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Highlights of the Kyoto-Krakow Foundation History
1987, spring
Andrzej Wajda became the second ever winner of the Kyoto Prize, granted by the Inamori Foundation. Before him, the prize was granted to Messian, a French composer, and recently to Witold Lutosławski and Akira Kurosawa.
1987, July
Tygodnik Powszechny weekly published Ewa Berberyusz's interview with Andrzej Wajda, in which he declared donating his Kyoto Prize toward the construction of a Centre of Japanese Art and Technology. Arata Isozaki agreed to design the Centre.
1987, September
The proposal to create a Centre of Japanese Art and Technology in Krakow met with great interest and joy on the part of the city authorities, management of the National Museum in Krakow, Dr Zofia Alberowa, Head of the Far East Art Department at that Museum, and many others. They expressed their satisfaction and declared help in their letters to Andrzej Wajda.
1987, October
Krzysztof Ingarden showed Andrzej Wajda Arata Isozaki's declaration of willingness to design the Centre. Enthralled by the Master's architecture, Andrzej Wajda accepted the proposal with great enthusiasm.
1987-11-01.
The Kyoto Prize was handed to Andrzej Wajda during a formal occasion in Kyoto and he officially donated the prize toward the construction of the Centre of Japanese Art and Technology in Krakow.
1987, December
The first meeting of the future members of the Kyoto-Krakow foundation was held, attended among others by: Andrzej Wajda; Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda; Professor Kazimierz Nowacki, Director at the National Museum in Krakow; Jan Nowak, Deputy Mayor of the City of Krakow; Krystyna Morek, Manager of the Culture and Art Department at the Executive Office of the City of Krakow; Dr Marek Rostworowski; Dr Zofia Alberowa; and Dr Krzysztof Ingarden. During the meeting, the organisational matters of the future Foundation were discussed.
1988, February
During a meeting of the Executive Board of the Polish-Japanese Society, Andrzej Wajda and Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda were appointed Honorary Members of that Society.
1998-03-12
In the Helena Modrzejewska Stary Theatre at No. 1 Plac Szczepański, Andrzej Wajda and Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda appeared before Notary Aleksandra Marszałek of the State Notarial Office in Krakow, to execute a notarised deed declaring the formation of a Foundation styled "Andrzej Wajda and Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda Kyoto-Krakow Foundation" with offices in Krakow. That document stated: the object of the Foundation is to erect and arrange a facility in Krakow to accommodate the Japanese art collections held by the National Museum in Krakow. The Foundation's assets totalled 340,000 (three hundred thousand) US dollars - donated by the Founder to register the Foundation.
The document was signed by the Founders and the Notary.
1988-08-24
The Minister of Culture and Art, Professor Aleksander Krawczuk, signed the document approving the Foundation and its statutes.
1988, August
The authorities of the City of Krakow offered an adequate plot of land for the construction of the Japanese Art Centre. Several proposed locations were selected and subsequently examined. These included:
- ul. Puszkina (currently ul. Focha) on the Rudawa Creek
- ul. Konopnickiej 32
- Rondo Mogilskie, junction of ul. Lubicz and ul. Botaniczna.
Each of them is situated near the centre of the city and each has specific merits in terms of urban planning and landscape. The location at ul. Konopnicka 32 was chosen by Arata Isozaki during his visit to Krakow.
Introduction by Arata Isozaki:
When the Polish film director, Andrzej Wajda, received the Kyoto Prize in 1987, he announced that he intended to use the money from the prize to build a Japanese Art Centre in Krakow: "I have plans to create a facility which will make it possible to present to the public F. Jasieński's collection of Japanese art and at the same time will be a showcase of contemporary Japanese culture in Poland."
As we had common friends, I joined Andrzej Wajda's programme to create such a facility, by proposing a specific architectural solution.
The Krakow authorities proposed several available locations and, after reviewing all of them, I selected the plot situated in the vicinity of the Wawel Castle, in the centre of the city. My choice was approved.
Today, new materials and technologies are used in Polish architecture, yet I decided that a more appropriate solution will be to reduce materials and technologies to those that are the easiest to use and to obtain - and build an architectural skeleton out of them, and subsequently use high tech and electronics inside and in the exhibitions.
The building is generally planned as a traditional brick structure, partly made sturdier with elements made of reinforced concrete. The roof is a wooden structure with minimised steel joints, while zinc sheet will be used to cover the wavy surface of the roof.
The building is located at Vistula embankments. The wide roofed terrace will offer a vista of the Wawel Castle and the old part of the city across the river. The riverside elevation has large glazed surfaces while, on the other side, facing ul. Konopnicka with its considerable vehicular traffic, the elevation is closed. Architectural elements that are used here are not of typically Japanese origin, and the compositional system is expressly self-generating. The undulating walls of the building have window openings based on modular intervals. The edges of the wavy roof planes are based on sinusoid curves of varying phases, and the very planes that are created between the edges are hyperbolic paraboloids. We hope that this comprehensive sculptural composition, with its delicately curved planes, will bring about Japanese associations.
1989-01-14
At the District Court for Warsaw-Praga, Seventh Civil Department for Registration Matters, in the presence of Chairperson of the Court, Barbara Brył, it was decided that the Andrzej Wajda and Krystyna Zachwatowicz Kyoto-Krakow Foundation would be entered in the Register of Foundations. This document identifies the following Executive Board of the Foundation:
ANDRZEJ WAJDA
KRYSTYNA ZACHWATOWICZ-WAJDA
Professor KAZIMIERZ NOWACKI, President of the Board
JAN NOWAK, Deputy Mayor of the City of Krakow
KRYSTYNA MOREK, Manager of the Culture Department, Executive Office of the City of Krakow
Professor JAN BŁOŃSKI
Professor STANISŁAW LORENZ
Professor RYSZARD OTREBA
Dr MAREK ROSTWOROWSKI
Professor ZDZISłAW ŻYGULSKI
Dr ZOFIA ALBEROWA, Secretary of the Board
Pursuant to the Statutes, the incumbent Museum Director is always President of the Executive Board of the Foundation.
1990, June
The SEIBU corporation organised an exhibition in Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo) to show Feliks Jasieński's collection, and to present him as a Japanese art lover and collector, and also the first propagator of it in Poland, which in turn was a major contribution to the propagation of the idea of the Foundation. On the Japanese part, it was co-organised by Mr Shiraishi and supported by SEIBU President, Mr Tsutsumi. The exhibition was prepared by the Far East Art Department of the National Museum in Krakow headed by Dr Zofia Alberowa. It was opened by Ms Etsuko Takano and the Polish Ambassador to Japan. The Foundation was represented during the opening by Dr Krzysztof Ingarden.
1990, June
Krzysztof Ingarden published a brochure in three languages (Polish, English, and Japanese) which presented the functional programme and the intended activities of the future Centre, as well as a brief description of the Japanese art collections at the National Museum in Krakow.
1990, autumn
Arata Isozaki sent in the first sketches of the Centre design from Japan.
1991, July
The Polish-Japanese Society, Krakow Branch, in collaboration with Dr Krzysztof Ingarden, organised the first presentation of the model of the Centre made in Tokyo in Arata Isozaki's studio, in the Main Building of the National Museum in Krakow.
1991-11-26
As part of the Japanese Culture Days, the Polish-Japanese Society organised a presentation of the Centre project design at the Cloth Hall Gallery in Krakow's Market Square. It was inaugurated by Director Tadeusz Chruścicki. An introductory speech was delivered by Dr Krzysztof Ingarden.
1991-11-28
The Architecture Department at the Executive Office of the City of Krakow issued Decision No. 134/91 specifying the location of the Centre of Japanese Art and Technology project at ul. Konopnicka 32.
1992, October
Andrzej Wajda and Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda went to Japan, to the Festival of Andrzej Wajda's Films, combined with some fund raising and promotion of the objects of the Foundation. The public fund-raising campaign was organised by Ms Etsuko Takano, with contribution from the East Japan Railway Workers' Union headed by Mr Akiro Matsuzaki, who offered his support. The road show route included Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. They were accompanied by Dr Krzysztof Ingarden, who started work on the project at Arata Isozaki's studio at that time, and participated in the fund-raising effort. The effect of that trip was one million US dollars.
1992, October
Work began on the Centre design. For the first month, it was performed at Arata Isozaki's office in Tokyo, where the general masterplan of the building was developed. Detailed drawings were made at Jet-Atelier in Krakow, in communication with the Tokyo office. On the Japanese side, the work was coordinated by Ghen Mizuno (who died in 1994).
1992, December
Due to the fact that his service as a diplomat in Poland was coming to an end, the Foundation, wishing to show its gratitude to the Japanese Ambassador, Mr Shintaro Yamashita, for supporting its goals and for very pronounced help, presented him, during a formal goodbye party at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, with the painting "The Ships" by Jan Szancenbach.
1993, April
Based on the documentation of stage one, an international tender for the construction of the Centre was prepared and subsequently announced.
1993, spring
Honorary Membership in the Foundation was accepted by: the Minister of Culture and Art, Jerzy Góral; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Krzysztof Skubiszewski; Krakow Voivode, Tadeusz Piekarz; and Japanese Ambassador to Poland, Nagao Hyodo.
1993-05-28
The cornerstone blessing ceremony was officiated by a Japanese Shinto priest, Isamu Yoshimura, and a Roman Catholic priest, Prelate Stanisław Małysiak. The deed of erection was deposited in the foundations of the Centre of Japanese Art and Technology. The numerous guests included, among others: Japanese Ambassador, Nagao Hyodo and spouse; Arata Isozaki and spouse; Etsuko Takano; Yoko Ohtake; Akira Matsuzaki, President of the East Japan Railway Workers' Union, accompanied by a delegation; Mayor of the City of Krakow, Józef Lassota; Krakow Voivode, Tadeusz Piekarz; Members of the Lower House and of the Senate representing the Krakow region; managers of foreign representative offices in Krakow; celebrated representatives of the scholarly, artistic and cultural circles. During the celebrities, speeches were delivered by:
TADEUSZ CHRUŚC1CKI, Chairman of the Foundation
ANDRZEJ WAJDA, Founder of the Centre
NAGAO HYODO, Japanese Ambassador
TADEUSZ PIEKARZ, Krakow Voivode
On the same day, at the Main Building of the National Museum in Krakow, an Exhibition of Arata Isozaki's Works and Architectural Models was opened, and Mr Isozaki himself guided the guests through it.
1993-06-06
Pursuant to the selection made during the tender for the general contractor for the Centre of Japanese Art and Technology, and upon commissioning of the construction to TAKENAKA EUROPE GMBH on 25 June 1993, a formal contract was signed by: Masanori Okada, Managing Director of Takenaka, as one party, and Andrzej Wajda, Founder; Tadeusz Chruścicki, Chairman of the Foundation; and Henryk Trębacz, Managing Director of TRAM, a company which served as the substitute investor in the project - on behalf of the other party.
1993-07-02
Construction work started.
The facility was located in the immediate proximity of the Vistula River, on an area which used to be washed over by high water from the river.
1994-04-15
In the presence of central and local government officials and the Japanese Ambassador, Mr Nagao Hyodo and his spouse, a wiecha, i.e. a bunch of flowers and herbs or twigs, was placed on top of the structure to mark the completion of the major part of construction work on the Centre. The numerous guests were greeted by Tadeusz Chruścicki, Chairman of the Foundation and Director of the National Museum in Krakow, and information on the construction was presented by Koji Toyoda, Managing Director at Takenaka. Andrzej Wajda thanked the contractors, and the last person to speak was Nagao Hyodo.
Actually, two wiechas were stuck on top of the Centre - a Polish traditional one and a Japanese one made of wood and tissue paper. Dr Krzysztof Ingarden guided the guests around the construction site. The celebrities were concluded by refreshments courtesy of Takenaka.
1994-11-30
Inauguration of the Centre of Japanese Art and Technology.
Speakers included: the Founders, Andrzej Wajda and Krystyna Zachwatowicz; the architect, Arata Isozaki; Director of Iwanami Hall and member of the Fund Raising Committee, Etsuko Takano; and the Japanese Ambassador to Poland, Nagao Hyodo.
Poland and Japan are divided apart by something more than thousands of kilometres. Poland, during her long history, once one of powerful European states, then fallen and erased from political charts, now, for a few years, has been fighting for its independent existence and an equal standing among the nations of the world. Japan, an Asian country of unique, high culture, isolated on its wonderful islands from external influences, until mid-19thcentury lived in a feudal system of shoguns and samurais. During 150 years, going through political and social upheavals and bloody wars, Japan was transformed into an economic power with the most advanced technology, and yet she has stayed faithful to traditional beliefs and customs, which are superbly expressed by Japanese art, language, literature, and poetry along with the calligraphic writing, full of latent meanings, and also theatre.
The Japanese sometimes say that they are Poland's neighbours, that the two countries are divided only by a large forest while Poles, in their romantic dreams, wanted to become "another Japan." Indeed Poland and Japan are set apart by a historical and civilisational gap, so it is not easy to say what could link those two different worlds. To the founders of the Japanese Centre in Krakow, the answer is simple: ART.
A hundred years ago, a person who knew that was Feliks 'Manggha' Jasieński - a visionary, prolific writer, subtle critic, fine connoisseur and collector, who taught Krakow to admire and love Japanese art, and showed Polish artists the paragons of beauty and perfection worthy of emulation. Amazing with its wealth and diversity, Jasieński's Japanese collection, after his death in 1926, went to the National Museum. Kept in storage rooms in the Szołayski Family Townhouse for long years, it was seldom shown in temporary exhibitions. Now, in the new building of the Centre, hosted by the National Museum, the collection has found a permanent home and can be exhibited in a manner which meets the scientific criteria. Much of the credit for it is deserved by our Japanese friends: an architect of world renown, Mr Arata Isozaki, who has created the architectural design, and Ms Etsuko Takano, who set up the Japanese branch of our Foundation and contributed to the construction of the Centre by raising considerable amounts of funds.
The Japan of today is not only a country of fascinating art, but above all a country of the most advanced technology in the world. Products of Japanese industry, especially automotive industry, electronics, information technology, computers, photography, film, television and video, have reached the top level of quality and are admired and used all over the world, in Poland as well. This is the reason why the collection of ancient Japanese art is accompanied at our Centre by an exhibition of modern technologies. It appears that the juxtaposition of art and engineering thought is something absolutely natural. There is no doubt that medieval Japanese metallurgy which produced the unmatched blades of samurai swords, the amazing precision of products made of lacquer and ivory, the masterly methods of weaving silk - and also the unerring strokes of the painters' and calligraphists brushes or the wood engravers' chisels - find their direct continuation in the precision of manufacturers of modern Toyota and Honda machines, or Sony, Cannon and Nikon instruments and devices.
Apart from the permanent collection of ancient art and periodic exhibitions of modern technologies, the Centre has a multi-purpose room which accommodates two hundred people, with all the necessary equipment, which allows for diverse activities: film shows, theatre performances, concerts and multilingual conferences. We would also like for Krakow schools to find the venue of their first encounter with Japan in our Centre.
We will show Polish people and visitors from abroad the Japan of today, resting with its wings on tradition and modernity, like a huge bird which takes off, starting a flight into the future of the 21st century. Yocho Yamamoto, the master of the Hagakure book of wisdom who lived in the 17th century, said: It makes no sense to want modernity to be similar to the times that have passed... One has to do everything to make each era as good as possible, taking its nature into consideration. What is the nature of our era? What challenges does it pose to us? Certainly, bringing the nations of the world closer together and mutual understanding is one.
Andrzej Wajda and Krystyna Zachwatowicz
The core of Jasieński's collection is certainly made up of works made in Japan but I think that there is no need to call them '"Japanese art" exclusively. Why? Well, the reason for mobilising a whole horde of people around the idea of building a Centre of Japanese Culture and Technology was the fact that the works accumulated in the Collection moved very many of them and, when you trace back the history of the creation of the Centre, it becomes clear that the Collection has transcended the frames of Japanese art and become world art. Also because the artists lived in Japan and the collector lived in Poland, and then contemporary Polish artists and numerous anonymous people of Japan had their joint part in the construction.
It all started with my visit to the Krakow region with Mr and Mrs Wajda and selection of the site. The design work progressed parallel in Japan and in Krakow, but I decided that efforts should be made to prevent the style of the building from overexposing its Japaneseness. It is located on a site seen from the terrace of Wawel Hill on the opposite bank of the river, so I devised the project in such a way as to inscribe the building into the meanders of the Vistula that flows in the middle and to avoid interfering with the unique perennial atmosphere of this place. Several curves flowing along the bank of the river form the roof structure. The finish of the supporting walls is made of sandstone extracted in Poland. Inside, in accordance with tradition, the techniques of brick laying and joining of wooden elements are used, as preserved by local craftsmen. Namely, I wanted for this building - just as Jasieński's collection transcended the frames of Japanese art - to go beyond the frames of Japaneseness and take root in Polish soil. A project like this one, which was born out of the efforts of people of good will, and of course with the support from both countries - Poland and Japan - albeit without their direct participation, should be perceived on the level of global culture. However, it will grow up to that level only when it manages to give birth to something deeply rooted in the place of its origin. The Centre of Japanese Culture and Technology has been designed and constructed with this wish in mind and I am convinced that it can be given such an evaluation.
Arata Isozaki
The "Krakow Centre of Japanese Art and Technology" Symphony
If one were to use a musical metaphor, the Krakow Centre of Japanese Art and Technology could be compared to a four-part symphony. Part One: Feliks Jasieński. Meets Japanese Art, falls in love with it and accumulates a collection of it. Part Two: Employees of the National Museum in Krakow. Hold custody over Jasieński's collection and escort it safely through the horrific days of World War I and II. Part Three: Andrzej Wajda. Inspired by Japanese art which he saw as a nineteen-year-old man, he becomes a film director.
When he receives the Kyoto City Prize for his outstanding achievements, he and his wife Krystyna initiate efforts for the construction of the Centre, by donating the whole sum of the prize towards it.
And in the finale: The fund-raising campaign propagated all over Japan. In response to Mr and Mrs Wajda's appeal, in cooperation with the governments of Japan and Poland, 138,000 people who love Cinema and Poland take part in the campaign.
On 30 November 1994, the opening of the Centre of Japanese Art and Technology in Krakow will be celebrated. I believe that the symphony of Polish-Japanese friendship will sound beautiful and resonant against Krakow's sky then.
I await that moment with all my heart.
Etsuko Takano
DEAR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN FROM JAPAN AND POLAND,
The opening of the Centre of Japanese Art and Technology, a symbol of long friendship between Japan and Poland, in Krakow, Poland's former capital and the centre of the beautiful Malopolska region, is certainly a momentous event, opening a new chapter in the history of contacts between our countries. Namely, we expect that the Centre - as the place of permanent presentation of the magnificent collection of Japanese art owned by Krakow, and also by organisation of various other projects - will play the important role of a plane for - primarily cultural - cooperation between our countries.
The creation of the Centre is a crystallisation of good will on the part of numerous people in Poland and Japan and a symbol of our friendship. Mr Andrzej Wajda and Mrs Krystyna Zachwatowicz, the founders of the Kyoto-Krakow Foundation, donated their whole Kyoto Prize to this cause, and numerous nameless people in our country supported them with their enthusiasm and responded to the appeal for fund-raising required to build the project. A number of people, among them Mr Toshikuni Yahiro, Chairman of the Japanese-Polish Joint Economic Committee; Ms Etsuko Takano, President of Iwanami Hall, or Mr Akira Matsuzaki, President of the East Japan Railway Workers' Union, contributed a tremendous personal effort to the realisation of this project. The Centre was further blessed with the fact that its design was prepared gratuitously by the world-famous architect, Mr Arata Isozaki. And then, Professor Ikuo Hirayama, Rector of the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in Tokyo, offered help in preservation and reconstruction of the works of art. The governments of the two countries also showed commitment matching the enthusiasm of their citizens. The authorities of the Krakow Voivodeship provided the Centre with the most beautiful site in the city, on the bank of the Vistula, across from the Wawel Castle. The Japanese Government also did its best to cover a considerable portion of the cost of construction and was thus able to support this important project. Many other people have also contributed to today's inauguration. It would be impossible to name all those people now, but may I use this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all of them.
Feliks Jasieński, charmed with the art of Japan, devoted all of his fortune to put together a collection of it and bequeathed this precious treasure of culture to Krakow. I know that preserving this collection has posed numerous difficulties and that it was threatened with dispersal many a time. The future generations will certainly appreciate the efforts made after World War II by the National Museum in Krakow, and notably by Dr Zofia Alberowa, to preserve the collection.
And now, after nearly a hundred years, we see the crowning of the work initiated by Feliks Jasieński, one to which he devoted all of his life, namely the desire to present this collection of Japanese art to Polish society. I think that we can be proud of the creation of the Centre, which is a continuation of Jasieński's idea and which will be passed on to our children, grandchildren and generations to come. I would want this place to be visited not only by the peoples of our two countries, but also by guests from all over the world, so that it may become a basis for cooperation in the area of Japanese cultures not only on the scale of Poland, but of all Central Europe.
And, to follow a Polish custom, I send to you all, Ladies and Gentlemen, from Japan and Poland, the words: "I wish you all the best."
Nagao Hyodo
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