2018 POLISH CULTURE YEARBOOK 2018 POLISH CULTURE YEARBOOK Warsaw 2019 INTRODUCTION Prof. Piotr Gliński, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Culture and National Heritage 5 REFLECTIONS ON CULTURE IN POLAND 1918–2018 Prof. Rafał Wiśniewski, Director of the National Centre for Culture Poland 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE 1. CELEBRATIONS OF THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF POLAND REGAINING INDEPENDENCE 17 CELEBRATIONS OF THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF POLAND REGAINING INDEPENDENCE Office of the ‘Niepodległa’ Program 18 2. CULTURE 1918–2018 27 POLISH STATE ARCHIVES Head Office of State Archives 28 LIBRARIES National Library of Poland 39 READERSHIP National Library of Poland 79 CULTURAL CENTRES Centre for Cultural Statistics, Statistical Office in Kraków 89 MUSEUMS National Institute for Museums and Public Collections 96 MUSICAL INSTITUTIONS Institute of Music and Dance 111 PUBLISHING PRODUCTION National Library of Poland 121 ARTISTIC EDUCATION Centre for Art Education 134 THEATRE IN POLAND Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute 142 IMMOVABLE MONUMENTS National Heritage Board of Poland 160 3. CULTURAL POLICY 2018 173 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SPENDING ON CULTURE National Centre for Culture Poland 174 CINEMATOGRAPHY Polish Film Institute 181 NATIONAL MEMORIAL SITES ABROAD Department of Cultural Heritage Abroad and Wartime Losses, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage 189 POLISH CULTURAL HERITAGE ABROAD Department of Cultural Heritage Abroad and Wartime Losses, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage 196 RESTITUTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS Department of Cultural Heritage Abroad and Wartime Losses, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage 204 DEVELOPMENT OF LIBRARY INFRASTRUCTURE AND PROGRAMMES ADDRESSED TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES Polish Book Institute 212 EXPENDITURE OF THE POLISH STATE ON CULTURE Department of Intellectual Property Rights and Media, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage 217 4. VARIA 227 PUBLIC SPACE AND ARCHITECTURE IN SOCIAL PERCEPTION National Centre for Culture Poland 228 STANISŁAW MONIUSZKO AND HIS RECOGNITION IN POLAND National Centre for Culture Poland 239 2018 INTRODUCTION Minister of Culture and National Heritage The third edition of the Polish Culture Yearbook comes out in 2018, a special year for Poland in which we celebrate the 100th anniversary of regaining inde- POLISH CULTURE YEARBOOK POLISH CULTURE pendence. Therefore, articles and studies contained within this volume dis- cuss various aspects of Polish culture and heritage, presenting them against the background of significant historical processes that structured Poland. Statistical data is provided to illustrate the dynamic expansion in the times of the Second Republic of Poland. The state-building process included the development of various institutions: archives, libraries, establishments of culture (initially known as ‘folk establishments’), museums, art schools, theatres, and many others, with such examples as the National Museum in Warsaw, whose modernist building was erected in 1927–1938, and the Natio- nal Library of Poland established pursuant to the Regulation of 24 February 1928 of the President of the Republic of Poland. The heyday of Polish culture was brutally interrupted by the Second World War. We have lost many priceless works including most of the special collections of the National Library, burnt by the Germans after the capitula- tion of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. A substantial number of works of art was stolen. As of today, the online database of lost works of art managed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (www.dzielautracone.gov.pl) records approx. 63,000 items, which is merely a part of Poland’s wartime losses. After 1945, as a result of extraordinary effort of many outstanding peo- ple, Poland managed to rebuild some of its monuments and thus restore the operation of cultural institutions. The centrally planned economy assumed INTRODUCTION 5 ongoing growth of economic indices. Subsequent statistical yearbooks pub- 2018 lished by the Statistics Poland proved that new archives, libraries, cultural centres and other institutions emerged consistently. If one looks at those figures more closely, one will find signs of cultural activity being subjected to the goals set by the leadership of the Polish United Workers’ Party, imple- mented for example by the Main Office for the Control of the Press, Publi- cations and Public Performances. Changes observed in the publishing mar- ket may serve as an example here. In 1938, 6022 titles were published with a total circulation of 36.2 million copies compared to 3254 titles with a total circulation of nearly 39 million copies in 1946. Therefore, while the circula- tion was on the rise, the offer was less diverse. Similar trends were observed in the market of magazines and journals. The time after 1989 proved to be the time of hope on the one hand but a difficult period for artists and creators on the other. As censorship was abolished and Poland’s borders were opened up, a new approach to cultur- al policy developed. It postulated marketisation of culture which in practice translated into a drastic reduction of public expenditure on culture. As a mea- POLISH CULTURE YEARBOOK POLISH CULTURE surable consequence of these decisions, the number of cultural institutions (public libraries, library points, cultural centres, etc.), and people’s partici- pation in culture (expressed among others as numbers of theatre-, concert- and cinema-goers) came to a decline. The primary focus of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and its activity since late 2015 has been to encourage reflection on the historical conditions behind the current condition of the cultural sector in Poland. We have built on the legacy of the Second Republic of Poland which has become an inspiration for many actions implemented as part of the Multi-Annual Governmental ‘Niepodległa’ Program. Intensive work has been undertaken to recover the looted works of art. For example, in 2018, Maksymilian Gierymski’s 1872 painting Zima w małym miasteczku [Winter in a Small Town] and the 17th-century painting Zesłanie Ducha Świętego [Descent of the Holy Spirit], attributed to Isaak van den Blocke, were recovered. Expenditure on culture from the central budget has increased significantly, resulting in the establishment of new institutions and support for regional facilities co-managed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. New museums are being built, e.g. the construction of the Polish History Museum has just been launched. These activities bring tangible results in the form of a sys- tematically growing level of participation in culture. The number of people who visit museums is rising dynamically. A growth in attendance, much INTRODUCTION 6 higher than that in the late 1990s, has also been recorded for artistic insti- 2018 tutions (philharmonic halls, theatres, cinemas, etc.). Great historical processes do not happen spontaneously. We could not enjoy today’s independence or the outstanding works of Polish culture cre- ated in the past if it had not been for the enormous effort and personal dedication, sometimes even sacrifice, of many people. Among them were undoubtedly Ignacy Jan Paderewski and Zenon ‘Miriam’ Przesmycki, whose paths, albeit so different, merged in 1919, when Paderewski became the Prime Minister and Przesmycki the Minister of Art and Culture. Ignacy Jan Paderewski, a son of an insurgent in the January Uprising of 1863, used his outstanding artistic talent to win the favour of the rest of the world for the Polish cause. As an extremely popular pianist, he performed on the most important stages of his time, including in Paris, Vienna, London and New York, while his concerts attracted both representatives of the élite and thousands of regular people. Through art he gained friends for Poland, including such important and powerful figures as Thomas Woodrow Wilson, the twenty-eighth President of the United States. This was of key impor- POLISH CULTURE YEARBOOK POLISH CULTURE tance for securing international support for establishing an independent Polish State, as postulated by President Wilson in 1918 in proposal number 13 of his Fourteen Points. Poland became the main goal and most fundamental value in Pade- rewski’s life. His artistic career was dominated by his involvement in the fight for Poland’s independence. The substantial income from his concert tours in the USA was spent on patriotic causes. He used beautiful words to express his deep attachment to Poland. This is what he wrote in his appeal of 22 May 1915 to the Polish diaspora in America: ‘I am Polish, and I am a faithful son of my Homeland. The image of Poland both great and strong, free and independent, has been the very essence of my existence; making it come true has been the sole purpose of my life. Although I have lived most of my life among strangers, I have never mistreat- ed her, nor I ever will. Each of us loves Poland, but no one is capable of loving her more than I do.’1 1 Ignacy J. Paderewski, Mistrz Paderewski do Polonii w Ameryce [Maestro Paderewski to the Polish Diaspora in America], 22 May 1915, source: https:// polona.pl/item/mistrz paderewski do polonii w amerycerodacy drodzy bracia- moi inc od lat juz,NDQzNDAyNTc/ [accessed on: 21 November 2018]. Unless indicated otherwise English versions of all quotations used in the text come from its translator [translator’s note]. INTRODUCTION 7 On 16 January 1919, Józef Piłsudski appointed Zenon Przesmycki, pen 2018 name ‘Miriam’, Minister of Art and Culture in Ignacy Jan Paderewski’s gov- ernment. As he was taking the post, Przesmycki enjoyed wide recognition in artistic circles for his achievements, among others for establishing the magazine ‘Chimera’. Beautifully illustrated, ‘Chimera’ was a work of art on its own and offered texts by the most outstanding Polish writers (including Bolesław Leśmian, Zofia Nałkowska, Stefan Żeromski, Władysław Reymont, Leopold Staff and Stanisław Wyspiański). As an élite and avant-garde journal it followed the motto of ‘art for the sake of art.’ In his political writings Przesmycki argued that works of art should be evaluated exclusively by their artistic value.