The opening of an exhibition of business cards belonging to Zdzisław Mirecki, a retired police officer and owner of Poland’s largest collection of business cards, took place on January 10 at Galeria Format. This is the Bolesławiec collector’s second exhibition. The first was organized in July 2004 at Police Headquarters. However, Zdzisław Mirecki presented there only the business cards of police officers and IPA (International Police Association) members. This year’s exhibition is therefore the first such comprehensive exhibition by the Bolesławiec resident.
Zdzisław Mirecki has 11,000 business cards in his collection. The cards displayed at Galeria Format have been divided into 25 categories. They include the business cards of members of parliament, local government officials, diplomats, scientists, teachers, journalists, businesspeople, athletes, military personnel and, naturally, police officers. One of the more valuable items in the exhibition is a card from 1932, bearing the name of the granddaughter of Władysław Bełza, author of the well-known “Polish Child’s Catechism”.
As for their design, the cards are extremely varied. They range from traditional, simple ones—black print on a white background—to more elaborate examples and finally the most sophisticated designs. This collection shows that, contrary to appearances, a business card can be a work of art.
Many friends of the enthusiast attended the opening, including people associated with the Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Bolesławca and “Głos Bolesławca”, Deputy County Head Stanisław Chwojnicki and his wife, Adam Różycki, Paweł Górzyński and Olgierd Poniżnik, a former member of parliament and currently the mayor of Gryfów Śląski.
The Rutkowskis, owners of Pracownia Rzeczy Ładnych in Jelenia Góra, presented the collector with a new, impressively large business card. “Thanks to them, I have many beautiful business cards,” said Zdzisław Mirecki. This was not the only gift from his friends. That evening, a special basket was placed at Galeria Format so that everyone attending could enrich the Bolesławiec collector’s collection, for example with their own new business card.
Among the invited guests was also Zbigniew Dudek, a collector of tear-off calendars from Legnica. “Zdzisław Mirecki and I were brought together by our collecting passions. I send him business cards, and he sends me calendars,” Zbigniew Dudek told Boleslawiec.org. “It started, as it does in most such cases, with an unremarkable specimen that I received from a female classmate in secondary school. That was over 35 years ago,” the Legnica collector explained. “There were not many of them then. Maybe that’s why I started collecting them?” he added. Dudek currently has more than 100,000 tear-off calendars from various countries. The oldest item in his collection dates from 1933.
Zdzisław Mirecki began collecting business cards in the early 1990s. Thanks to his position as IPA vice president and his membership in various associations and organizations, the collector travels around the world. Trips, especially abroad, offer the Bolesławiec resident an excellent opportunity to expand his collection. The enthusiast does not want to single out any of the business cards. “For me, as a collector, they are all important. I love them all,” Zdzisław Mirecki said in an interview with Boleslawiec.org.
The exhibition can be viewed until February 8.
(GA report)