The opening of the exhibition "Memento Mori - Motif of Death in the Collection of the MNS-CDP" is to be held on Friday, 26 January 2023, at 5 P.M. It has been planned as an event accompanying the 8th anniversary of the opening of the National Museum in Szczecin - the Dialogue Centre Upheavals.
The vernissage will be accompanied by the second Szczecin edition of Death Cafe. A meeting with the audience and discussions about death will be hosted by Katarzyna Górewicz. The exhibition is located in the education room / open storage of the NMS - DCU. It will be available to the public until 28 April 2024.
The exhibition will present collections showing different faces of death, ways of commemorating it, as well as the fear of its coming. Forms of perpetuating in the public memory the death of heroes and martyrs of the Polish nation, such as Marshal Józef Piłsudski or Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, will be shown. In addition to well-known names, there will also be anonymous victims of the crimes of totalitarian states. Upheaval events from the Polish People's Republic, during which innocent people were killed and the opposition's struggle with the authorities to remember the murdered will also be recalled.
The exhibition will explore the experiences of ordinary citizens who faced the horrors of war. The letters they left behind will enrich the exhibition with individual stories frozen in time on yellowed paper. The objects depicting the sacrifice and death of innocents were intended not only to commemorate the victims, but also to motivate entire crowds to fight for the just cause. The objects will include stamps, pennants, prints and posters, which are still kept like relics in the homes of former oppositionists.
In critical situations, prayer has repeatedly accompanied people, giving them the strength to fight and soothing the fear of death. Hence, the exhibition will feature numerous references to religion in the form of various devotional items and prayer books from the turn of the 20th century. The introduction to the exhibition will be a wedding suit, which, paradoxically, often leads a man on his final journey.
Temporary exhibition
Memento Mori – Motif of Death in the Collection of NMS–DCU
26 January - 28 April 2024
The National Museum in Szczecin – the Dialogue Centre Upheavals
pl. Solidarności 1
Curator: Paula Sendra
Curatorial cooperation: Kamila Krężel, Iga Ranoszek-Bieńkowska
Organizer: the National Museum in Szczecin