DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.33086#0045
culture, hygiene and other special fieids. One oi the tasks
to which particular attention was drawn, was that oi creat-
ing in larger art museums, alongside retrospective collec-
tions, galleries oi modern art as well.
The State regulated deiinitively the legal basis oi mu-
seum work by issuing, on February 15th, 1962, the Law on
the Preservation oi Cultural Assets and on Museums. This
iaw consolidated the principles established throughout some
15 years oi practical work and assured protection to private
collectors. The role oi the organ oi expert opinion is now
assumed by the Section oi Museums and oi the Pre-
servation oi Cuitural Assets oi the Council oi Cuiture
and Art. Museums can now, in stabilized conditions, syste-
maticaliy develop their activities, and above all their scien-
tiiic and educational work. Aiter rebuilding and repairing
museum buildings destroyed or damaged during the war,
the process continued of endeavouring to expand old mu-
seums and build new ones. In Cracow, a new building has
been completed to house a part of the Czartoryski Branch
collection, and the whole hill of Wawei has been turned
over for museum purposes, which has made it possible to
open new museum departments there and to install large
workshops.
All over the country, museums have acquired, for their
purposes, historic or modern buildings adapted to their
needs. These include vaiuable historic buildings that had
been, for a long time, used improperly, e.g., the castie
in Lublin. The Ethnographic Museum in Torun may serve
as an example of a historic building combined with newly
erected pavilions. In Warsaw, one of the historic buiidings
has been reconstructed to house the State Ethnographic
Museum; the National Museum has been expanded to
meet the needs of the Ancient Art Gallery, the Decorative
Art Gallery and the collections of modern art. The National
Museum in Poznan has grown considerably larger and also
has plans for expansion. In Cracow, the expansion of the
National Museum's main building is under way.
The new Museum Law clearly defines all museums as re-
search institutions. Thus, the National and central museums
have become important scientific institutes. District and
regional museums, together with regional societies of learn-
ing, are extremely useful scientific stations, especialiy in
towns with no institutes of higher education. Even small
local museums are expected to undertake scientific work,
even if only on a limited scale corresponding with their
possibilities. The further development of such a multigraded
network is of great importance to Polish science.
The scientific work of the museums is of a greatly varied
character. We have already mentioned the vast programme
of research undertaken by the museums of Polish archae-
ology. The wide scope of their work may be realized by
citing that each year they conduct over 150 research pro-
jects as well as more than one thousand reconnaissance
projects. In the field of archaeology of the Mediterranean
basin, the National Museum has been conducting excavations
since 1936. This activity was greatly expanded after the war.
We have, at present, excavation sites in Egypt, Sudan, Syria
and Cyprus; we conducted research in the Crimea in colla-
boration with the Hermitage of Leningrad. The Museum
42
to which particular attention was drawn, was that oi creat-
ing in larger art museums, alongside retrospective collec-
tions, galleries oi modern art as well.
The State regulated deiinitively the legal basis oi mu-
seum work by issuing, on February 15th, 1962, the Law on
the Preservation oi Cultural Assets and on Museums. This
iaw consolidated the principles established throughout some
15 years oi practical work and assured protection to private
collectors. The role oi the organ oi expert opinion is now
assumed by the Section oi Museums and oi the Pre-
servation oi Cuitural Assets oi the Council oi Cuiture
and Art. Museums can now, in stabilized conditions, syste-
maticaliy develop their activities, and above all their scien-
tiiic and educational work. Aiter rebuilding and repairing
museum buildings destroyed or damaged during the war,
the process continued of endeavouring to expand old mu-
seums and build new ones. In Cracow, a new building has
been completed to house a part of the Czartoryski Branch
collection, and the whole hill of Wawei has been turned
over for museum purposes, which has made it possible to
open new museum departments there and to install large
workshops.
All over the country, museums have acquired, for their
purposes, historic or modern buildings adapted to their
needs. These include vaiuable historic buildings that had
been, for a long time, used improperly, e.g., the castie
in Lublin. The Ethnographic Museum in Torun may serve
as an example of a historic building combined with newly
erected pavilions. In Warsaw, one of the historic buiidings
has been reconstructed to house the State Ethnographic
Museum; the National Museum has been expanded to
meet the needs of the Ancient Art Gallery, the Decorative
Art Gallery and the collections of modern art. The National
Museum in Poznan has grown considerably larger and also
has plans for expansion. In Cracow, the expansion of the
National Museum's main building is under way.
The new Museum Law clearly defines all museums as re-
search institutions. Thus, the National and central museums
have become important scientific institutes. District and
regional museums, together with regional societies of learn-
ing, are extremely useful scientific stations, especialiy in
towns with no institutes of higher education. Even small
local museums are expected to undertake scientific work,
even if only on a limited scale corresponding with their
possibilities. The further development of such a multigraded
network is of great importance to Polish science.
The scientific work of the museums is of a greatly varied
character. We have already mentioned the vast programme
of research undertaken by the museums of Polish archae-
ology. The wide scope of their work may be realized by
citing that each year they conduct over 150 research pro-
jects as well as more than one thousand reconnaissance
projects. In the field of archaeology of the Mediterranean
basin, the National Museum has been conducting excavations
since 1936. This activity was greatly expanded after the war.
We have, at present, excavation sites in Egypt, Sudan, Syria
and Cyprus; we conducted research in the Crimea in colla-
boration with the Hermitage of Leningrad. The Museum
42