After examining several different examples of reconstruction in the context of destroyed buildings and their ensembles, the author argues that the only acceptable form of analyzed activity is reconstruction sensu stricto, meaning in the narrow sense of this word, when it is based on proper documentation and aimed at restoring the building’s original authenticity. All other examples, like 19th century romantic castles or recent restorations of entire city centers, can only be classified as reconstructions sensu largo – in a very wide sense of the term. Then the change in legal approach to the concept of reconstruction is discussed. According to the Venice Charter, it was not accepted per se but slowly “legalized” with the passage of time, initially by placing the Warsaw Old Town on the World Heritage List in 1980 and then in documents like 2017 ICOMOS Guidance on post trauma recovery and reconstruction for world heritage cultural properties, where terms such as “modified reconstruction”, “partial reconstruction” and others have been defined. The more recent and generally drafted 2018 Warsaw Recommendation on recovery and reconstruction of cultural heritage fully accepts the term “reconstruction.” The paper ends with some remarks on the financial aspects of reconstruction. 

This article presents the art market in Poland with a focus on existing problems and potential threats to its transparency. The Polish art market is young and therefore vulnerable when it comes to globally occurring trends and shifts. However, there are some trends that are typical for the Polish realm, such as the existence of non-professionals who are connected to the cultural sector because of their profession (art historians, monuments conservators, museum collaborators, journalists) and act successfully as middlemen. Diminishing risks and mitigating threats is possible with an introduction of new legal regulations and future art market self-regulation. In this regard, applicable international and European legal instruments must be taken into account. 

This article deals with the export of monuments and the existing combination of an object’s age and value while issuing permits. It provides an analysis of the procedure of permanent export focusing on a single license for permanent export in the Polish legal system. The authors offer a new questionnaire model (Value of Heritage Test) to support the procedure undertaken by experts of the Polish ministry of culture and national heritage involved in the process. The VOH test aims to diminish the risk of mistakes in assessing objects’ roles and meanings for national cultural heritage and reassure that the justification meets high standards. 

This article focuses on legal aspects related to the termination of museum-related activities by their organizers or founders. The aim is to consider the diversity of museums and their activities on the basis of generally applicable regulations, in particular the Act of 21 November 1996 on museums (Journal of Laws of 2018, item 720 and 1669) and the Act of 28 February 2003 on bankruptcy (Journal of Laws of 2017, item 2344, as amended). The termination of the legal entity’s activity is often related to the lack of funds for further operations (i.e., bankruptcy). Therefore, the article analyzes applicable legal provisions regarding the liquidation and bankruptcy of museums in the creative sector enterprises. The entirety of the analysis is influenced by the conclusions de lege ferenda and de lege lata, which were formulated on the basis of the author’s own observations. 

The palace library was established by count Fryderyk Skórzewski at Lubostroń at the beginning of the 19th century. Up to 1939, it was owned by the Skórzewski family representatives. In the 1920s, the valuable collection numbered approximately 20,000 volumes. However, the collection was not catalogued. This article proves that the preserved inventory book dates from the nineteenth century and concerns the library in Lubostroń. No information about the book is found in the source literature.

Safe haven as a remedy for affected monuments not only challenges museum directors when managing the safeguarded monuments, but also curators, who engage in monument displays. This article shows the risks and work needed to be done by both directors and regular museum workers to provide the required help for all of the received objects. This is also an opportunity for the museums to overcome financial and governance crises in cultural institutions, and to involve themselves in international heritage matters. Curators as well are responsible for properly managing the monuments, by using the instruments at their disposal to tell a story beyond the objects, involve the audience, and make them aware of the importance of protecting cultural heritage. 

The aim of this article is to discuss the practice of protection services for Polish monuments in terms of the minimum age required for a building which allows a decision regarding the entry to a register of monuments for a given object. The register of monuments was created in 1928 and continues to the present day, covering over 70,000 inscriptions. During its 90 years of existence, there have been 3 separate definitions of monuments, each of them different in terms of what constitutes a monument and the required age for protection. The article follows subsequent decisions, up to the introduction of the Act on the Protection of Monuments and the Guardianship of Monuments, where acceptance for  the protection of extremely young buildings was visible (for instance, in the 1990s, an unfinished object was inscribed into the register). The new law brought a fundamental change in this aspect – for the first time a longer duration of caesura between the construction of the building and its entry into the register of monuments is consistently required. 

This article presents selected cases of cultural heritage crime in Poland during 2018 based on statistics prepared by the local police, the National Revenue Administration and the Border Police. It is worth noting that this is a year in which new systems for the reduction of threats to cultural goods have come into force. It should be considered when assessing the security status of cultural heritage in the future. Studies on various cases of crimes against heritage carried out in 2014-2018 allow one to indicate trends in perpetrators’ activities and identify the main threats to monuments at that time. The complementary presentation of collective information on the threat of cultural heritage is essential for the perspective of research, in order to develop a strategy for its protection. 

Informacja o książce Żanety Gwardzińskiej Egzekucja nadzoru konserwatorskiego

ISBN 978-83-7865-782-8

Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego, Gdańsk 2019

Informacja o książce Eweliny Kowalskiej Własność zabytku a dyskrecjonalna władza konserwatorska

ISBN 978-83-7865-711-8

Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego, Gdańsk 2018

Informacja o książce Anny Magdaleny Kosińskiej pt. Prawa kulturalne obywateli państw trzecich w prawie Unii Europejskiej

ISBN 978-83-8061-515-1

Wydawnictwo Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego Jana Pawła II, Lublin 2018