Polish hip hop goes down in history

Poland's expansive hip-hop scene will soon be honoured when the Silesian Museum in Katowice opens a new exhibition dedicated to the Polish groups and fans that made the style so popular in the 1990s.

Curators of the museum in Katowice have appealed in the last few days to hip-hop enthusiasts all over Poland to send the museum various objects that they may have ferreted away over the years.

Among other things, the museum's curators hope to collect posters, spray cans, old records, baseball caps, photos, autographs and other items related to the Polish hip-hop scene.

"If you have an old walkman or discman, if you kept posters from concerts, if you held onto damaged records, Moro Sport tracksuits or baseball caps, if you left yourself a Marlboro pack in remembrance, or there are still hip hop CDs or illegal items on your shelves, please write to us. Your souvenirs will not only enrich the exhibition but, above all, will make you part of this initiative. We want to learn more about the local hip-hop scene, meet people and bands whose fame may not have gone beyond one district, but that were important for you," says the Silesian museum appeal.

However, the museum curators have also emphasised that the museum does not intend on displaying all objects donated and reserves the right to choose which objects will be displayed in the exhibition.

Alicja Knast, director of the Silesian Museum who is behind the project, said that "more important than all these objects that are collected for the exhibition, are the stories that stand behind them. Also objects that are not visually attractive, but bare an important story for the person who kept them in the drawer for many years, will be welcome".

Collection of the objects is expected to continue until August 2018. The decision on which objects will be presented in the exhibition will be accepted in September. The exhibition itself is scheduled to open at the beginning of 2019.

Hip-hop enthusiasts who own objects related to the music scene and wish to donate them to the exhibition can contact the Silesian museum in Katowice on hiphop@muzeumslaskie.pl.

The hip-hop scene in Poland was considered highly popular especially in the 1990s. Many young Poles then collected items related to the local hip-hop scene.