40 years of Silesian Guitar Autumn

The year 2026 marks 40 years since the first edition of the Silesian Guitar Autumn International Music Festival. The exhibition is a jubilee story not only about the history of this festival related to Tychy, but also about the people who created it.

Since 1986, Tychy has become one of the most important places on the guitar map of Europe and the world every two years. “Silesian Guitar Autumn” from the beginning was more than a series of concerts: it combined recitals of the greatest masters, a performance competition, orders of new works, exhibitions, master classes, lectures and meetings of the community that for four decades contributed to the history of the guitar in Poland.

After the nineteenth edition, it was written about the Silesian Guitar Autumn as “the biggest and most prestigious event that Tychy can boast”. The city listened to a wide panorama of guitar music: from the works of former masters, through the iron solo repertoire, to contemporary music, flamenco, jazz, world music and projects from the border of genres. At the same time, the festival remained a meeting place: masters and students, jurors and participants of the competition, composers, luthiers, researchers and, above all, the public — both from Tychy and from the farthest corners of Poland.

The curators of the exhibition, Dr. Wojciech Gurgul and Jakub Skucha, searching the archives, found interesting materials that will be exhibited, including a unique guitar made and patented by Jan Edmund Jurkowski — the originator of the festival. Also on display are: archival photographs and audiovisual materials; sheet music manuscripts; press and correspondence from all over the world; posters, brochures, leaflets and statuettes, prizes and gadgets.

find out more about the temporary exhibition celebrating 40 years of Silesian Guitar Autumn

hosted by: Jakub Skucha subscriptions: 887 450 212 (also by SMS), t.melanowski@muzeum.tychy.pl free admission Media patrons: “Twoje Tychy” weekly German cultural monthly “Ramy Kultury” Dziennik Zachodni Polskie Radio Katowice Radio Tychy TVP 3 Katowice Ślązag Top Guitar Six Strings of the World Tychy.pl