Poster Museum in Wilanów

The Poster Museum at Wilanów is the oldest institution of that kind in the world. In June 1966, on the day of the opening of the 1st International Poster Biennale. But before the construction works started and before naming of Janina Fijałkowska the first curator of the Poster Museum, the collection of the future museum were housed for many years at the National Museum in Warsaw. A small collection of posters had been stored in the Engravings Department since before the 2nd World War; it took in Polish and foreign posters on equal. standing with other graphic objects.

In 1953, around 500 posters that had survived the war were transferred from the Engravings Department to the Documentation Section, which just had been established.

In 1961 director of the National Museum in Warsaw, Prof. Stanisław Lorentz, brought to life (at Wilanów) the Poster Section of the Gallery of Contemporary Art. Probably by that time the first thoughts of the separate gallery, which would house poster exhibition were born.

The Poster Museum was ceremoniously opened on the day of the inauguration of the 2nd International Poster Biennial – on 4 June, 1968. It kicked off its activities with an exhibition of posters by then-recently deceased Wojciech Zamecznik, an outstanding Polish designer, and a display of works by the price-winners of the 1st International Poster Biennale.

At present the museum collection contains of some 36.000 titles in the Section of Polish Posters and nearly 25.000 titles in the Section of Foreign Posters.

EUNIC Warszawa

EUNIC stands for European Union National Institutes for Culture; the network of European national institutes of culture and national bodies engaged in cultural and related activities beyond their national borders. EUNIC brings together organizations from all 28 EU member states and adds value through its global network of clusters. By pooling together the resources and expertise of its members and carrying out joint work on common areas of interest, EUNIC is a recognized partner of the EU and its stakeholders in defining and implementing European policy on culture inside and outside the EU.

EUNIC promotes cultural diversity and cultural dialogue and advocates for a stronger role for culture in public policies and in external relations, both at European and international level.

By means of its clusters, EUNIC has a strong capacity to deliver collaborative transnational projects connecting culture and society, as well as significant potential for training and research in cultural diplomacy and cultural relations. EUNIC has 34 members from 28 countries represented in over 150 countries with more than 2,000 branches and thousands of local partners.

EUNIC Warszawa has been a thriving cluster since its start in 2007 and has 17 full members and 8 associated members. The cluster cooperated with over 50 different local, regional and national institutions in a variety of cultural, social and educational projects.