On display: 31 January – 17 May 2026
Location: Archaeological Museum in Poznań, 27 Wodna Street, Temporary Exhibition Gallery on the ground floor
Admission: with a purchased ticket to the museum
From 31 January 2026, the Archaeological Museum in Poznań presents a remarkable temporary exhibition, “Borderlands of Europe: Treasures from the Lviv Historical Museum”, bringing together more than 600 exceptional artefacts from one of the most significant collections in Central and Eastern Europe.
The exhibition explores the cultural and historical crossroads of three continents – Europe, Asia, and Africa. Its narrative begins in Lviv, a city shaped over centuries by the coexistence of diverse cultures, religions, and traditions. As described by the Director of the Lviv Historical Museum, Lviv stands as a symbolic space of encounter between Europe and Asia.
Through objects spanning millennia, the exhibition reveals how different ways of life, artistic expressions, and spiritual traditions have intersected and influenced one another, forming a shared heritage of a region long known as the “borderlands of Europe.”
Highlights of the exhibition include: human mummy heads and a mummified bird from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamian clay tablets bearing cuneiform inscriptions, ancient coinage, artefacts from prehistoric communities inhabiting the territories of present-day Ukraine, paintings, sculpture, and weapons dating from the 16th to the 20th centuries.
The exhibition also features outstanding portraits of historical figures, including a 16th-century portrait of Roxelana, a woman from Podolia who became the wife of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.
All objects on display are on loan from the Lviv Historical Museum. Many originate from historic private collections once owned by prominent families and Polish and Ukrainian institutions. Their presentation in Poland also constitutes an important measure to safeguard cultural heritage currently threatened by armed conflict.
The exhibition was initiated by Dr hab. Roman Chmelyk, Director of the Lviv Historical Museum.
Curators:
Galina Skoropadowa – Lviv Historical Museum
Dr Marcin Gapski – Museum of the Eastern Lands of the Former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a branch of the National Museum in Lublin
Jacek Jeremicz – Museum of the Eastern Lands of the Former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a branch of the National Museum in Lublin
Curator on behalf of the Archaeological Museum in Poznań: Sabina Hryniewiecka-Bąk
PARTNERS AND FUNDING
Exhibition partners:
Lviv Historical Museum
National Museum in Lublin
Wrocław City Museum
Museum of Central Pomerania in Słupsk
The project has been co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Self-Government of the Greater Poland Voivodeship.
