Free Belarus Museum

A soldier’s jacket, a prison shirt, an original 2020 ballot paper that somebody tried to destroy. The Free Belarus Museum collects objects that each belong to a named person and a specific day. It opened in Warsaw on 17 July 2022, and by July 2026 it reported that its collection had grown by almost 700 artefacts. Entry is free.

This is a museum of very recent history: the 2020 protests, the repression, the prisons and the emigration that followed, and since September 2026 also the Belarusians fighting in Ukraine. If you are looking for old Belarus, folk costume and castles, this is the wrong address. If you want to understand what has happened across Poland’s eastern border in the last few years, this is where you see it through objects rather than wall panels.

What to expect

The core of the visit is the collection display “Point of Entry” (Punkt wejścia), which the museum rearranges. In winter 2026 it was devoted to political prisoners (“Point of Entry - 123”), in March to women (“Point of Entry: the women’s cause”), and on 8 September 2026 a new section was added on Belarusian men and women fighting for the freedom of Belarus and Ukraine.

According to the museum’s description, the new section includes the army boots of a soldier known as “Respect”, who fought near Lysychansk, a fragment of a tile from Bakhmut, a tank crew helmet, drone parts, a shell, a piece of a “Grad” rocket and one of the first patches of the Kastus Kalinouski Battalion. Next to them hangs a photograph shot on film in the combat zone.

The rest of the collection, listed in the online catalogue, comes from the prisons and the protests: prison shirts and trousers that belonged to political prisoners, a prisoner’s kit with a water heater, a watch and a mug, the wrapping of a parcel to a political prisoner that the penal colony refused to accept, the flag of the Chkalovsky neighbourhood in Minsk, and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s personal folder with a photo of her husband. Original ballot papers from the 2020 presidential election are in the collection as well.

The gallery is small - the museum gives its exhibition space as 100 m² - and it also hosts temporary shows, concerts and talks. From 18 September to 4 October 2026 it shows “hyperMother. Shared Breathing” as part of Warsaw Gallery Weekend. In July 2026 the museum announced it had made the long list for the European Museum of the Year Award 2027.

Tips

• Entry to the collection display is free (as of 8 September 2026).
• On weekdays the museum opens only at 16:00. Tuesday to Friday it is open until 20:00 (8 PM), Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 to 20:00. Plan it as an evening stop, not a morning one.
• The hours come from the museum’s announcement of the “Point of Entry” display dated 8 September 2026. There is no standing hours page, so before a first visit check the museum’s Facebook or Instagram, or call +48 888 617 137.
• Guided tours, individual and group, are by prior booking by email: freebelarusmuseum@gmail.com.
• The same space hosts temporary shows, concerts and talks. Check the announcements on the museum’s site before you go so you know what is on.
• The subject matter is heavy: repression, prisons, war. This is a visit for teenagers and adults, not a family afternoon with small children.
• You can start at home. The museum’s site has a virtual tour of the collection display and an online catalogue of the objects.
• The museum accepts objects. If you own something connected to the Belarusian protests, imprisonment or emigration, the museum asks you to get in touch.

Getting there

The museum is on Foksal, a short side street off Nowy Świat in Śródmieście, Warsaw’s city centre.

Bus: the Foksal stop (about 200 metres) and the Muzeum Narodowe stop (about 150 metres).

Tram: the Muzeum Narodowe stop, about 200 metres.

Metro: Nowy Świat-Uniwersytet station on line M2, about 500 metres - a few minutes on foot.

Already on Foksal with time to spare? The National Museum is a few minutes’ walk away, and the NBP Money Centre is close by too.