Bestiary

A large, multi-threaded exhibition on humanity’s relationship with animals across the centuries - from creation myths and fantastical hybrids, through scientific cabinets of curiosities, to today’s questions about species extinction and animal rights.

National Museum on the exhibition:

The exhibition aims to show how, across the centuries, people have tried to understand, classify, domesticate, make use of, and build relationships with animals. These themes find rich and multi-layered expression in the art and culture of many civilizations.

The exhibition has a problem-driven, critical character. Its successive sections trace ideas about the origins of animals and their place in the order of the world - from creation myths, through deities with animal features, to the fantastical hybrids known from legends, fairy tales, and art. It then presents the beginnings of a scientific approach to animals, from early-modern cabinets of curiosities to natural-history prints and atlases, treatises, and travel accounts. The exhibition closes with a reflection on the practical, emotional, and cultural relationship between people and animals, shown through works of art and everyday objects. The exhibits span painting, sculpture, prints, drawing, goldsmithing, furniture, ceramics, textiles, artistic installations, and photography, alongside objects made from animal materials such as tortoiseshell, feathers and bone, parchment, and cordovan leather.

The final section of the exhibition addresses contemporary relationships between people and animals, as well as pressing issues around species extinction, climate change, and the emerging (including legal) shifts in how animals are treated.

What to expect

The exhibition opens on 20 November 2026 and runs through 14 March 2027 in the Main Building of the National Museum. It’s a large, multi-part show spanning painting, sculpture, prints, goldsmithing, furniture, ceramics, textiles, photography, and installations, plus objects made from animal materials (tortoiseshell, feathers, bone, parchment). The arrangement moves from creation myths and fantastical hybrids, through scientific cabinets of curiosities and natural-history atlases, to contemporary questions about species extinction and the changing - including legal - treatment of animals. Budget more time than for a typical temporary show; the thematic scope is wide.

Tickets and opening hours are on the National Museum’s website.

Museum profile: National Museum in Warsaw.