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Warsaw

Warsaw is the heart of Poland. In addition to politicians and businessmen, it attracts people of culture and art from all over the country. In the last several years, the capital became a city that brims with life all day and night long. Its style and rhythm are dictated by young people.

The Royal Trad, the main axis of Warsaw, leads from the Wilan6w Palace, along the tazienki Krblewskie Park, the historical Nowy Swiat and Krakowskie Przedmieicie streets, all the way to the Royal Castle, meticulously reconstruded from war damage. The Old Town as well underwent an unmatched massive and detailed restoration. Nowadays, the Old Town (Stardwka) is the meeting place of local residents and tourists enjoying themselves in dozens of cafes, cosy restaurants and winehouses. In addition, Warsaw is a city of museums. Everyone interested in the wartime tragedy suffered by the capital should consider visiting the Warsaw Uprising Museum. Ancient art enthusiasts will certainly find something for themselves at the National Museum, contemporary painting fans should visit the Zach^ta Gallery, while the recently opened Chopin Museum boasts universal appeal. The Palace of Culture, an epic relic of socialist realist art, f is the focal point of the entire Warsaw.

The capital is a host city of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. The new, highly modem National Stadium is currently under construction, while Warsaw hotels already make preparations for accommodating thousands of foreign guests. By the Vistula, the almost completed Copernicus Centre is going to present interactive exhibitions displaying the works of the very best artists from all over the world. Warsaw is traditionally the site of numerous international art events, theatre and film festivals, with the International Poster Biennale, the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition and Jazz Jamboree among the unquestionable highlights. The summer season is simply packed with open-air events, fairs and concerts.

Special attention should be paid to the magnificent Warsaw palaces (Palace on the Water in the tazienki park, Ujazdowski Palace) and historical churches scattered along Krakowskie Przedmieicie Street and the Old Town.

Warsaw is one of the most intriguing capitals of the New Europe, a city in which past meets present, a city of dynamic people open to the world. It is my city!

Past and future in harmony

Initially a small settlement, in the eighteenth century Mokotow gained the renown of a trendy leisure area of the nobility and wealthy burghers, for whom manor houses, palaces and villas were constructed in the surroundings of impressive gardens. Szuster's Palace, the Krolikamia palace and the Bemardine church all come from this period. The turning point in the history of Mokotow involved its incorporation to Warsaw in 1916, when the district began to attract higher education institutions (Warsaw Agricultural University and Warsaw School of Economics), along with offices of scientific institutions, hospitals and schools. Stefan Starzynski, the President of Warsaw, enthusiastically supported the advancement of Mokotow and planned the construction of a subway tunnel under Pulawska Street. However, the World War II outbreak put an unfortunate end to all these undertakings. Mokotow was hit by two major prosperity slumps during the partitions of Poland and the Second World War. The latter period had a particularly devastating, influence on the district's condition, with 65% of its building.

The chopin experience

The Chopin Year 2010 celebrates the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birthday. Among the numerous art events, the opening of the new Fryderyk Chopin Museum in Warsaw is particularly chopin.

Officially opened on I March 2010, the Museum is intended to be a centrepiece of the Chopin Year 2010 celebrations, simultaneously aspiring to the rank of an institution stimulating art initiatives inspired by the works and person of the composer.

The Museum is seated at the Ostrogski Palace Okolnik Street I in Warsaw. Works on its reconstruction began already in 2005. The Jarostaw Grzegory i Partnerzy Architekci company was in charge of the adaptation and revitalization. In result of the Palace's reconstruction, the Museum’s gross floor area grew by 90%. The Migliore e Servetto Architetti Associati studio, which designed the exposition's arrangement, was selected in an international competition, which involved 23 design studios.

We want the museum to be universal, inspiring, and simultaneously present a well-thought out answer to visitors’ individual needs explains Alicja Knast, the Museum's curator.

The new Fryderyk Chopin Museum has an unquestionably high-tech feel, with particular means of expression adjusted to the tour’s particular stages.The Museum makes sure to recognise the highly individual character of spectators and their needs, adjusting each visitor profile to his or her expectations.

We met the challenges issued by the museum team and brought classical music and the person of Fryderyk Chopin closer to the broadest possible group of recipients, through the application of museum exhibits, audio-visual interactions and interior design components. The emotional landscapes and music scenery created in this way are intended to work together with architectural features and the building's structure, leading visitors on to an individual discovery of the composer emphasises Ico Migliore.

All the Museum initiatives are guided by the idea of transforming it into a venue, which will showcase works inspired by the composer’s person and output, besides the more traditional Chopin-related keepsakes.

Zelazowa Wola the transformation

The Zelazowa Wola manor house, the birthplace of Fryderyk Chopin, is not a museum in the literal meaning of the word. It is more of a remembrance site, an attempt at reconstructing the ambience of the great composer’s times. The atmosphere of reminiscing is emphasised by black and white photographs, displayed mainly on glass which does not interfere with space, overwhelm the visitors or impose itself on their senses. In this way, Zelazowa Wola guests admire the landscape of Fryderyk’s childhood through the symbolic prism of his music.

Chopin matinee

Even though the Chopin Museum children’s room is aimed at threeto ten-year-olds, its intriguing design attracts the attention of all visitors, regardless of their age. Children use the touch screens to exercise their manual skills by painting landscapes, composing melodies or ’’saving’’ notes blown by the wind.

They become familiar with Chopin by completing jigsaw puzzles with his portrait, watching the animated version of the Omytka play written by the fourteen-year-old composer and his twelve-year-old sister Emilia, and listening to Chopin works played on a cartoon jukebox.