This prestigious prize, which has been granted since 1999 by The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation for outstanding achievements in the field of protection of the Polish cultural heritage, went this year to Mr. Andrzej Wajda and Mrs. Krystyna Zachwatowicz - Wajda, his wife. The prize has been awarded not only for their remarkable achievements in the field of film and theatre, but also for their exceptional contribution to development of Polish museums.
The seventeenth gala, where the Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award was given, was held at the Royal Castle in Warsaw on 17 February. In this year's edition, the Chapter of the Award emphasized in its decision the less known accomplishments of the prizewinners. Krystyna and Andrzej Wajda have been recognized for their outstanding achievements in the field of film and theatre, which promote Polish culture, and for the promotion of the need to protect the cultural heritage in Poland and for their contribution to its strengthening and popularization. 'Mr. and Mrs. Wajda's involvement in museology and the unique value of their activities that support intercultural dialogue deserve special recognition,' said Mr. Krzysztof Kaczmar, President of The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation.
Mr. and Mrs. Wajda are a brand which everybody knows. Mrs. Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda is a professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, an actress and a top stage designer and Mr. Andrzej Wajda is a film and theatre director, the author of many outstanding works, known throughout the world, and the winner of an Academy Award (Oscar).
However, this time the Chapter of the Aleksander Gieysztor Award focused on the somewhat less known activities of the prizewinners, i.e. museology and promotion of art. Mr. and Mrs. Wajda's passion for fine arts has resulted in such unique cultural initiatives as the "Manggha" Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Kraków and the "Power Station" ("Elektrownia") Mazovian Centre of Contemporary Art in Radom.
For the first time, Mr.Andrzej Wajda came across Japanese art during the Second World War.In the Sukiennice gallery (hosted by the Renaissance Cloth Hall), he once saw an exhibition, organized by the Germans, of art collected by Mr. Feliks "Manggha" Jasieński, who had donated his rich collection of Japanese art to the National Museum in Kraków in 1920. Mr. Wajda admits that that adolescent experience has made an enormous impact on his artistic sensitivity and marked the beginning of his great fascination for the Land of the Cherry Blossoms. In 1987, Mr. Andrzej Wajda received the Japanese Kyoto Prize for lifetime achievement in film and theatre. For the money received together with the prize, Mr. and Mrs. Wajda decided to establish a foundation that would promote Japanese art in Poland. The initiative was supported by the Kraków City Hall and, in 1994, the "Manggha" Museum of Japanese Art and Technology was opened opposite the Wawel Royal Castle. In addition to classic and contemporary Japanese art, "Manggha" presents drawings of Mr. Andrzej Wajda and photographs of Mrs. Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda, which are an artistic documentation of their trips to Japan in the 1980's and 1990's. In 2015, Mr. and Mrs. Wajda donated part of their Japanese collection of drawings to the Centre of Modern Art in Suwałki, the home city of Mr. Wajda. And the Film Museum in Łódź received over 140 prizes and awards received by Mr. Andrzej Wajda during his professional career.
Mr. Wajda's artistic education and passion for painting have printed a remarkable mark in the city of his childhood, Radom, which is now the proud keeper of a unique collection of art donated by Mr. and Mrs. Wajda. In 1990, the Museum of Modern Art, a branch of the Regional Jacek Malczewski Museum, was opened in Radom. Soon after, the Museum received over 2,500 new pieces of art, mostly donated by artists, which were combined with the collection of the local BWA gallery. One of the largest collections (which included, inter alia, works of Józef Czapski, Ryszard Horowitz and Tadeusz Kantor) was donated to the Museum by Mrs. Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda and Mr. Andrzej Wajda. In 2004, Mr. Andrzej Wajda presented an idea to create a new institution that would combine museum and educational functions and would be capable of exhibiting all the works from its collection. The period building of the old city power plant was chosen as its new location. The "Power Plant" ("Elektrownia") Mazovian Centre of Contemporary Art has been active there since June 2014. The collection includes nearly 5,000 works and is widely recognized as one of the most interesting collections of modern art in Poland.
Mrs. Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda and Mr. Andrzej Wajda have been involved for years in a project to establish the Museum of Poland under the Communist Regime in Kraków. Mrs. Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda chairs the Programming Council of the museum. The idea was conceived in 1999, together with the establishment of the SocLand Foundation, the mission of which was to document that period in the history of Poland. The museum was started in the building of the former "Światowid" cinema, in Nowa Huta, as a branch of the Polish History Museum. In 2013, the City of Kraków and the Ministry of Culture signed an agreement for joint management of the Museum. The exhibition will be interactive and should be completed in the next few years.
The Chapter of the Aleksander Gieysztor Award also appreciated that in 2000 Mrs. Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda and Mr. Andrzej Wajda had funded the Professor Jan Zachwatowicz Prize for students of architecture, arts and art conservation. It is granted for Master Theses in the area of monument research and conservation and protection of the Polish cultural heritage.
On the Prize:
The Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award has been granted by The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation since 1999 for outstanding achievements in the field of protection of the Polish cultural heritage in such areas as: museology, art conservation and libraries; international promotion and protection of the Polish cultural heritage; local government initiatives to protect the cultural heritage; individual and joint initiatives to collect and protect remains and monuments of the cultural heritage; popularization of the need to protect the cultural heritage in Poland and dissemination of methods to achieve this goal. The list of previous winners includes, among others, Professor Franciszek Ziejka - Chairman of the Social Kraków Monument Restoration Committee, Ms Anda Rottenberg - a recognized art historian, critic and curator, Professor Norman Davies - an eminent British historian and insightful researcher of Poland's history or Mr. Jan K. Ostrowski - Director of the Wawel Royal Castle. The Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award is also awarded to institutions such as, for example, the Social Committee for the Care of Old Powązki or the National Ossoliński Institute in Wrocław.
