THURSDAY LECTURE/How much is a snail worth?

6 p.m.

Lecture accompanying the exhibition [Sculpture for furniture wall] (https://krolikarnia.mnw.art.pl/wystawy/rzezba-na-mebloscianke,203.html)

Conducted by: Cezary Lisowski and Tomasz Dziewicki

What can happen when at 23:00 a phone from an unknown number rings, and the voice on the other side says: “Are you the one bidding on the snail figurine? Please don't do that. Is it a forgery?”

Meeting “How much is a snail worth?” , accompanying the exhibition “Sculpture for a Furniture Wall” at the Xavier Dunikowski Sculpture Museum in Królikarnia, presenting prototypes of porcelain chamber sculptures designed in the mid-1950s at the Institute of Industrial Design and telling about their phenomenon, will be a continuation of this nocturnal conversation from years ago.

Cezary Lisowski and Tomasz Dziewicki represent two different but complementary perspectives of the design market: the former has been co-creating the Polish design auction market for years, the latter has been building a collection of several thousand objects since the mid-1990s. The event will be a presentation and a free conversation about the history of the design market, changing trends in it and its current shape. A special place will be occupied by porcelain figurines, their authenticity, rarity, prices and collector's value. There will be stories about the hunt for lovebirds, moths and snails, collectible anecdotes and a continuation of the story started with a night phone call.

Deadline: Thursday, October 8, 2026, 6 p.m./[Check the dates of the next lectures] (https://www.mnw.art.pl/edukacja/mlodziez-dorosli/wyklady-czwartkowe/)

Duration: approx. 75 minutes
Meeting place: MUZ Cinema, MNW Main Building, broadcast on museum profile [Facebook] (https://www.facebook.com/MuzeumNarodowe)

For whom: youth, adults, seniors
Rules of participation: free admission

Event availability: no architectural barriers, induction loop

[Detailed information on the availability of the National Museum in Warsaw can be found in the Museum available tab] (http://www.mnw.art.pl/wizyta/muzeum-dostepne/informacje-dla-osob-z-niepelnosprawnosciami/).

Cezary Lisowski — art historian, curator of exhibitions and author of texts devoted to design. He specializes in the history of the subject, interior architecture and Polish design of the 20th century. From 2013 to 2023 he was a design and applied art specialist at DESA Unicum. Since 2023 he has been running the Lisowski Gallery in Warsaw. He is, among others (jointly) the curator of the exhibition “Alicja Wyszogradzka. Polish Projects Polish Designers” at the Museum of the City of Gdynia (2025—2026) and the exhibition “Forms of Light” by Michał Diamond at the FORT Institute of Photography in Warsaw (2026).

Tomasz Dziewicki — collector, expert and promoter of Polish design of the 20th century. Its collection, created since the mid-1990s, includes about 5.5 thousand objects, including porcelain, ceramics, art glass and posters. A special place is occupied by porcelain chamber sculpture — more than 350 figurines designed at the Institute of Industrial Design and produced in Polish porcelain and porcelain factories. His collection was the basis of the exhibitions “Wytwarnia Wyrobów Ceramiczny Steatyt in Katowice from the collection of Tomasz and Izabela Dziewickie” (MnWr, 2015) and “The Big Four and Others. Ceramic chamber sculpture in the Polish People's Republic” (MnWr, 2024—2025), accompanied by catalogues by Barbara Banàs co-created by Tomasz Dziewicki.

[We invite you to familiarize yourself with the full program accompanying the exhibition] (https://krolikarnia.mnw.art.pl/edukacja/programy-do-wystaw-czasowych/rzezba-na-mebloscianke/)