Polish manufacturers’ toys at the 1929 National General Exhibition in Poznań (in the light of press reports and information materials)

The Polish National Exhibition (PWK) in Poznań was organized in 1929 on the tenth anniversary of Poland regaining independence with the intention to show the achievements of the Polish state in all areas and industries. It attracted 1,427 exhibitors, including representatives of the toy industry. However, it was stressed that the PWK showed the achievements of the Polish toy industry and the possibilities of this branch of Polish industry.

The Exhibitions Be’eri (Haifa City Museum) and This is Not an Exhibition (The Palestinian Museum) as First Museum Responses to the Suffering and Trauma of War in Israel and Palestine

The article analyzes two exhibitions that appeared in the offer of two museums in Israel and Palestine as a response to the tragic chain of events in the region initiated by the terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023. Be’eri at the Haifa City Museum and This is Not an Exhibition at The Palestinian Museum seem controversial due to the fact that they comment on the tragic and tense situation in the region practically on an ongoing basis. The exhibition in Haifa was an attempt to transfer the journalistic story of the massacre in Kibbutz Be’eri to the museum, where in addition to photos of the crime scene, an attempt was made to reconstruct it in the exhibition halls using objects brought from the destroyed settlement. The Palestinian exhibition, on the other hand, focused on showing the vast cultural heritage threatened by the war in Gaza. To this end, around 280 works were displayed in the exhibition hall, which was also intended to resemble the landscape of war-torn Gaza. The described exhibitions are analyzed in terms of three potential functions: informational, political and commemorative-therapeutic, the performance of which is not among the basic tasks of museums. The article indicates specific means used by the creators of the discussed exhibitions to educate their audience about current events, build and support a specific political narrative, and try to include a therapeutic element. The text also attempts to compare both projects in terms of building an emotional and substantive message. The article also examines the media reception of the exhibitions, analyzing reviews and press reports, trying to verify the implementation of specific functions.