The opening weekend of the new Bonds Gallery

The Bonds Gallery — a new immersive space that complements POLIN’s 1000-year history of Polish Jews — is about to open very soon, on 26 June! We have planned numerous attractions for the opening weekend, including portrait sessions with top-class photographers, curator-guided tours of the new Gallery, culinary guided tours and more sweet surprises.

The last gallery of the Core Exhibition is a space filled with mirrors, light and sound. Together, they create a moving experience in which contemporary stories of children and grandchildren of Polish Jews intertwine with your own reflection.

The weekend of the Bonds Gallery opening (27-29 June 2025) equals three days full of emotions, reflection and discovery of what we all have in common. The program includes, among others, portrait sessions with renowned photographers Jacek Poremba and Mikołaj Starzyński, an interactive game inspired by the prose of Edgar Keret, an audio-flavor evening with the stories revolving around Jewish cuisine, as well as curator-guided tours of the new Gallery. It will be a unique occasion to immerse oneself in the stories of bonds—family, cultural and emotional ones—and to find a piece of ourselves in them.

Program of the Bonds Gallery opening weekend

Reflections. Your portrait in the Bonds Gallery

Renowned photographers, Jacek Poremba and Mikołaj Starzyński, will take a portrait photo of you. While visiting our new Gallery, under the illuminated roof full of miniature houses, look into the mirror-filled infinite space. What kind of reflection of previous generations are you?

27 June (Friday), 4PM – 6PM – Mikołaj Starzyński, no tickets available
28 June (Saturday), 2PM – 4PM – Jacek Poremba, no tickets available
29 June (Sunday), 2PM – 4PM – Mikołaj Starzyński, no tickets available
POLIN Museum
Download portraits

Tag us on social media and add #POLINMuseum—let us build a shared history of the past and the future!

Mikołaj Starzyński – cultural expert, photographer and photo editor at Newsweek Polska weekly (since 2013). He studied at the Warsaw School of Photography and at the University of Warsaw (Institute of Polish Culture and at the postgraduate level at the Institute of Philosophy). Graduate of the Sputnik Photos mentor program, author of the books: "Nowy ateizm" (New Atheism, 2015) and "Antynatalizm" (Antinatalism, 2020). Cofounder—with Mikołaj Grynberg—of the ‘Lamalo’ zin at the JCC Warsaw. His photos were published in the weeklies: "Newsweek", "Polityka", "Tygodnik Powszechny" and "Wysokie Obcasy", and in the "Gazeta Wyborcza" daily.

Jacek Poremba – specialist in fashion, portrait and advertising photography. He collaborated with the top Polish magazines for women, such as "Viva", "Gala", "Cosmopolitan", "Twój Styl." He’s the author of cult album covers for artists such as: Kayah/Bregović, Nosowska, Lipnicka/Porter, Bartosiewicz, Kowalska, Jopek, Kora and Maria Peszek. In 2001, during an inspiring trip to Sudan, Jacek launched his ongoing projects dedicated to "portrait" and "landscape."

The Globe – Bonds

Imagine a giant globe in the Museum’s main hall. You will mark a spot on it with which you feel a strong bond, share personal memories or a family history. New York, sunny Tel Aviv, Lviv or perhaps a tiny village in the Podlasie region? This will be a symbolic map of our bonds across the globe.

Come visit POLIN Museum and mark your spot!

The globe is available during the Museum’s opening hour.

Etgar Keret’s path

Take part in an interactive game at the "1000-Year History of Polish Jews" Core Exhibition inspired by short stories penned by the Israeli author whose family roots are in Poland. Etgar Keret is a master of short story, hailed one of the most interesting writers of his generation. He’s also the protagonist of the film titled "Jam" available for viewing at the Bonds Gallery. Would you like to become a character in a short story.

27 June (Friday), 3PM – 6PM, collect ticket
28 June (Saturday), 3PM – 6PM, collect ticket
29 June (Sunday), 3PM – 6PM, collect ticket
1000-Year History of Polish Jews Core Exhibition

Join us along the paths inspired by the selected stories by Etgar Keret. A new task awaits you at every stop along the way — you’ll have a chance to step into the shoes of a story’s protagonist, complete an obstacle course while blindfolded, find yourself at the center of an unexpected improvisation, and solve a few riddles.

Collect stamps for each completed mission and explore a world where the line between fiction and reality seems to blur more with every minute.

Sweet bonds

Come and bask in a cosy atmosphere surrounded by tender memories. We invite you to enjoy a slice of fluffy challah with jam. You’ll discover the story behind the jam in the Bonds Gallery.

27–29 June (Friday - Sunday) during the Core Exhibition’s opening hours
Museum’s ground floor

We’ll serve cheesecake, too. In case you were wondering what has inspired us—in 1931, a Polish Jewish woman, Ms Levine, arrived in Melbourne and opened a store on Lygon Street. She brought original recipes with her—amongst them a recipe for a Polish cheesecake. It soon became a hit among Jewish immigrants in Melbourne. The cake was like a piece of homeland to them, it reminded them of the homes they had left behind. You will find out more while watching the film titled "Cheesecake" in the new Gallery.

An evening of audio-flavors

Imagine this: you’re lying comfortably with your eyes closed… A soothing voice from the speakers recounts stories about cooking. In the background you can hear the creaking of a table, the rustle of a napkin, the bubbling of cholent. You hear whispered recollections from pre-war Warsaw, only to suddenly find yourself in New York, Buenos Aires… You can smell the scents, even though they haven’t been sprayed in the air around you. And yet, somehow, you can smell them.

27 June (Friday), 6.30PM – 7.30PM, no tickets available
Bonds Gallery

You’ll hear stories about matzo brei, fried golden with egg and butter, lovingly prepared at dawn by a great-grandmother—and about bubelekh, sweet cookies baked with dried fruit, smelling of vanilla and home.

Join us for an evening at the Bonds Gallery. In its cosy space, you’ll listen to recipes that sound like poetry. Through them, you’ll discover the world of pre-war Jewish cuisine. Close your eyes. Could these also be the flavors of your childhood?

The audio production features excerpts and recipes from Hanna Merlak’s book titled "Żydzi od kuchni. Opowieści wokół rodzinnego stołu" (Jews in the Kitchen: Stories Around the Family Table). Read by Klementyna Umer.

Guided tours of the Bonds Gallery with curators and more

Bonds are multilayered connections that echo across generations. They are not only about the history of Polish Jews — they are about each and everyone of us. They help us see who we are, where we hail from, and what we carry forward. The new section of the Core Exhibition will be presented by its curators, prime movers, and authors of the films featured in the Gallery.

27 June (Friday), 12 noon – Katarzyna Pajzderska i Joanna Fikus, no tickets available
28 June (Saturday), 12 noon – Jakub Duszyński i Joanna Fikus, no tickets available
29 June (Sunday), 12 noon – Jakub Duszyński i Joanna Fikus, no tickets available

Katarzyna Pajzderska – film director, screenwriter, producer. Graduate of the Łódź Film School, Faculty of Film Production (2013), and the Rehearsal Studio at the Wajda Film School (2023). Laureate of two competitions held by POLIN Museum for the concept and production of films—a short documentary titled Cheesecake about the community of Polish Jews in Melbourne, and a series of educational films. In 2021, her treatment of the film Hey Galaxy was shortlisted in the European Space Agency’s screenplay competition. Scholarship holder from the Marshal of the Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) Province in the field of culture in 2023. Member of the Polish Filmmakers Association, Katarzyna currently serves a director at the GPD advertising agency in Poznań.

Jakub Duszyński – film distributor, graduate of the documentary film course at the Wajda School in Warsaw, member of the European Film Academy (EFA) and the Polish Film Academy. Author of the script for the film titled Przystań (Harbor) directed by Jan Hryniak, co-creator and first artistic director of the Nowe Horyzonty (New Horizons) Film Festival. For nearly three decades, Jakub has served as artistic director at Gutek Film, one of the most important distribution companies in Poland responsible for bringing nearly 500 feature and documentary films to Polish cinemas, including works by Michael Haneke, Pedro Almodóvar, Paolo Sorrentino, Lars von Trier, Park Chan-wook, Wong Kar-wai, and many others.

Joanna Fikus – cultural anthropologist, associated with the Museum of the History of Polish Jews since 2005. Coordinator of the team working on the POLIN Core Exhibition. Since 2017, Head of the Exhibition Department at POLIN Museum. Deputy Chairperson of the Board of the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute, head of the Association’s Grant Commission. Member of the Board of Founders of the Jewish Community Center in Warsaw, Deputy Chairperson of the Association of European Jewish Museums.

At the "Varshe" bistro you will taste dishes from the special Bonds menu inspired by the cuisine of the Jewish diaspora. It is the one and only opportunity to taste the muhammarra (roasted red pepper dip), gefilte fish. You will also taste sandwiches with jam and cheesecake with raspberries.

The "Bonds" Gallery is part of the project "Improving access to the cultural and educational offer of the POLIN Museum through a new core exhibition gallery and the development of existing infrastructure," co-funded by the European Union under the FEnIKS 2021–2027 programme.