Photo courtesy of Jeremy Barnett 

Poland is a country rich with history, and if you can experience it for free—all the better! Here’s a guide to a week of free museums. No need to spend a zloty to experience a wealth of Krakow’s art and history. 

Monday: Old Synagogue
24 Szeroka Street in Kazimierz

One of Europe’s most historic Jewish places of worship, the Old Synagogue is located in Krakow’s Jewish district, Kazimierz. It is an extension of the City of Krakow’s Historical Museum, and is considered the quintessential Jewish monument of Krakow. As such, it’s filled with relics of Kazimerz’s past including religious items, historic photos, and documents.

Tuesday: Museum of Municipal Engineering
15 Sw. Wawrzynca Street in Kazimierz

If you’re into gizmos and gadgets, then this museum is for you. The space feels like a virtual time machine into innovations past. Take in the old vehicles and other means of public transportation that date back to the early 1900s and explore technology’s impact on everyday life over the last two centuries.

Wednesday: Tourism Board

There’s a reason they call it “hump” day, folks. Take a break from museum wandering and check out Krakow’s tourism board web site for listings of free events. On the way, pick up a few paczki (pronounced poonch-keys). What a difference a day, and a doughnut, make!
                                                                                                                                                                          

Thursday: Czartoryski Palace Museum
19 Sw. Jana Street in Nowy Swiat

The Czartoryski is Krakow’s treasure trove of exhibitions. Founded in 1796 by Princess Isabella (credited with the motto “The Past to the Future”) the museum is most famous for housing Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Lady With An Ermine” along with Rembrandt’s “Landscape with the Good Samaritan”, and many more artifacts from the 13th to 16th centuries.

Friday: Dom Slaski (aka The Silesian House)
2 Pomorska Street just outside of Nowy Swiat

This museum is free everyday of the week (bonus!), but after all your other museum-hopping, you only have Friday left! First used as a Gestapo police headquarters, the Dom now hosts exhibits about World War II martyrdom and anti-nazi resistance. Admission itself is free, but it’ll cost a little extra if you want to take pictures.

Saturday: City of Krakow History Museum
35 Rynek Glowny in the Old Quarter

A patriotic little building proudly boasting the history of Krakow and its citizens, the History Museum has a compilation of old maps, documents, pictures, and city stamps. Its most appealing feature is a collection of colorful and intricate Krakow Christmas Cribs or szopkas.

Sunday: Archeology and Ethnography Museum
3 Poselska Street in the Old Quarter

Once used as a prison in medieval times, the Archeology and Ethnography Museum is home to the only known representation of a Slovanic deity, a four-faced 8-foot stone idol of Swiatowit. In addition, the museum always has a number of permanent and temporary displays.

Bonus Sunday: Museum of History of Photography
16 Jozefitów Street just outside of Nowy Swiat

Filled with exhibitions of present and past photography, daguerreotypes, cameras, and photo equipment, the Museum of History of Photography is a must-see for the still image artist-at-heart.

Photo by pnoid00

On June 23, Budapest will hold its third Night of Museums to celebrate St John’s Midsummer Night. Traditionally, this is the night when fires are kept burning for unmarried girls to jump over and so guarantee themselves a husband, and fruit is thrown into the fire to guarantee a good harvest.

Torches and candles will be lit and fire-blowers will perform outside the National Museum—one of 29 museums and public collections taking part in this year’s Night of Museums. All 29 places will stay open from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. and will host special programs, concerts, and dance performances in addition to their usual exhibitions. In previous years, some venues have been known to offer a snack and a glass of wine—or a hot chocolate. But the highlight of the night has to be the special show of erotic Roman artifacts at the Aquincum Museum!

The night is marvellous fun and a paradise for Cheapos. Free buses transport culture hounds to museums, departing from Erzsébet Tér every 30 minutes. Tickets for all events can be bought from the Budapest Transport Company (BKV) for HUF500 (€1.95; $2.65). For details of exhibitions and programs, check out the night’s schedule.

If you’ll be in the Louvre any time soon, don’t be confused by rather anachronistic installation pieces scattered throughout the museum.

In the Puget and Marly sculpture galleries, contemporary artists have put up resin statues and fake trees next to the marble figures of greek gods. It’s all part of the Counterpoint program, which runs through June 25. This is the third edition of Counterpoint, which features the work of 11 sculptors: Elisabeth Ballet, Richard Deacon, Luciano Fabro, Gloria Friedmann, Anish Kapoor, Robert Morris, Claudio Parmiggiani, Giuseppe Penone, Didier Trenet, Michel Verjux, and Jacques Vieille.

Many museum-goers appear to be annoyed at the juxtaposition of new and old, but we appreciate the impulse to shake things up a little.

Photo by jmv

Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky’s photos are currently showing at a free exhibition entitled “Manufactured Landscapes” at the Canadian Cultural Centre in the 7th arrondissement.

Known for his portrayals of massive industrial landscapes which are at once frightening and eerily beautiful, Burtynsky documents much of the unseen backstory of globalization and our incessant quest for raw materials to fuel economic growth.

The exhibition contains selections from different periods of his portfolio from the past two decades, notably a series from the Three Gorges Dam in China. His work depicts the landscapes of mining, quarrying, railcutting, recycling, oil refining, and shipbreaking. These are powerful, sometimes overwhelming images with distinct echoes of Blake’s “dark Satanic Mills,” or, in other words, a very contemporary take on the Romantic outburst against the dehumanizing effects of the Industrial Revolution. If you liked Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” you’ll want to check out Burtynsky’s oeuvre.

The exhibition runs through August 25. The Canadian Cultural Centre is located at 5 rue de Constantine, 75007. M° Invalides.

Photo by Juliette

The inaugural exhibition in the new Monumenta series opened this week at the Grand Palais and is devoted to the work of German artist Anselm Kiefer. Under the title Sternenfall (Falling Stars), the spectacular installation created specially for its five-week run (through June at the Grand Palais is dedicated to the poets Paul Celan and Ingeborg Bachmann.

Kiefer, who lives in Barjac in southern France, has housed his works in seven temporary houses apparently placed at random in the light-filled space of the massive exhibition hall. It’s a thought-provoking meditation on nature, life cycles, the cosmos, mythology, and history, inspired by sources as diverse as the Bible and Aztec civilisation. The overall effect is one of great emotional power, partly generated by the juxtaposition of opposing elements: ferns alongside concrete bunkers; sunflowers wrought from iron sprouting from the walls of a concrete tower. Or the obsessively repetitive images of rusty boats amid stormy seas, which inspire an unexpected sense of jubilation.

Monumenta will showcase American sculptor Richard Serra in 2008 and French artist Christian Boltanski in 2009.

Free audio guides are available. Entrance fee: €4
Nef du Grand Palais, avenue Winston-Churchill, 75008
Metro: Champs-Elysees-Clemenceau
Open Monday, Wednesday from 10 a.m.- 8 p.m.; Noon-midnight from Thursday-Sunday. Closed Tuesday.

Photo by oh_fluff!

Would you dare spend your Friday evening inside the church? For the third time in Austria, Christian factions are inviting the public to stay for a night of free exhibitions, shows, fairs, and concerts.

Lange Nacht der Kirchen, which takes places tonight, June 1, aims to lure the non-faithful back into the fold. This time, Salzburg, Graz, and Klagenfurt will join in the hoopla, opening their doors until midnight.

Currently, more than a quarter of the inhabitants without religion on their sleeves are living in Vienna. With Christianity slowly losing ground on the continent, religious groups would like attendees of the event to know more about their churches. Aside from the prominent Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern European Orthodox and the Anglican groups are also participating.

The purpose of the event is not necessarily to preach the Gospel, but to celebrate the beauty found in religiion though arts and music. One of the highlights is the concert of Wiener Philharmoniker at the Hofburg Chapel that starts at 6 p.m. in the First District performing from Haydn to Beethoven.

Visit the website to know more about the event and to check out the whole program.

Photo by Gertud_K.

Heat. Sand. Volleyball.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, that’s in Vienna. On Friday, June 1, the lot of the Wiener Eislaufvereins in the Third District will transform into a trendy beach complete with sand, beach games, and parties mimicking the feeling of a vacation to the tropics. Because the Viennese love summer, the festivities will last until the end of September.

SandCity Vienna, occupying more than 6000 square meters (3.5 miles), consists of Sand Sculpture Park, Catering Zone, and Activity Zone. Visitors will revel in tons of fine brown sand, palm trees, and water areas, not to mentionbeach sports and (goody) 14 bars. But the real highlight is the sand sculptures exhibition created by several international carvers. The theme will be “Euro 2008: Europe as a guest in Austria,” in reference to the much anticipated European Football Championship 2008, which will be hosted by Austria and Switzerland.

Expect to see a mini-Pisa, an Acropolis, or even the Eiffel Tower made of sand. And just as important as European landmarks will be the sculptures of international football stars like Germany’s Michael Ballac.

The regular entrance fee is €7, and reduced price €4.50. The event will be located at Lothringerstraße 22 and opens from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Photo by wisemanben

Get ready for the Europa Konzert (Concert for Europe) on May 24. For the fourth time the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace will open up to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Valéry Gergiev, who is currently serving as the chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Everyone is invited and admission is free. Since its inception the concert has attracted thousands of visitors and millions of viewers worldwide. Famous stars on the classical scene like Lang Lang and Placido Domingo have also graced the event. This year the theme is one of welcoming Russia to Europe, and the program includes compositions from famous Russian composers like Tschaikowsky’s “The Nutcraker” and Stravinsky’s “Le Sacre du Printemps.”

We recommend arriving before 8 p.m., as many people will surely show up early to bask in the expected 25-Celsius weather. Bring your children (six and up) before 2 p.m. to take advantage of Thursday’s children’s free guided tour at the Tiergarten Schönbrunn. The tour meeting point is in front of the cashier windows of Schönbrunn’s Hietzing entrance.

Schloss Schönbrunn, which used to be the Habsburgs’ summer residence, is located in the 13th District.

Photo courtesy by Kasia Ozga

Artists have always flocked to Paris for inspiration, and Polish-American sculptor Kasia Ozga is no exception. She’s been in Paris for the last year under the auspices of the prestigious Harriet Hale Woolley Grant, and this week the Foundation of the United States is hosting a free exhibit of her sculpture. Entitled “Body|Metaphor,” the exhibit is open until Thursday, May 10, and is well worth a visit.

This exhibit represents an opportunity to peek into the capital’s thriving contemporary art scene. The sculptures and installations presented explore suspended movement, and interactions between the human body and its environment. Located at the Fondation des Etats-Unis at 15 Blvd. Jourdan in the 14th arrondissement (metro Porte d’Orléans on the line 4, or Cité Universitaire on RER B or the Tram line 3.) The exhibit is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day, and is totally free.

Photo courtesy of Vienna’s Künstlerhaus

In a manner of speaking, that is.

Of course, we are talking about the famous terracotta figures of warriors and horses of the First Chinese Emperor Qin, the controversial ruler who was responsible for the unification of China. The reproductions of more than 150 lifesize statues and 1,000 soldiers in battle formation has been touring around Germany for the last five years. Now, to the delight of many, the pack has come to Austria.

The ground floor of the Vienna Künstlerhaus in the First District paves the way for the replicas, which consist of infantrymen, generals, officers, and archers, plus eight horses from the original figures. The “Terrakotta Armee” exhibit kicked off this past Sunday and will run until August 26.

The two-millennia-old statues on which the replicas are based are considered to be the Eighth Wonder of the World by UNESCO. In order to make the exhibit more interesting, it also features mannequins of Chinese women wearing then-fashionable dresses. Expect lots of satin and velvet.

The entrance fee is €12, with reductions available for seniors, students, and children. Kids under 6 enter for free. The Künstlerhaus is located at Karlsplatz 5. It is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and is closed on Mondays. Telephone: +43-01 587- 9663.