About us

The oldest in Poland and one of the largest ethnographic museums in Europe was founded in 1888. Jan Maurycy Kamiński and Jan Karłowicz formed an organizational committee and thanks to their work the Ethnographic Museum at the Warsaw ZOO was opened, with Stanisław Ciszewski as its first custodian.

Initial successes ended with the closedown of the Warsaw ZOO. Since the authorities planned to transport the entire collection to St.Petersburg, the museum founders bought it out with their own money. Because Russian authorities adamantly refused to re-open the museum, the “Permanent ethnographic exhibition” was installed in a building in Krakowskie Przedmieście 17.

After a short time, the collection returned to the Frascati Palace and then they were moved to a location in Nowy Świat 26. To avoid frequent relocations, Karłowicz, Janikowski and Majewski decided to place the collection in the Museum of Industry and Agriculture, in Krakowskie Przedmieście 66.

It was Stanisław Poniatowski’s idea to create the Ethnology Laboratory, whose main aim was to conduct studies and systematic inventory of ethnographic collections. WW1 forced a few year long break of these fruitful project.

Eugeniusz Frankowski took over the Ethnographic Collection. At the time the Ethnographic Museum officially became a central institution. Frankowski turned out to be as excellent manager as he was ethnographer, and the museum flourished.

Thanks to the President of Warsaw, Stefan Starzyński’s decision the museum was given a permanent seat in a building in Podwale 16. Tadeusz Dziekoński was its new director. In 1939 the Museum of Industry and Agriculture was completely destroyed in bombardment. All the collections of the Ethnographic Museum perished in fire.

After the war Jan Żołna-Manugiewicz directed the restoration effort. The historic 18th century Brühl palace was selected as the temporary location of the Folk Cultures Museum, as the post-war institution was re-named.

On 22 May 1949 the first, although still a bit makeshift, exhibition was opened, presenting Polish traditional folk costumes. Moreover, exhibition pavilions were erected, which soon housed the first non-European collection: “The Art of Black Africa and Oceania peoples.”

A branch of the museum opens on a floating, specially prepared river barge named Bat. Two exhibitions were presented there: “The Mazovian Art” and then “Polish traditional folk costumes.”

Due to the continued growth of the collection and the lack of space lead the permanent exhibitions were closed and the space they occupied was used as storage. Exhibitions were organized in the museum’s branches. Moreover, the exhibition barge Złota Kaczka’s river cruises were resumed, and the boat visited 180 places on the Vistula, Noteć, Odra Rivers, and in the Mazuria region.

That year the institution’s name changed to the Museum of Folk Art and Culture. A year later Ksawery Piwocki, a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, became the director.

In 1960 the Presidium of the National Council’s decision gave the museum a permanent location in the building that once belonged to Towarzystwo Kredytowe Ziemskie, located on the corner of Kredytowa and Mazowiecka streets.

The change of the name also entailed a new statute and new goals, tasks, forms of activities and a new management structure.

In 1971, after the building in Kredytowa 1 was officially taken over, it was time to move in. The new museum building was opened in December 1973. The operation was coordinated by Kazimeirz Pietkiewcz, who had been the museum’s director since 1969.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary two temporary exhibitions were prepared, one of them presenting the African collection. A guest of honour graced its opening with his presence: the king of the Bakuba tribe from Zaire, Kwete M’Bokashanga with his retinue.

The museum was given the status of a national cultural institution. A few years later, in 1998, due to the Public Administration Reform, it became a regional cultural institution operating under the local authorities, with the Mazovian District marshal as its founding institution.

Adam Czyżewski has been the museum’s director since 2008. An anthropologist of culture, graduate of Jagiellonian University, Mieczysław Porębski’s and Czesław Robotycki’s student, author of works about urban anthropology, visual culture, and anthropology of objects.

The Children’s Museum is created – the first place like this in Poland, where children learn about culture and art that is outside display cases. After years of modernization works in the museum’s interior, we were able to create new permanent exhibitions: the “Celebration time” presenting a beautiful collection of  Polish and European traditional folk costumes and “The Order of Things. Piotr B. Szacki’s storeroom” with over 3,000 objects used for farm work and handicraft.

The Museum entered a new era. The jury of the European Museum Forum recognized the transformation by nominating the museum for the European Museum of the Year Award, a prestigious title sought by the best European institutions.