African Expeditions, Asian Ways

Interventions

„African Expeditions, Asian Ways” is available at the State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw since October 2020. In 2024, it has become a subject of our reflection and actions towards a new look at the representation of African and Asian cultural heritage. An important impulse for this reflection was a meeting with our audiences, including representatives of the communities and cultures of origin of the exhibits. Using textual, visual or audio commentary, these people address a selected object or issue present in the exhibition, and the visitors can explore this material through QR codes placed in the exhibition space and available through the museum’s website.

List of Interventions:

1. Ivory
2. Sculpture from the Kingdom of Benin
3. Dress from the kingdom of Kuba
4. Mami Wata
5. Damaru (daru)
6. The warrior’s regalia: symbols of strength, identity and initiation among the Maasai
7. Bai Ma Da Wang
8. The olojufoforo mask

Curatorial Text

Exhibition Scenario: Ewa Małkowska-Bieniek, Dariusz Skonieczko

Two vast continents, rich in diverse traditions and in both material and spiritual cultures. The newest permanent exhibition is historical in nature and presents the cultural heritage of Africa and Asia collected in the holdings of the State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw. The stories speak of the past—of how these continents were viewed through the prism of collections created in the 19th and 20th centuries. Across two floors of the museum galleries, we showcase nearly 1,300 objects. One of the newly opened galleries is dedicated to Asia, the other—named after Leopold Janikowski—to Africa. In both, visitors can encounter unique artefacts as well as explore stories through multimedia stations.

Africa

Leopold Janikowski, którego imieniem nazwana jest galeria afrykańska, to jeden z tych polskich afrykanistów, który pragnął poznać i zrozumieć odległy od Polski kontynent. Ten polski podróżnik, eksplorujący Afrykę, związany był z Państwowym Muzeum Etnograficznym w Warszawie. To on, pod koniec XIX wieku zorganizował pierwszą w Warszawie, wystawę etnograficzną poświęconą Afryce. Obecność jego i innych Polaków na tym kontynencie miała inny charakter niż współczesnych im Europejczyków. W tej części możemy przyjrzeć się obiektom związanym z władzą i magią, królowie i czarownicy są istotnymi figurami galerii.

Asia

Asian routes have been traveled by wanderers for centuries. The Asian gallery aims to present not only their geographical paths but sometimes their mystical ones as well. The Buddhism of the Lesser, Greater, and Diamond Paths, the middle way, the way of knowledge, the way of combat, the way of the sword and bow, the way of tea, of flowers—these can all be found in our exhibition. Among the unique objects are, for example, Japanese dolls representing the imperial couple and a Korean celadon bowl, from which the color “celadon” most likely derives.

AFRICAN EXPEDITIONS, ASIAN WAYS is an exhibition that crowns a project aimed at modernizing the infrastructure of the historic building of the State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw.

The renovation of the exhibition halls, the creation of new educational rooms, and the purchase of multimedia equipment are intended to make the collections of the State Ethnographic Museum more accessible to a wide audience. We believe that by improving our institution’s infrastructure, we will be better able to showcase and educate about the diversity of world cultures.

The project ‘Purchase of equipment and furnishings for the needs of modern exhibitions of the State Ethnographic Museum and the educational and cultural activities conducted therein’ is co-financed by the European Union under Priority Axis VIII of the Infrastructure and Environment Programme 2014–2020.

The subsidy for the own contribution to the implementation of the project comes from the Self-Government of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship, the governing authority of the State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw.

Media patronage