The year 2025 marked the 150th anniversary of agricultural museology in Poland. This significant occasion is linked to the establishment of the Museum of Industry and Agriculture in Warsaw on June 5, 1875, during the period of Russian partition. The institution played a pivotal role as a scientific and educational center, integrating Polish intellectuals and providing society with opportunities for practical education in industry and agriculture. The museum operated until 1951. The National Museum of Agriculture and Food Industry in Szreniawa, founded in 1964, serves as the custodian of this heritage and continues the mission of the agricultural museum formerly operating within the Museum of Industry and Agriculture.
The National Museum of Agriculture in Szreniawa recognized this milestone with a series of events held between 18-21 September 2025:
• An international conference focused on the theme, “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow of Agricultural Museology” (September 18-19),
• The opening of a temporary exhibition dedicated to historical agricultural and industrial exhibitions on Polish soil (September 18 or 19),
• A study visit for conference participants (September 20),
• An outdoor educational and cultural event (September 21).
Fifty-nine people attended the two-day conference. They included representatives of state, university, and private museums, university faculty, and independent researchers. Representatives of institutions that are the successors of the Museum of Industry and Agriculture in Warsaw participated in the conference. These included the National Museum of Agriculture and the Agri-Food Industry in Szreniawa, the State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw, the National Museum of Technology in Warsaw, and the Warsaw University of Life Sciences.
Seven people represented European museums: Edouard de Laubrie/ Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations in Marseille, France; Barbara Sosič/ Slovene Ethnographic Museum, Lublana, Slovene; Tamás Dobszay/ Hungarian Agricultural Museum, Budapest, Hungary; Pavel Douša/National Museum of Agriculture in Prague; Jenny Cousins, David Thomson, Lisa Harris/Food Museum, Stowmarket, England.
A post-conference publication is in preparation.
Submitted by Hanna Ignatowicz, kustosz, Muzeum Narodowe Rolnictwa i Przemysłu Rolno-Spożywczego w Szreniawie