rzeźnik.

 

All sounds of the continent

Also on 24 September, the Asia and Pacific Museum opened “The Sounds Zone”, its first permanent exhibition.  It presents nearly 120 musical instruments from different parts of Asia and Oceania - the largest collection of its kind in Poland. In “The Sounds Zone” visitors are surrounded with musical instruments of various designs and origins, often with a very rich form, decoration and colours. However, the exhibition’s curator Maria Szymańska-Ilnata advises visitors to "pay attention to the plain exhibits, which do not attract the eye with their particular shape, size or ornamentation." She argues that "very often they can surprise you with their outstanding sound, interesting history or the original application." The visitors, thanks to the application, are able to deepen their knowledge about the presented instruments - listen to their sound, take a look at the technique of playing, or to see how they function in the cultures of their origin. The exhibition is enriched with multimedia visuals, which provide a unique atmosphere, referring to the art from Asia and Oceania. The museum provides an additional attraction: everyone will be able to try to play the instruments that are available. For additional information about the Asia and Pacific Museum, please visit http://www.muzeumazji.pl/ and read the interview with the Museum's Director, Dr. Joanna Wasilewska, here: http://asemus.museum/news/interview-joanna-wasilewska-asia-pacific-museum-warsaw/  

Pictures provided by the Asia and Pacific Museum.