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A museum playground
Anna Komorowska
A playground in a museum? Yes! Visiting a museum can be fun. No more serious labels and
showcases. Why don’t we go to a circus? Or let’s play hopscotch or impersonate somebody and
take funny pictures. We can also… do treasure hunting! Or canoe, ride a bike, spin on a carousel,
play a shop game…There are numerous attractions waiting for you in our playground. Together we
will search for interesting objects which resemble elements characteristic of playgrounds by their
look and function. Those associations will not always be obvious. However, it is worth stopping
for a while to see and examine each exhibit. And during the next visit to the museum find more
objects that could become a part of our virtual museum playground.
GYPSY WAGON
District Museum in Tarnów (Muzeum Okręgowe w Tarnowie)
A wooden house painted white, decorated with red, yellow and green floral motives. A barrelshaped roof, under which are sculptures of winged dragons. Windows on both sides of the house,
a glass, sliding door. A back wall with an inserted mirror and storage place for dishes available
from the outside. A ceiling painted blue. But that’s not all! The house is on wheels and can be used
for travel. Imagine such a house standing in a playground… That would be an attraction!
This house can be seen in the District Museum in Tarnów. It is a Gypsy wagon. Not too long ago
people lived in it and it stood on Kwiatowa Street.
Extra materials:
Other non-typical playhouses: http://aplaceimagined.blogspot.com/
Playhouses inspired by Gypsy wagons: http://aplaceimagined.blogspot.com/search/label/GYPSY%20
CARAVAN
HERBARIUM OF TATRA MOSSES
Dried natural specimens
Tatra Museum in Zakopane (Muzeum Tatrzańskie w Zakopanem)
Imagine that you discover a secret garden full of mysterious plants. Some are beautiful and
majestic, others are wild, but able to bear the toughest conditions. There are also ones which
are utterly inconspicuous, but have a healing power. One can admire the amazing plant world in
fields, meadows, gardens, forests and even in city centres. Collecting single specimens, drying and
placing them in a herbarium can be a time-consuming hobby. Herbaria were also created by Tytus
Chałubiński, one of the first researchers of Tatra’s nature. Throughout almost 10 years, he collected
368 species of moss that can be found in the Tatra Mountains. He put them in 14 boxes which can
now be seen in the Tatra Museum.
Extra materials:
Children’s books:
Ch. Björk, L. Anderson, Rok z Linneą, translated by A. Stróżyk, Poznań.
http://www.zakamarki.pl/show_object.php?id=476&txt=linnea
Zielniki ( Herbaria) cycle, published by Arkady, Warsaw.
http://www.arkady.com.pl/product/c2048.html
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ALINA ŚLESIŃSKA, “Circus”
Sculpture
National Museum in Krakow
(Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie)
Who doesn’t like the circus? Wild animals, jugglers, acrobats. Even from afar, a big top
foreshadows extraordinary events. It is just a piece of material, but it makes a greater impression
than many a brick house. Colourful lights, music and motion. During the show it seems as if
everything is spinning; so much of everything, so many emotions.
Cyrk (Circus) is a modern sculpture. Its forms, with vertical supports twisted around with rungs, are
full of energy, and even though they stand still they seem as if they are moving. But what exactly
does this sculpture depict? The architecture of a big top? Acrobats spinning on ropes? Or maybe
the roaring mouth of a lion?
SASH OF THE POLISH NATIONAL COSTUME CALLED KONTUSZ
Element of dress
National Museum in Krakow
(Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie)
There are as many varieties of hopscotch as there are playgrounds. The most classic one is played
on a rectangular field divided into equal squares. Each square is a class, that is a category, for
example, names, cities, countries, rivers, colours. Jumping on each square, a player has to say
examples from the first category, in the second round from the second category, and so on. In this
way, the player completes successive classes.
And what if we could use a kontusz sash as a field for playing…Transverse strips (so-called shelves
– półki and ornamental borders) were placed in the central part of the sash. If every one of them
constituted one class, we would get a primary school, a lower secondary school, a secondary
school and probably even a university as kontusz sashes were very long. The one seen in the
picture is almost 4.5 metres long. You could wrap yourself several times with the sash. Sashes were
very popular in Poland in the 17th and 18th century. They were brought to the country from Persia
and Turkey, and in time they started to be produced in Poland as well.
Extra materials:
Children’s books:
Carola von Kessel Gry w klasy. Dzieci się bawią, Warsaw 2008.
http://demart.com.pl/product/14,gry-w-klasy--dzieci-sie-bawia-.html
Józef Marek “The artist’s family”
Sculpture
Historical Museum of the City of Krakow
(Muzeum Historyczne Miasta Krakowa)
A rectangular sheet of fabric with fairytale or historical characters painted on, and a hole for your
head to put inside and become a knight, a princess, or your favourite hero for just one moment …
It is an attraction for family feasts of a different kind, and is sometimes called monidło.
The sculpture Rodzina artysty (The Artist’s Family) resembles a monidło a little, but here not
only heads, but also hands and legs penetrate the vertical wall. The artist himself – Józef Marek
– together with his wife and son are the presented figures: an ordinary family sitting on a bench.
Imagine that you can make your own monidło. Who would you and your parents dress up as?
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TREASURE FROM Nowa Huta-Pleszów
Coins, ornaments, utensils
Archaeological Museum of Krakow (Muzeum Archeologiczne w Krakowie)
Are you ready for an expedition, a quest for treasure? Do you think that treasures can only be
found in distant countries? In hidden caves, or wild jungles? Imagine that while playing in a yard
you find a clay pot decorated with horizontal spiral slots. What can be inside? Maybe some coins
with unusual names, for example, Samanid dirham, denarii, half-bracteate, or silver ornaments –
clips, lunulae (crescent-shaped pendants), temple rings (that is earrings), or beads. Impossible? It’s
there, though! A treasure of this kind has been found in Krakow and Nowa Huta. It consisted of
600 silver coins and almost 130 pieces of ornaments. Archaeologists have dated the treasure back
to the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries. As you can see you don’t need to look far…
Extra materials:
You can also find treasure in Wieliczka by playing the board game Wielki Skarb (Great Treasure): http://
dragonus.pl/index.php?products=product&prod_id=2915
small bicycle
Wooden toy
Ethnographic Museum in Krakow (Muzeum Etnograficzne w Krakowie)
Your parents have bought you a new bike and you want to show it off to your friends? Imagine that
you have made a bike out of wood using a penknife. Wouldn’t that be a reason to be proud? The
one seen in the picture was made by 12-year-old Franciszek Gucwa and was used to go downhill.
Of course, it required some unusual manual skills. Children in villages usually make simple musical
instruments and toys. Can you make a toy on your own? Try it. You can find much inspiration and
advice on the Internet.
Extra materials:
A tak się bawimy: http://bawimy-sie.blogspot.com/p/zabawki.html
Made by Joel: http://madebyjoel.com/
Toys from trash: http://arvindguptatoys.com/toys.html
HENRYK JORDAN’S PARK
Stereoscopic photograph
History of Photography Museum (Muzeum Historii Fotografii)
“Dr. Jordan’s Municipal Park” is one of the first objects in the world to be designed specifically for
children. There are 12 different grounds to play on, exercise with or without equipment, organise
feasts and shows, a shooting gallery, a floral and vegetable garden of experience, carpenter’s and
turner’s workshops, a building with a gymnasium and showers as well as a so-called dairy, where
supplementary nourishment for children is offered.
In the History of Photography Museum there is a stereoscopic photograph (a photograph
seen through special glasses, or in Kaiserpanorama that made a three-dimensional impression)
depicting the main gate of the park. The main pavilion can also be seen in the photograph, which
was taken in Walery Rzewuski’s workshop.
Extra materials:
More on the history of playgrounds: http://www.slideshare.net/pracowniak/x-pdod-kamieniemilowe-m-9447892
THE TRUMPET OF THE LAST JUDGEMENT
Sculpture/stage object from Tadeusz Kantor’s performance Gdzie są niegdysiejsze śniegi (Where is
www.muzea.malopolska.pl
Last Year’s Snow?)
Cricoteka
A swing is moving monotonously; back and forth, back and forth. Everyone likes swinging, but
after a while it can be boring. What if we created a brand new swing? Let’s take… a big trumpet,
for example, and place it on a special stage on wheels. Let the trumpet move back and forth,
add banners around which also move, and a bucket which will hit the board and make a hollow
sound when we pull a lever. Everything is moving, creaking, clattering… Is it still a swing? Or is it a
machine driving a swing?
“The Trumpet of the Last Judgement” is a stage object, “a musical mobile object” used in the
performance of Cricot 2 Theatre Gdzie są niegdysiejsze śniegi (Where is Last Year’s Snow).
Inspired by the object, you can try to design your own machine.
PRIEST KAROL WOJTYŁA’S CANOE
Cardinal Karol Wojtyła Archdiocesan Museum in Krakow (Muzeum Archidiecezjalne Kardynała
Karola Wojtyły w Krakowie)
Summer, forest, river and canoes. We hide our backpacks in the front, launch the canoe, take
paddles and go down the river. There are fish swimming under, ducks and swans around. We
watch birds sitting down by the water and on branches above us. Canoeing trips are a fantastic
way to spend your free time with friends. They were also greatly enjoyed by Priest Karol Wojtyła.
He even had his own canoe! What is more, it was foldable! It was made of tarpaulin gummed
material. An open-work frame made of beech wood strips and connected together with screws
was put into the fabric. Folding paddles were also attached to the canoe. All this was kept in three
bags.
MODEL OF A POLISH TREADMILL
Machine for vertical transportation
Krakow Salt Works Museum in Wieliczka (Muzeum Żup Krakowskich w Wieliczce)
What is a carousel used for? For fun, mostly! However, it just so happens that a carousel, a wheel
driven by man, serves for lifting weights, or moving agricultural machinery. A huge, wooden
toothed wheel with horses harnessed to it, connected with a pulling device and located over
the cavity of a coal-pit is the so-called treadmill. The original model from the 17th century can be
seen in the Krakow Salt Works Museum in Wieliczka. By using a treadmill, one could lift a load
weighing 2 tons, and up to a height of even 80 metres. However, these are not all the “working”
carousels. PlayPumps is a carousel connected to a pump used in the desert parts of Africa. While
children play, underground water is pumped to a special container and can be used by the village
inhabitants. Since 1998, 1,700 of such pumps have been installed. Each of them provides 2,000
inhabitants with fresh water.
Extra materials:
How PlayPumps works: http://www.playpumps.co.za/?page_id=6
SIGNBOARD WITH MOVABLE TYPES
Wooden signboard with types made of lead, lacquered with a gold colour
City Museum in Wadowice (Muzeum Miejskie w Wadowicach)
Boards with various games like a maze or flipper appear more and more often in playgrounds.
They can also be used for playing a shop game, driving a car, as well as an element for a sandbox,
or to create a route for balls. There are also sound walls and regular chalkboards and magnetic
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boards where you can compose any inscription and create drawings. The signboard depicted in
the picture was not used for fun. Gold letters could be placed in different positions on the wooden
board and in this way any inscription could be made. This signboard belonged to the Fotlin family,
which ran a printing house and a bookstore in Wadowice. What kind of slogans promoting the
bookstore could be found on a signboard like this? Think of the best slogans which would attract
customers.
COMMEMORATIVE SPADE
City Museum in Wadowice (Muzeum Miejskie w Wadowicach)
A sandbox cannot be missed in a playground. All we need is a bucket, sand moulds and, of
course, a small spade and we can start making mud pies and sandcastles. Adults also like to play
in this way, building big “mud pies”, but made of soil, and called mounds. They are mementos of
important people like Tadeusz Kościuszko, or Józef Piłsudski. The city dwellers and citizens from
the whole voivodeship eagerly help to build mounds. The spade seen in the picture was given to
the pupils from Wadowice as a memento from the building of Józef Piłsudski’s Mound in 1935.
The Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society encourage people to visit Polish mounds. A special
badge has even been established and is awarded to anyone who is over 8 and has visited at least
20 mounds.
Extra materials:
Regulations of awarding the badge: http://www.pttk.pl/pttk/przepisy/index.php?co=ro_kopce
Putnia BOX
Wooden box for carrying padlocks
Locksmithing Museum in Świątniki Górne (Muzeum Ślusarstwa w Świątnikach Górnych)
A playground is a good place to rest after school. One could finally free oneself of a backpack
loaded with books, exercise books, pencil cases and lunchboxes. Do you often suffer from
backaches because of it? Imagine that you had to carry a wooden box strengthened with sheets of
metal, with metal handles. This is exactly what putnia looks like. It resembles a backpack as it has
sackcloth straps, but is much less comfortable than contemporary schoolbags. What do you think
the putnia could have been used for? For carrying and selling padlocks. There was even a special
profession called “putnia making” in Świątniki Górne.
CASH REGISTER WITH A COUNTING MACHINE
Museum of the Biecz Land (Muzeum Ziemi Bieckiej)
How much for this cupcake? Three acorns. And for this chestnut soup? Six pebbles. This is how
young children usually play. You can play a shop game in a garden using natural materials, or at
home, where you can use specially produced cupboards, furnishings, and even cash registers.
Today’s calculators and card readers are not as attractive as old cash registers with counting
machines found only in museums. The one seen in the photo is unusually heavy and richly
decorated with floral motives.
RACK WAGON WITH HORSES
Wooden toy
“The Greek House” Regional Museum in Myślenice (Muzeum Regionalne „Dom Grecki” w
Myślenicach)
Puzzles, mascots, blocks, board games, dolls, trucks, small toy cars, electric trains, dollhouses…
You can get a headache just by looking at the amount of toys in shops. And what about in the
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past? Children played only with the things they made on their own, or with things made by their
parents or grandparents. Let’s take, for example, a simple, wooden rack wagon drawn by two
horses. Sometimes toys were much more complicated, more difficult to make, with a rotator that
made a sound. Just as those horses, they reflected everyday life – girls played with dolls rocking
in miniature cradles; boys were given smaller versions of tools. And this has not changed. The toys
of the past and of today prepare children for adult life. This is what toy computers, telephones, or
ATMs are used for, aren’t they?
Anna Komorowska – landscape architect, educator. Since 2008, together with Michał Rokita,
she has run the studio named pracownia k., which is involved in the architectural education of
children and youth as well as designing space for children. She is the author of numerous articles
on modern landscape architecture with particular focus on playgrounds. She conducts architectural
workshops for children in the Inspiro Community Centre in Podłęże as well as the Academy
of Alternative Landscape Architecture for adults. She promotes natural playgrounds through
implementation projects (cooperating with, among others, Kangaroo Kindergarten, the Sichów
Manor House and Library, the Tatra National Park) and experimental projects (for example, a wicker
playground). She is writing a book entitled Patchworkowy plac zabaw (Patchwork playground).
www.muzea.malopolska.pl