THE YEAR OF THE PACIFIC IN POLAND

Andrzej Wawryzyniak, founding director and curator-in-chief of the Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw, informs us about a number of exhibitions and related events on the Pacific that will take place in Poland. In 1994 his museum will center its activities on Oceania and Australia. Following the "years" of Indonesia (1990), Mongolia (1991), China (1992) and India (1993), 1994 has been proclaimed 'The Year of the Pacific in Poland'. The programme for this special year includes:

* An exhibition of PNG arts and crafts, 'Papua New Guinea - The Land of the Living Ancestors', at the Asia and Pacific Museum's Nusantara Gallery in Warsaw.

* Two travelling exhibitions by Unesco Headquarters in Paris, 'The Pacific Ways' and 'The Art of Oceania', which will visit many Polish towns.

* 'The Second Australia Week' (following on the first one in 1993) with symposiums, lectures and films on Australia.

* Films and lectures on the Pacific, such as 'The Era of the Pacific', 'Mysticism and Magic in Polynesia', and 'The Mysteries of Easter Island', and a special programme for children called 'On the Wings of the Trade Winds'.

* Various events in remembrance of Polish explorers and ethnographers of the Pacific, including Bronislaw Malinowski, Pawel Edmund Strzelecki, and Jan Kubary. Wawrzyniak writes that the aim of the extensive Pacific programme in Poland is 'to popularise Pacific countries as a necessary precondition to a better and mutually beneficial cooperation and friendship'. He further hopes the 'initiative will open the way to the development of economic cooperation and tourism'. On behalf of the museum he would be very grateful to receive artifacts from the Pacific to enrich the museum's collection and/or publications on the Pacific to include in the library. The address is: Andrzej Wawrzyniak, The Asia and Pacific Museum, ul.Solec 24, 00.403 Warsaw, Poland. Tel. 296724.