Museums

Museum of African Art in Olkusz

The Museum of African Art in Olkusz holds one of the more interesting Polish collections of the art and culture of the African continent, gathered in the town centre on Szpitalna street. It began with a 1971 donation by the Olkusz physician Dr Bogdan Szczygieł and Bożena Szczygieł-Gruszyńska; over time the collection grew through further gifts and is today named after Anna and Leon Kubarski.

From a coffee-mill factory to a museum

The first exhibits went into a former coffee-mill factory at 11 Szpitalna street, owned by Dr Szczygieł's father. In 1984 the collection moved to the outbuilding of the old Olkusz hospital at 32 Szpitalna street, where it remains today as part of the MOK cultural centre. The interiors were fitted out by volunteers under Dr Szczygieł's direction, with the help of secondary-school pupils and ethnology students from the University of Wrocław.

Masks, fetishes and blue knights

On display you will see ritual masks, including ones from the Bambara people, and fetish talismans warding off evil powers, made by the Bakongo. Alongside are garments, jewellery, weapons and musical instruments from different regions of Africa. The greatest curiosity is a Tuareg tent made of camel hide, its interior filled with everyday objects. The Tuareg are called the blue knights of the Sahara because they dye their garments with indigo so intensely that the pigment even penetrates the skin. Dr Szczygieł himself spent well over a decade in Africa, mainly around the Sahara.

Practical information

The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday, 9.00–16.00; closed on Mondays and Sundays. Tickets: PLN 8 regular, PLN 5 reduced; a combined ticket for all three MOK museums costs PLN 16 or PLN 10. The museum lies a few steps south of the Olkusz market square, so the visit combines easily with a stroll around the old town.