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From ghost town to past glory

The Polish Institute, in collaboration with the India International Centre, organised an exhibition titled “A Phoenix from the Ashes. The…

From ghost town to past glory

The Polish Institute, in collaboration with the India International Centre, organised an exhibition titled “A Phoenix from the Ashes.

The Destruction and Reconstruction of Warsaw 1939-1955” which was held at the Art Gallery of the India International Centre Annexe.

The exhibition revisits one of the most critical chapters of the history of Poland, the destruction of the capital city of Warsaw and the inspiring reconstruction of the city after World War II. With 80 per cent of its buildings totally destroyed, Warsaw resembled a ghost town in 1945, and there was only a bleak hope of ever restoring the capital to its former glory.

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However, just like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Warsaw was rebuilt and gradually brought back to life. This unique and pioneering nature of the reconstruction of the city was given its due recognition when Warsaw’s Old Town was included in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1980.

The opening of this unique exhibition was followed by a lecture by Dr Pawel Ukielski, Deputy Director of the Warsaw Uprising Museum, titled “Warsaw Rising 1944 ~ Battle for Freedom” and the screening of the film A Brave Bunch about those who survived the destruction.

A hybrid documentary by Tomasz Stankiewicz, the film tells the story of the heroic and tragic 63-day struggle to liberate Warsaw from Nazi occupation ~ all from a child’s perspective. A group of kids find an authentic diary from the Warsaw Uprising.

Looking for its owner, they stumble into the Warsaw Uprising Museum. Thanks to the diary’s magical powers, they meet their peers from 1944 who survived the destruction of Warsaw and the slaughter of its citizens.

Another film Warsaw Uprising was screened followed by a concert by the Varsovia Piano Trio ~ a group which has held concerts in Poland, France, Slovenia, Turkey, Finland, Great Britain and many other countries.

The trio are graduates of the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw (now The Frederick Chopin University of Music).

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