Opening of the exhibition “PASSING. Death, Burial and Mourning in Poland from the Baroque to the 1930s

On 23 October 2026, at 12 noon, the exhibition “Przemianie” — a story about death, burial and mourning in Poland from the Baroque to the 1930s will open at Zamcza Street 10/12 in Włocławek. The exhibition shows the end of human life in Christian culture, which has shaped our native customs for centuries age. It brings closer the mourning traditions of three states: the nobility, the bourgeoisie and the peasantry. The exhibition takes the viewer through the successive stages of dealing with death, from symbolic representations reminding of the inevitability of the end of life, through conscious preparation for departure and the moment of death, to funeral rites and the experience of mourning. It shows how the Christian, remembering the exhortation “Memento mori”, prepared in advance for his departure from this world, prayed, contemplated the images of Christ and the saints, sought indulgences to shorten the time of the soul's stay in purgatory. The funeral customs of the individual states looked appropriate to their place in the social hierarchy. Magnificent families and wealthy noble families took care of the spectacular setting of the celebration, which was called the pomp funebris. The city's mourning ceremonies had their own specifics, mortal features and funeral fraternities were responsible for the burials of artisans. Peasant burials reflected social and material position, and elements of pre-Christian beliefs were preserved in modest plebeian rites. The last part of the exhibition presents the commemoration of the dead and the places, objects and customs related to the experience of mourning. The richest and most deserving “rested forever” in ancestral chapels, church crypts or family tombs, and the memory of ancestors was cultivated through trains, portraits and epitaphs. The exposition presents a specific Polish approach to the end of earthly life, more subtle than in the western and southern parts of Europe, which is not full of fear and horror, but treats death as an integral part of existence. The exhibition invites us to reflect on the passing away and on how loved ones have been said goodbye for centuries, with respect, hope and faith in eternal life.

The exhibition is open until March 7, 2027.

Place of presentation: Zbiory Sztuki, ul. Zamcza 10/12

Exhibition from the collections:

Poster design: Magdalena Kolanowska