Warsaw. “On-site and takeaway. Warsaw Cuisine” exhibition at the Museum of Warsaw

“On-site and takeaway. Kuchnia Warszawska” is eight centuries of the history of food for Warsaw residents. Food not only shows the changes taking place. It influences customs, interpersonal relations, and even how common urban space is created.

– Our exhibition focuses less on cuisine in the culinary sense. We talk more about its social aspect – tells us Lena Wicherkiewicz, one of the curators of the exhibition.

As she emphasized, when creating the exhibition, the focus was on how the kitchen organized home life, how meals were cooked and served. The authors also present the issue of eating out, but not in the restaurant, elite version, but in the common version and available to a wider group of residents.

– The chronological scope of the exhibition is very wide, because it covers the entire period of Warsaw's existence, i.e. from the 14th century to the present. The exhibition is divided into two main parts. The first concerns nutrition at home, i.e. cooking, storing and serving food. The second part is about eating outside. We discuss topics such as street food, fast food, but also feeding the poor and food during shortages – explains Zuzanna Różańska-Tuta, also the curator of the exhibition.

From the exhibition you can, for example, learn that Warsaw's “street food” originated in the Middle Ages and trace how “outdoor eating” has changed over the centuries.

Work on creating the exhibition lasted about a year and a half. – We have collected about 300 objects. These are archaeological monuments, objects of material culture, but also works of ancient and contemporary art. There are also photographs, drawings, graphics and installations – says Różańska-Tuta.

These are objects commonly used in Warsaw kitchens, such as: a coffee machine, mixer, slicer or electric kettle. But also iconic exhibits. This group includes one of the first editions of the legendary cookbook by Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa “365 dinners for five zlotys”.

An integral part of the “On-site and takeaway. Warsaw Cuisine” exhibition is a drawing project that runs throughout the entire exhibition, created by illustrator and graphic designer Marta Tomiak. – The drawings were made on the basis of iconographic materials we collected – says Wicherkiewicz.

The curators emphasize that the exhibition is aimed at a wide audience. Families with children are welcome. – As part of the exhibition, we have created two spaces dedicated to the youngest – they encourage.

Next to a large table showing tableware from various eras, there is a place for creative activity, including: composing your own “meals” from magnets. At the very end of the exhibition, you can create a menu for the “Museum of Warsaw food truck” yourself.

The opening of the exhibition “On-site and to-go. Warsaw Cuisine” will take place on October 16 at 18. at the Museum of Warsaw at Rynek Starego Miasta 32. It will be available to the general public from October 17 to April 17, 2025.