Inspiring, creative and steeped in history - this is what the Night of Museums at the University of Gdańsk Museum promises to be. The programme includes original collage workshops, a talk about Midsummer wreaths and curator-led tours of the exhibitions. Visitors will also be able to take a look at the hall of the Pelplin Abbots' House, which is not normally open to the public.
This is another participation of the University of Gdańsk Museum in the Night of Museums, but this year, for the first time, it will present its newly opened permanent exhibition. In addition, visitors will have a rare opportunity to see the historic hall of the Pelplin Abbots' House and view a temporary exhibition entitled ‘From abbot to student: the history of the buildings at 5 Bielańska Street’, prepared by the Art History Students' Research Club of the University of Gdańsk.
We encourage you to spend the Night of Museums at the University of Gdańsk Museum!
Event programme
5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Tour of the University of Gdańsk Museum and the hall of the Pelplin Abbots' House.
5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Workshops: Secrets of the academic world
We invite you to collage workshops inspired by the permanent exhibition and the academic history of the University of Gdańsk. Using scissors and ready-made materials related to the exhibition, visitors will create their own works of art! We will focus on the sentimental aspect of the collections and talk about the many possibilities offered by paper and its various structures and textures.
Participation in the classes is free of charge, and the organiser will provide all the materials needed for the workshop. We invite people of all ages, regardless of their experience and manual skills.
Led by: Karolina Tomaszewska, graphic designer and illustrator, graduate of Graphic Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, currently living and working in Warsaw. She is a two-time recipient of the Rector's Scholarship for the best students (2017/2018 and 2018/2019) and the City of Koszalin Scholarship in the field of culture promotion (2020). In addition, she conducts graphic workshops related to visual culture in the broad sense and organises all kinds of cultural events.
The artist's Instagram: @tomaszewskaro
The workshops will be held throughout the Night of Museums, no registration required.
5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Temporary exhibition: ‘From abbot to student: the history of the buildings at 5 Bielańska Street’
The Art History Research Club of the University of Gdańsk invites you to a unique exhibition, which is a continuation of the permanent exhibition of the University Museum.
It is a micro-scale look at the history of the University of Gdańsk, focusing on the Institute, its employees, students, the Scientific Circle and the spaces that constitute its home. Together, we will trace the history of the buildings at Bielańska Street: from the Abbots' House to the present day.
The exhibition is an attempt to discover who used the buildings in the past and how, and at the same time, a desire to build something that may become a new part of history, continued by future generations of students.
7:00 p.m.
Talk: Where do the Midsummer wreaths float to? About wreaths and water in Slavic folk beliefs.
The origins of the custom of floating wreaths on water on the shortest night of the year, which is still practised today, lie in the rituals of the ancient Slavs. Our knowledge of these rituals comes mainly from 19th- and 20th-century records of ethnographers who documented songs, rituals, beliefs and myths that were still alive among the rural population and passed down from generation to generation. Especially in wedding and spring-summer folk songs, we encounter the motif of a girl talking about her fate (lot) with a plant, for example rue, from which she weaves her wreath. Unexpectedly, a bird of paradise or a strong wind comes between them and carries the wreath away on the water. Distraught by the theft of her wreath, the girl sets off in search of it... Who stole the wreath? Where did it float to? Why was it so important to the girl? This is what we will talk about as we search for the answer to the question, ‘Where do the Midsummer wreaths float to?’.
Host: mgr Mikołaj Jarmakowski, Institute of Anthropology, University of Gdańsk
