The exhibition ‘Warsaw. Phoenix from the Ashes” can be viewed by the Japanese until the fifth of February. It is organised by the Warsaw Rising Museum and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in cooperation with the Polish Institute in Tokyo and the Hiroshima City Hall.
During the exhibition, visitors can see photographs, archive documentaries and attend lectures. The exhibition presents the history of Warsaw in the first half of the 20th century. Visitors to the exhibition first learn about the pre-war, vibrant city with its dense tenement buildings. Subsequent parts of the exhibition present the further fate of the Polish capital.
Most of the exhibition is devoted to Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. It presents the conditions under which the inhabitants of various nationalities, including the Jewish population, had to live. The photographs and memories of the inhabitants deal with the terror of the streets, tell of the creation of the ghetto, but also of the strength of the inhabitants and their attempt to live a ‘normal’ life under extreme conditions.
The exhibition was organised in the historic Bank of Japan building in Hiroshima, which was one of the few buildings to survive the atomic bomb blast at the end of World War II.
In total, the exhibition consists of 70 panels, three showcases with historical exhibits and two multimedia kiosks. Visitors can see films showing the city in the interwar period, the period of German occupation and showing Warsaw as the capital of the Polish Underground State with its secret structures and administration. The Warsaw Uprising is also part of the exhibition – visitors can see a short film, City of Ruins, which shows the Polish capital completely destroyed. The exhibition concludes with the story of the reconstruction of the city, which like a phoenix from the ashes changed its face from ruins to a modern metropolis.
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The exhibition will run until the fifth of February, after which it will open in Osaka, where the World EXPO will be held as early as 2025
Venue: the former Hiroshima Branch of the Bank of Japan building
Address: 5-21 Fukuromachi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima https://maps.app.goo.gl/jT9FFo8UK5Q27Ki99
16 November – 11 December 2023 (ground floor)
15 December 2023 – 5 February 2024 (2nd floor)
Free admission
At whiteMAD we have written many times about the destruction of Warsaw and its reconstruction. Editor Mateusz Markowski has divided this thread into four publications. In the articles, you will find the most important historical threads and archival photos BEFORE and AFTER. Navigation will be made easier by the slider, through which you can see the changes. The articles can be found here:
photo: Polish Institute in Tokyo / Ryo Shimosaka (M-create)
source: Polish Institute in Tokyo
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