At the beginning of March (I know, I know, I am SO behind) Anneke, another volunteer living close by, and I went to the Solidarnosc Museum near the centre of Gdansk. In all truth, I knew nothing about Solidarnosc before setting foot in this museum, but I left with great empathy for all Poles who lived through this time of suppression and scarcity, and a massive respect for those who drove the change and stand for freedom that was at the core of this movement. I also left kind of wanting to have a career in designing museum exhibitions...
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Hard hats of shipyard workers from the beginning of the Solidarnosc movement, affixed to the ceiling |
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The original plywood boards outlining the twenty-one commands of the shipyard strikers |
...I mean, this museum was
so well designed. It was multimedia, interactive, and - most importantly, it not only presented information by giving you screeds and screeds to read. Each room was unique, interesting, and conveyed its own message through form and aesthetics, and let the artefacts, footage and photographs predominantly speak for themselves - the audio guide also helped. Seriously the best museum I've been to so far.