Image: Manggha, Kraków
Manggha Museum in Kraków will open two new exhibitions on July 18, bringing together distinct but related perspectives on Japanese martial culture. The museum’s programme pairs 'Akitsushima. Wyspa Ważek' with 'Wojowniczki. Japońskie herstorie' in a single evening opening at 6:00 pm, with free admission and interpretation in Polish Sign Language.
According to the museum’s announcement, 'Akitsushima. Wyspa Ważek' presents Japanese armour from the collection of Victoria and Adam Jurgilewicz. The exhibition is framed not simply as a display of military equipment, but as an exploration of armour’s artistic and symbolic value. The museum highlights the significance of detail, craft and cultural meaning in objects that are often understood primarily through their function on the battlefield.
The title 'Akitsushima' refers to Japan’s poetic name as the “island of dragonflies,” and the museum uses the dragonfly motif as a key to the exhibition’s approach. In the newsletter text, that image is linked to ideas of courage, perseverance and victory, offering a cultural frame for looking at samurai-era aesthetics through the objects on view.
Running alongside it, 'Wojowniczki. Japońskie herstorie' turns attention to women in Japanese history. The museum describes the exhibition as focused on women who entered the historical record as warriors, leaders and figures who crossed socially assigned roles. Rather than treating combat as an exclusively male domain, the exhibition places women’s stories at the center and presents them as part of a broader historical and cultural narrative.
The two exhibitions are presented together as a multi-layered account of bravery, strength of character and different ways of understanding warrior identity. Manggha’s announcement does not present the pair as a single merged show, but as two separate exhibitions that meet in the same museum space and complement one another through their themes.
Manggha Museum, formally the Museum of Japanese Art and Technology, is a Kraków institution dedicated to Japanese art and culture. Its current exhibitions page lists 'Akitsushima. Wyspa Ważek' from July 19 to November 11, 2026, alongside 'Japanese Design Today 100', which runs from May 15 to August 30, 2026. The museum’s event calendar also identifies the July 18 opening as the public vernissage for the new exhibitions.
The museum has stated that the opening on July 18, 2026, will take place at 6:00 pm and will be open to the public free of charge. The programme will be translated into Polish Sign Language.
