W Muzeum wszystko wolno. The “Anything Goes” Museum

W Muzeum wszystko wolno. The “Anything Goes” Museum, book documenting the exhibition, stories and illustrations: © Curators, idea: Maria Bukowska, Anna Kiełczewska, graphic design and cover design: Maria Bukowska, 253 pages, illustrated, Warsaw: The National Museum in Warsaw, 2016, ISBN 978-83-7100-957-0

The book documents The “Anything Goes” Museum project initiated by Agnieszka Morawińska, director of the National Museum in Warsaw, and organized by the NMW’s Education Department. As a result of the project, a group of children prepared the main temporary exhibition held in the Museum’s main building. 69 children aged 6–14 were divided into six curatorial teams. Over six months, the participants got to know the Museum and worked on the exhibition during weekly 4-hour meetings. The book documenting the exhibition summarizes the actions spanning a period of almost a year: from June 2015 up to the end of the exhibition.

At basically every stage of the work, the children were faced with important limitations related to the tricky project title. A number of ideas concerning the manner of showing exhibits had to be adapted to restrictions imposed by conservators. For example, furniture could not be suspended upside-down, but we managed to find a compromise: individual pieces of furniture are exhibited as if they are about to tip over. A similar thing happened with the book itself. During a specially organized workshop, the children presented multiple ideas concerning its ideal appearance. They let their imagination run free, arguing that the book should be equipped with a padlock; it was supposed to be both scary and surprising – upon opening it, the reader was to activate... a fountain.

However, a number of dreams did come true. The book is in hardcover, because it has to last for years! It has exactly the same format as Dorota Masłowska’s How I Became a Witch, which was a point of reference for a really “cool book for children.” The cover was selected by children in a vote from among several designs. In their view, this one was the most energetic and vibrant. It demonstrated that “anything goes,” liberating the typography. The leitmotif – in line with the children’s wishes – are the colours associated with their respective groups. There is also a bookmark: to balance the rich means of expressions, it is a neutral beige, like the spine of the book. Have a pleasant read!
 
Price: PLN 38
 

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