Poland prepares to evacuate artworks due to threat of Russian invasion

Poland’s Ministry of Culture is drawing up plans to move its most valuable artworks abroad due to the threat of a Russian invasion.

Source: Poland’s Culture Minister Hanna Wróblewska in an interview with the Financial Times (FT), as reported by the Ukrinform news agency

Details: The Polish Ministry of Culture is currently updating logistics protocols and documentation to ensure that relocated collections can be tracked. It is also in talks with other countries to agree on where the evacuated works will be housed. In addition to paintings and sculptures, rare books and musical instruments will also be moved. Wróblewska said private museums and galleries are also expected to prepare security plans for their collections.

Wróblewska noted that these measures are necessary because Poland’s nearly 1,000 museums cannot operate according to "a theoretical notion of security" while Russia continues to attack Ukraine. About 160 state-run Polish institutions will need to take evacuation measures.

The plan to evacuate the museum exhibits is to be completed by the end of the year. It is part of wider security measures being taken by the government of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk which entail increasing border security and doubling the size of the Polish Armed Forces to 500,000 troops, the FT reports.

The evacuation initiative is being overseen by Maciej Matysiak, a former army colonel who was deputy head of Poland’s military counterintelligence. He now leads the Ministry of Culture’s Security and Crisis Management Department, which has a team of 40 staff members.

The plan draws on experience gained from assisting Ukraine when artefacts were moved to Poland following the onset of the full-scale invasion. Wróblewska said some of the Ukrainian artworks are still in Poland.

Wartime evacuation planning was discussed at an informal meeting of EU culture ministers in Warsaw in April. Wróblewska noted that the Baltic states share the Polish government's view on the need to evacuate artworks.

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