This unprecedented nationwide event was attended by a total of 1,250 people: museum directors and employees, university lecturers, representatives of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, ICOM members, and representatives of social organizations and associations connected with the cultural sector. The honorary patronage of the event was assumed by the President of the Republic of Poland Bronisław Komorowski.
The three-day Congress was opened by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Professor Małgorzata Omilanowska. During the following days, presentations and panel discussions addressed the problems of museums’ functioning in the modern, dynamically developing world. Much attention was devoted to visitors’ needs and to the reception and function of museum objects, which in some cases have been dominated by multimedia.
One of the discussion panels, entitled “Searching for Meaning in Reporting Tables,” was co-created by Tadeusz Orawiec, an employee of the Museum in Bolesławiec. Among the panel’s six speakers were also: Agnieszka Czekaj (head of the Cultural Statistics Centre at the Statistical Office in Kraków), Lucyna Mizera (director of the Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola), Dr Marek Rubnikowicz (director of the District Museum in Toruń), Małgorzata Skwisz (head of the Wojciech Dutkiewicz Regional Museum in Rogoźno), and Dorota Wodnicka (director of the Department of Culture at the Marshal’s Office in Łódź). The conclusions developed jointly are intended to help create uniform reporting tools and mechanisms relating to cultural activity.
The 1st Congress of Polish Museum Professionals was also a good opportunity to promote the scholarly work and projects carried out by the Museum of Ceramics. Participants showed particular interest in the results of cross-border activities conducted in cooperation with foreign institutions—including exhibition, publishing, and promotional activities.
The Congress also became a forum for exchanging experiences and establishing contacts that will certainly result in joint ventures in the future. The organizers of the event were the National Centre for Culture, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Association of Polish Museum Professionals, the Open-Air Museums Association, the Polish National Committee of ICOM, and the National Institute for Museums and Public Collections.