Current issue:
EVENTS - 03.2009
Warsaw in Lonely Planet
Warsaw is on an exclusive list of ten cities around the world which are specially recommended as tourist destinations in 2009. The list was created by the editors from the famous Lonely Planet publishers. Every year, the editorial staff of Lonely Planet chooses a list of the most interesting cities in the world, which it then recommends to tourists. Since this publisher’s guides are regarded as one of the most popular in the world, a city that finds its way onto a list like that can definitely be considered trendy! So, we invite you to Warsaw!
The new director of the National Museum
An international open competition was announced last year for the vacant position of director of the National Museum in Warsaw, the largest museum in Poland. At a special meeting of the Board of Trustees, headed by Jack Lehman, director of the London Museum, Piotr Piotrowski, director of the Department of the History of Contemporary Art at the University of Poznań was chosen. Piotr Piotrowski specializes in research of 20th century art and is the author of many publications on the subject. Opinions about the new director of the National Museum are enthusiastic. „I will try to meet their expectations, using experience, imagination, and perhaps even bravado,” says director Piotrowski.
18 years of “Metro”
The first Polish musical, „Metro”, which premiered in Warsaw, has turned 18. The colorful performance, with a libretto by Agata and Maryna Miklaszewska, with music by Janusz Stokłosa and directed by Janusz Józefowicz, is continually shown to full audiences, and continues to thrill spectators. In „Metro” a group of young people talk about their dreams. It is about love, madness, and youth. Many artists who started in „Metro” had great careers afterward. Over the last 18 years, the musical has been presented in Poland more than 1,420 times, 40 times on Broadway in New York, and more than 200 times in Russia and France. It has been seen by 1.4 million people in all.
Cesaria Evora at the Congressional Hall
Warsaw has fallen in love with Cesaria Evora. And it seems the feeling is mutual, because this wonderful singer from Cape Verde, who sings with a penetratingly emotional voice, will perform for her Warsaw audience once again. Her concert will take place on the 22nd of March at the Congressional Hall (Sala Kongresowa). Cesaria Evora often likes to sing duets with artists from various countries, among them Charles Aznavour in France, Adriano Celentano in Italy, and in our country, with the Polish singer Kayah and also with Dorota Miśkiewicz, with whom she recorded the beautiful song „Um Pincelada” („Brushstrokes”).
12 mln guests in Warsaw
Last year, in 2008, 3.5 million foreigners and 8.6 million Polish citizens visited Warsaw and stayed at least one night (tourists are defined by their use of lodgings). Therefore, altogether, 12 million guests came to Warsaw. This data was collected by the surveying organization Ipsos at the request of the Warsaw authorities. It is perhaps encouraging that the main reason tourists come to Warsaw is sightseeing. The second most common reason is relaxation. Visiting friends and shopping were next on the list. The greatest number of tourists are Germans (12.7%), followed by Spanish (10.8%), British (9.8%), French (9.6%), Americans (9.0%) and Italians (5.9%).
Warsaw in darkness
On the 28th of March, at 20:30, an hour of darkness will overtake the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Opera in Sydney, the Colloseum in Rome, and the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, among other places. Why? It the latest worldwide campaign to turn off lights, with the slogan „An Hour for the Earth”, with the participation of 64 countries. This world initiative is the result of concerns caused by global warming. Last year, not only were the lights on the Palace of Culture and Science turned off, but also the ones illuminating the Royal Castle (in the photo), the Presidential Palace, and the walls surrounding the Old Town. This year, there will be even more sites in darkness. Poznań and other Polish cities will also join in the campaign.
Everyday life in occupied Warsaw
A very interesting book has come out about Warsaw during the German occupation titled „Powstanie w ich pamięci” (The Uprising in their memory). It contains a very colorful description of everyday life in a city ruled by enemy. Many of these descriptions even have a satirical character, because the residents of occupied Warsaw, in spite of the constant danger that threatened their lives, tried not to succumb to fate. The crowning achievement of those emotions was the heroic armed rebellion of the city of Warsaw on the 1st of August, 1944, when an uprising against the Germans broke out. The city had been seething with rage in the final months before the uprising. The occupying forces terrorized Varsovians, though they themselves felt less and less secure. The album can be bought in the shop at Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego (The Warsaw Rising Museum).
Warsaw is on an exclusive list of ten cities around the world which are specially recommended as tourist destinations in 2009. The list was created by the editors from the famous Lonely Planet publishers. Every year, the editorial staff of Lonely Planet chooses a list of the most interesting cities in the world, which it then recommends to tourists. Since this publisher’s guides are regarded as one of the most popular in the world, a city that finds its way onto a list like that can definitely be considered trendy! So, we invite you to Warsaw!
The new director of the National Museum
An international open competition was announced last year for the vacant position of director of the National Museum in Warsaw, the largest museum in Poland. At a special meeting of the Board of Trustees, headed by Jack Lehman, director of the London Museum, Piotr Piotrowski, director of the Department of the History of Contemporary Art at the University of Poznań was chosen. Piotr Piotrowski specializes in research of 20th century art and is the author of many publications on the subject. Opinions about the new director of the National Museum are enthusiastic. „I will try to meet their expectations, using experience, imagination, and perhaps even bravado,” says director Piotrowski.
18 years of “Metro”
The first Polish musical, „Metro”, which premiered in Warsaw, has turned 18. The colorful performance, with a libretto by Agata and Maryna Miklaszewska, with music by Janusz Stokłosa and directed by Janusz Józefowicz, is continually shown to full audiences, and continues to thrill spectators. In „Metro” a group of young people talk about their dreams. It is about love, madness, and youth. Many artists who started in „Metro” had great careers afterward. Over the last 18 years, the musical has been presented in Poland more than 1,420 times, 40 times on Broadway in New York, and more than 200 times in Russia and France. It has been seen by 1.4 million people in all.
Cesaria Evora at the Congressional Hall
Warsaw has fallen in love with Cesaria Evora. And it seems the feeling is mutual, because this wonderful singer from Cape Verde, who sings with a penetratingly emotional voice, will perform for her Warsaw audience once again. Her concert will take place on the 22nd of March at the Congressional Hall (Sala Kongresowa). Cesaria Evora often likes to sing duets with artists from various countries, among them Charles Aznavour in France, Adriano Celentano in Italy, and in our country, with the Polish singer Kayah and also with Dorota Miśkiewicz, with whom she recorded the beautiful song „Um Pincelada” („Brushstrokes”).
12 mln guests in Warsaw
Last year, in 2008, 3.5 million foreigners and 8.6 million Polish citizens visited Warsaw and stayed at least one night (tourists are defined by their use of lodgings). Therefore, altogether, 12 million guests came to Warsaw. This data was collected by the surveying organization Ipsos at the request of the Warsaw authorities. It is perhaps encouraging that the main reason tourists come to Warsaw is sightseeing. The second most common reason is relaxation. Visiting friends and shopping were next on the list. The greatest number of tourists are Germans (12.7%), followed by Spanish (10.8%), British (9.8%), French (9.6%), Americans (9.0%) and Italians (5.9%).
Warsaw in darkness
On the 28th of March, at 20:30, an hour of darkness will overtake the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Opera in Sydney, the Colloseum in Rome, and the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, among other places. Why? It the latest worldwide campaign to turn off lights, with the slogan „An Hour for the Earth”, with the participation of 64 countries. This world initiative is the result of concerns caused by global warming. Last year, not only were the lights on the Palace of Culture and Science turned off, but also the ones illuminating the Royal Castle (in the photo), the Presidential Palace, and the walls surrounding the Old Town. This year, there will be even more sites in darkness. Poznań and other Polish cities will also join in the campaign.
Everyday life in occupied Warsaw
A very interesting book has come out about Warsaw during the German occupation titled „Powstanie w ich pamięci” (The Uprising in their memory). It contains a very colorful description of everyday life in a city ruled by enemy. Many of these descriptions even have a satirical character, because the residents of occupied Warsaw, in spite of the constant danger that threatened their lives, tried not to succumb to fate. The crowning achievement of those emotions was the heroic armed rebellion of the city of Warsaw on the 1st of August, 1944, when an uprising against the Germans broke out. The city had been seething with rage in the final months before the uprising. The occupying forces terrorized Varsovians, though they themselves felt less and less secure. The album can be bought in the shop at Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego (The Warsaw Rising Museum).
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Information published at 1 March 2009