Open House: The Imagined Object

Hipolit House on Mariacki Square, a Museum of Krakow branch whose period-home display has been shut since 2023, will open its doors for three and a half weeks. From 7 to 30 October 2026, artists, students and graduates of the Intermedia Faculty at Krakow’s Academy of Fine Arts will show work built around old everyday objects from the house’s collection.

Museum of Krakow on the exhibition (our translation of the Polish original; the museum publishes no English text for this show):

“The Imagined Object” is the second exhibition to come out of the collaboration between the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow (Faculty of Intermedia) and the Museum of Krakow (Hipolit House) within the “Open House” series.

The reference point for the 2026 exhibition is material culture - surviving objects of everyday use from the collection kept in Hipolit House. They have become a source of inspiration and creative interpretation for invited artists, students and graduates of the Faculty of Intermedia. The exhibition was preceded by several months of consultations and workshops on the meaning and understanding of the value of an everyday object, all the more so one from 100 years ago. The joint work of the two institutions answers the need to make students and the visiting public aware of, and sensitive to, the everyday object, its practical side and its aesthetic dimension. It also places the object in the context of memory, because objects evoke associations and can convey social content, literally or more symbolically.

What to expect

First, the thing that decides your plans: the branch is still officially closed, and the Hipolit House page on the Museum of Krakow website says so. The same page, however, lists “The Imagined Object” as the branch’s exhibition, and the exhibition page gives visiting hours. In other words, the house will open for this show, 7 to 30 October, Wednesday to Sunday.

The curators are Dr Estera Gałuszka, Dr Mariusz Sołtysik, Dr Mariusz Front and Michał Hankus. The museum publishes no list of artists, no count of works and no room plan. Nor does it say whether the period rooms of the permanent display, “A Bourgeois House”, under conservation since 2023, will be visible along the way.

The best clue to what hangs on the walls is the workshop programme, run by artists connected with the show: stop-motion animation with Estera Gałuszka, 3D scanning of objects with Michał Hyjek, drawing and collage with Mariusz Sołtysik. Whether those techniques will turn up in the rooms, you will only know once the doors open. The opening night will be on Tuesday 6 October at 17:00, the day before the public opening.

Context

The first edition of the series, “Hipolit House - Open Space” (“Kamienica - przestrzeń otwarta”), ran from 3 to 30 October 2025. It showed work by 23 people, from students to lecturers, with free admission, and doubled as the opening of the academic year at the Intermedia Faculty. At the time the museum wrote that the house is meant, in future, to become a place for researching Krakow’s historical fashion and cooking as well.

Intermedia is the youngest faculty of the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, founded in 2011. Its studios include animation, performance art, sound and interactive media. Hipolit House itself has been a museum since 2003, when it opened with “A Bourgeois House” (“Mieszczański dom”), a recreation of the homes of well-off Krakow families from the 17th to the 19th century. That display closed in April 2023 for conservation work and has not come back.

Tickets and time

The show is ticketed, but prices are not out yet: the museum says only that they are “coming soon” (our translation). On the Museum of Krakow’s combined hours-and-prices page, Hipolit House is still listed as a closed branch with no price list. Last year’s edition was free; this year’s is not, so check the price on the exhibition page before you set off. The museum has announced no free-admission day for this show.

Hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00-17:00 (10 AM-5 PM), the same for the whole run; closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The museum has not stated a last-entry time this year. Allow 30-45 minutes for the show itself, two hours if you book a workshop.

Best for anyone following student and early-career work from the Krakow Academy, for people into animation and new media, and for those who have been waiting for a chance to get inside Hipolit House again. Skip it if you want furnished period rooms: the museum promises nothing of the kind. For a genuine old Krakow interior, go to the Jan Matejko House , five minutes’ walk away.

Mariacki Square is the small square behind the chancel of St Mary’s Basilica, a minute from the Main Market Square; the house is at number 3. It fits easily into a walk around the Old Town.

English on site: the museum publishes no English page for this show and says nothing about English labels or English-language tours; the workshops are described in Polish only.

Events

Workshop bookings have not opened yet: the museum says sales at the branch ticket desk and online will start “soon”; the family session on 25 October will be sold online only. Groups are capped at 12-15 people, so book as soon as the link appears. Event titles below are our translations.

• 6 October 2026, 17:00 - opening night, free admission - details
• 11 October 2026, 11:00 - “The Imagined Object: Creative Looking Workshop” with Mariusz Sołtysik: pick an object from the collection and reinvent it in a drawing, a short text or a collage; for adults and students, no art experience needed, 15 PLN, 15 places - details
• 14 October 2026, 17:00 - guided tour of the exhibition; the museum has given no price or booking rules - exhibition page
• 17 October 2026, 11:00 - “Creating Metaverse Material” workshop with Michał Hyjek: 3D scanning of objects; bring one or two items of your own, ideally not black, glass or very shiny; 15 PLN, 15 places - details
• 21 October 2026, 17:00 - guided tour of the exhibition - exhibition page
• 25 October 2026, 9:00 - “Snapshots from the Past: Stories of Old Objects”: daily life in a burgher household, then stop-motion animation using museum objects, led by Katarzyna Kucharska and Estera Gałuszka; for adults and students, 2 hours, 15 PLN, 15 places, bring a smartphone - details
• 25 October 2026, 12:00 - “Snapshots from the Past” for families with children aged 8-14, 2 hours, 30 PLN per person, 12 places - details

One discrepancy to watch: the text of the exhibition page moves Mariusz Sołtysik’s workshop to 24 October at 11:00, while the museum’s events calendar has it on 11 October at 11:00. The related-events list on the same exhibition page agrees with the calendar, so the list above gives 11 October; check the date on the event page before you go.

See also

• Krakow Bobbin Lace - A Living Heritage - the Museum of Krakow at Krzysztofory Palace, across the Main Market Square, until 25 October: an old handcraft shown through the lacemakers who still practise it.
• Polish Design: Object Biographies / Designer Biographies - Bunkier Sztuki, until 13 December: designers presented through the private things they live with, the same question about the worth of objects asked from the side of contemporary design.
• Art and Trade. Krakow of Craftsmen - Krzysztofory Palace, until 25 October: the guilds and workshops of old Krakow, where the things that filled burgher homes were made.

Tickets, opening hours, and current details are on the Museum of Krakow website .

Museum profile: Hipolit House .