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History/ About Foundation
Building the Centre/Museum of Japanese Art and Technology Manggha" in Kraków is an outcome of complex and strange artistic inspirations, the beginning of which should be traced in Feliks Jasieński's extraordinary passion and generosity. The collector's fantastic dreams could have been shattered merely for lack of space. Fortunately, the fate of the collection has turned out favorably.
In 1944, in occupied Kraków a part of the collection was exhibited in the Cloth Hall Gallery and it was then that the 19-year-old Andrzej Wajda first saw it. The young artist found the vision of the world, as presented in those works of art, tremendously appealing. In fact, Wajda opened himself to completely new sensations.
In 1987, a winner of the Inamori Foundation's Kyoto Prize, Andrzej Wajda, and his wife, Krystyna Zachwatowicz, decided to allocate the prize-money for the establishing of the Kyoto-Kraków Foundation, the aim of which was erecting a building to house the collection of Feliks Jasieński.
Another "step" was the activity of Etsuko Takano and her fascination with Polish cinema-especially the films by Andrzej Wajda. A connoisseur of International cinema, she has been presenting the films by Wajda at the Iwanami Hall from its very beginning.
Ms. Takano made good friends with Andrzej Wajda and she put heart and soul into the Kyoto-Kraków Foundation. It was actually her idea to introduce Wajda to Arata Isozaki, an architect and a close friend.
Owing to her celebrity status in Japan, and also to her boundless energy, Ms. Takano established a Japanese branch of the Foundation and gained the co-operation of such renowned personalities as Yahiro Toshikuni, President of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. Together with Yoko Ohtake and Chieko Akiyama, a famous art critic, she organized a collection which raised over one million US dollars.
The East Japan Railway Workers' Union under the leadership of Akira Matsuzaki donated about $1 million to the Foundation. Upon learning that, the Government of Japan made a decision to support the Foundation from the Polish and Japanese co-operation fund and donate about 3 million dollars.
The authorities of the city and voivodship of Kraków became involved in the project. They selected the location of the Centre and then - represented by Kraków's Voivod, Tadeusz Piekarz, and the Mayor, Józef Lassota - they donated a free plot of land selected by Arata Isozaki for the Foundation. Mr. Isozaki was among those inspired individuals without whom the idea of the Centre of Japanese Art and Technology would have never been successful. The world famous architect presented the Foundation with his design, thanks to which the Foundation could allocate all its resources for the building of the Centre. Seven years after Andrzej Wajda was given the Kyoto Prize, the "Manggha" Centre was opened to the members of the public as part of the National Museum in Kraków. It also houses the Kyoto-Kraków Foundation's Board of Management.
During the four years of our activity we have acquired a group of devoted followers, however, we would like to attract far more of them. We hope that the future work of the "Manggha" Centre is going to appeal to young people, as it is going to focus on modern technology, namely the sphere which has been rapidly developing. The "Manggha" Centre's Board of Management has already requested the assistance of numerous institutions and persons dealing in investigating the modern technologies in Japan and Poland.
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