The Museum of the History of Polish Jews invites foreign and Polish artists dealing with the themes of Jewish heritage to participate in its residency programme “Open Museum – Education in Action”. From now to April 2016, thirteen artists will be invited to carry our projects related to Jewish heritage in the context of the space of the Museum seat and the entire city. We would like the projects to deal with history and adopt it as an object of debate, while involving the inhabitants of Warsaw through activating methods.

Presence, Lack, Trace – these are the categories that the artists adopt as the point of departure for their projects. They define the history of the Polish Jews not as a period locked in the past, but as something that develops and has significance “here and now”. Apart from references to different epochs of Jewish presence in Poland, we are also interested in the critical analysis of the contemporary public debate, social memory, common knowledge and imagination. We would like the intercultural discussion on these themes to emerge from the Polish local context, but at the same time, to acquire a universal meaning owing to the perspectives of the invited artists, hailing from different cultural backgrounds and employing a variety of artistic means. We want to reflect together on the importance of Jewish heritage to us, its place in the contemporary era, collective and individual memory, and everyday experience; we also want to ask whether the perspective of the Other can teach us anything about the Polish-Jewish relations and our very selves?

The Museum offers: travel cost refund, accommodation, half board, workshop materials and artist fee, as well as help and support of the project team.

Applications to the 1st residency are accepted until 21st February 2014.

The 1st residency lasts from 29th April to 18th May 2014.

Additional information can be found here.