Treasure Houses of Polish Academic Heritage rewarded

The catalogue Treasure Houses of Polish Academic Heritage took the second place in the category "Most Interesting Museum Publication" in the 15th edition of the "Mazovian Museum Events - Willow" competition.

The publication, which came out in May this year, is the result of many years of cooperation between Polish university museums. It is the first publication of its kind in English, presenting 106 museums and collections of 64 Polish higher education institutions. The Museum of the University of Opole also has its place in the catalogue and Katarzyna Mazur-Kulesza, the institution's manager, is the author of the text devoted to our institution.

In addition to the paper version, the catalogue is available free of charge HERE

The catalogue was published by the Association of Academic Museums.

The project was co-financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport, under the Fund for Cultural Promotion.

The preface to the publication reads, inter alia: 

Treasures Houses of Polish University Heritage is the first English-language catalogue of presenting Poland’s academic heritage. Its aim is to reinforce the identity of Polish university museums and their collections and to present the most valuable objects from 106 of these museums. The museums and collections presented in the catalogue include the most important objects, which differ in character, origin and age. Their common denominator is their association with the university and the history of academia in its broadest sense. Safeguarding and promoting the diversity of cultural and natural monuments continues to be one of the main challenges of the 21st century and university museums and their collections have a fundamental role to play in this. Moreover, museums - as centres for the transmission of culture, intercultural dialogue, learning, discussion and teaching - also have an important role in education, social integration and sustainable development. These university entities have enormous potential to influence society, make it aware of the value of cultural and natural heritage and its responsibility to protect them. The reason for this is that university museums and collections function in a realm that lies in the midst of the academic world, the world of museums and society, and it is these elements that determine how they function. The preparation of a catalogue on Poland’s academic heritage and history of science in English is in response to the huge interest shown in the Polish language version as well as the growing interest in Polish universities and their achievements - also among foreign readers. The catalogue is an excellent means of promoting Poland’s academic heritage and history of science.