Shancer, imagine that!

In Polish children’s illustration, Jan Marcin Szancer is an institution, well known to all who grew up on the poems of Julian Tuwim and Jan Brzechwa, read the adventures of Mr. Kleks or grew up with the heroes of Andersen’s fairy tales. Although the illustrator is known primarily for his multicolored illustrations maintained in a fairy-tale atmosphere, his biography, marked by two world wars and anti-Jewish repression, is far from a fairy-tale story.
The Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola invites viewers to the world of Szancer: first the little Jas, who is just learning to draw, then the older Janek, taking his first steps on the path of illustrator’s career, and finally the respected Mr. Jan, who – despite difficult experiences – even as an adult did not lose his childish imagination.

In addition to drawings by Jan Marcin Szancer, the exhibition includes installations prepared especially for the exhibition: a shadow tetris or a theater stage! Thanks to such scenography, visitors can feel like characters in a fairy tale, based on significant events in the life of the cartoonist, and exercise their imagination together with him. In its basic layer, the exhibition is aimed at children, but it also has a second narrative line, intended for adult viewers. It includes the story of Szancer’s fate and the complicated and dramatic experiences of Polish Jews in the 20th century. Completing the exhibition are the illustrator’s original works on loan from the collections of the National Museum in Cracow and the National Museum in Kielce.