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13.09.2019

41st Conference of Polish Museums, Archives and Libraries in the West –Lublin, 14-18 September 2019

The 41st Conference of Polish Museums, Archives and Libraries in the West will take place in Lublin on 14-18 September 2019

The conference will be attended by representatives of Polish institutions such as museums, libraries and archives from around the world. The organizers are: IPN Lublin and the Archives of the Polish Catholic Mission in England and Wales. Dr Jarosław Szarek, the President of the Institute of National Remembrance will also take part in the conference.The event will be accompanied by the presentation of an exhibition 'Emigration Polonica - from the collections of member institutions of the Conference of Museums, Archives and Polish Libraries in the West.

The Conference launched in 1979 at the Polish Museum in Rapperswil is a loose association of Polish organizations, initially of Western Europe, and later also from the USA, Canada and South America. These are mainly institutions which have libraries, archives or museums of the Polish community abroad. These centers have been contributing to the collecting, storing and sharing of Polish culture abroad for many years. They collect works in the field of history, literature and art, assemble emigrant publications, issue bibliographic studies, exchange publications with academic and university libraries in Poland. They gather academic sources and conduct historical research related to the newest history of Poland, collect souvenirs (decorations, portraits, medals, banners) donated by private individuals, take care of monuments and publish their own publications. The Conference is an important forum for exchanging experiences of the representatives of emigration institutions from around the world.

The conference brings together the most important cultural institutions of the Polish community abroad, including the Polish Library in Paris, the Polish Museum in Rapperswil, and similar establishments in London, Rome, Montreal and Buenos Aires. In the USA, it gathers associations such as the Polish Army Veterans' Association in America (SWAP), the Jozef Pilsudski Institute of America, the Kościuszko Foundation, the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, Archives, Library and Polish Museums in Orchard Lake and the Polish Museum in America based in Chicago. The aim of the conference is to strengthen cooperation between member institutions, exchange experiences, assist in collecting Polonica, conducting a joint information campaign and sharing the work of member institutions.

For many years, the annual meetings of representatives of museums, libraries and archives in the West have documented the work of emigration institutions. The goal of these meetings is also to discuss problems and to search for solutions together, as well as initiate projects connected with the maintaining  of Polish national heritage abroad.

The first session of the Conference held in Poland was the 17th session overall , organized in Lublin in September 1995 by the Polish Library in London together with the Library of the Catholic University of Lublin. In Poland, four sessions have been held so far (in 1996 in Wrocław, in 2004 in Krakow, in 2010 in Warsaw and again in Wrocław in September 2012).


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