We would like to invite you to an exhibition of photographs by Witold Węgrzyn: America-Gdynia.A return voyage by ts/s Stefan Batory on 10^th-11^th September. They document the Poles’ return from Canada by the famous Polish ocean liner in 1972. The exposition can be seen for free, on the occasion of the European Heritage Days in our museum at 1 Polska Street.

Photo:Witold Węgrzyn, American Dream, 1972

The collection of Witold Węgrzyn’s photographs shows the passengers of Stefan Batory, who came back to Poland from the west to stay. The exhibition is presented as a part of the celebrations of the European Heritage Days, which this year deal with the theme: Where spirit meets space. Temples/ masterpieces/ monuments. It will be available in the unique space of the Transit Warehouse, through which you had to walk to board a ship or – as in the situations captured in the photographs – to come back home.

The photographs presented at the exhibition have been taken to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Gdynia Port. They were ordered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so that an „export” exhibition on Poland could be organised. Each of the artists who have been invited to participate in it chose a subject, which in his or her opinion presented the country the best way. Witold Węgrzyn – an author of photographs presented at the exhibition captured the moment when the ts/s Stefan Batory vessel arrived in Gdynia after its voyage from Montreal in 1972.

Witold Węgrzyn (born in 1945) is a fine art photographer with many artistic achievements. He has had 27 solo exhibitions and participated in 360 group ones, both in Poland and abroad. He has received awards or special mentions at many of them. Apart from that, his artistic activity was appreciated by the Minister of Culture and art or the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, the authorities of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk as well as the Association of Polish Fine Arts Photographers. He was the head of the Photography Unit as well as the head and founder of the extramural masters course in photography at the Faculty of Graphic Arts of the Gdańsk Academy of Fine Arts. His pieces can be found in the private collections in Poland and abroad as well as in the collections of the National Museum in Warsaw, Wrocław and Gdańsk, the Museum of Modern Art in ‎Łódź or in the Museum of Photography in Cracow.

Fot. Witold Węgrzyn, American Dream, 1972