Rocznik Muzeum Narodowego w Warszawie (2(38).2013)

76

The Museum

planned by management, the atmosphere at the National Museum in Warsaw continued to
grow increasingly strained.26
The Chief Conservator’s refusal to sign off on the loan of the Battle became the first rea-
son for terminating her contract, for reason of insubordination stemming from her refusal
to follow orders at work.27 It is noteworthy that the Director’s actions blatantly contravened
the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums,28 which states that “The governing body should never
require museum personnel to act in a way that could be considered to conflict with the provi-
sions of this Code of Ethics, or any national law or specialist code of ethics.”29 Also: “Members
of the museum profession have an obligation to follow the policies and procedures of their
employing institution. However, they may properly object to practices that are perceived to be
damaging to a museum, to the profession, or to matters of professional ethics.”30 And finally:
“They should avoid situations that could be construed as improper conduct.”31
Because the Chief Conservator did not agree to the loan of The Battle of Grunwald to
Krakow and Berlin, the museum’s management entertained the possibility of having the con-
servation work done at the Wawel Royal Castle, leaving out the National Museum in Warsaw
staff. The controversy won widespread publicity in newspapers, on television and radio. The
public, demonstrating a lively interest in the developments, reacted vocally.
In response to the now public dispute between the Director and the team of conserva-
tors, Director Piotrowski assembled an independent committee of conservators to advise
him on lending Grunwald to the exhibitions in Krakow and Berlin. Opening its first meeting,
he expressed the opinion that “the Director of a national institution ought to weigh the mu-
seum’s particular interests against the public interest [...] and [therefore] an event such as the
exhibition in Krakow about the Polish-Teutonic wars cannot take place without The Battle,
the Berlin exhibition may become an exceptional event, and it addresses a thousand years
of Polish-German relations as seen through art. Putting paintings [including The Prussian
Homage] on display is in the interest of our national culture. The last time these two paintings

26 The professional staff of the National Museum in Warsaw pointed out that the reform proposed by
Director Piotrowski lay primarily in politicizing and ideologizing the museum’s programme. It included contra-
dictions in some aspects of internal reform, such as increasingly digitizing the collections, and at the same time
making radical staff cuts. Conservation departments was to be dramatically reformed, even eliminated. The exist-
ing systematic conservation care of the collections was to be reduced primarily to short-term technical service of
its own exhibitions and loans to other museums, while conservation of items was to be drastically cut. The reform
made light of basic research and research studies of the collections for collection catalogues. Museum education
was also limited. The staff emphasized the Director’s style, which replaced dialogue with conflict and confronta-
tion, impeding discussion and understanding with the employees. See Antoni Ziemba, Chairman of the Curators’
Committee of the National Museum in Warsaw, Pracownicy merytoryczni Muzeum Narodowego w Warszawie w sporze
z jego dyrektorem, główne punkty kontrowersji [The professional staff of the National Museum in Warsaw in dispute
with its Director, main points in the controversy] letter of/ June 2010.
27 The other reasons for her planned dismissal had to do with letters and open letters to the highest state
authorities, written jointly with staff of the professional departments of the National Museum in Warsaw, about
the dispute underway at the museum. Copies of all the letters are archived in the Office of the Chief Conservator
of the National Museum in Warsaw. I would like to take this opportunity to thank National Museum in Warsaw
staff, conservators from other museums and the Polish National Committee of the ICOM, at that time chaired by
Prof. Dr Hab. Andrzej Tomaszewski, for their friendship and support.
28 ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums [online], [retrieved: 7 October 2013], at: <http://icom.museum/
fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/Codes/code_ethics2oi3_eng.pdf>.
29 Ibid., 1.16.
30 Ibid., 8.2.
31 Ibid., 8.1.