POLONIKA Institute carried out the first research project focused on Polish cultural heritage in Brazil. Implemented between 2022 and 2023, the task was based on the history and collections of Polish museums.

Today, more than a dozen Polish institutions carry out museum activities. It consists of collecting, storing, preserving and making available collections of Polish artifacts from the 150 years of Polish settlement in Brazil. These institutions were established and are run by various institutions, including Polish parishes, municipalities, Polish organisations and private individuals. Their impact is either local or regional; they are located in four states: Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Espirito Santo, where Polish settlements developed most rapidly.

The research work in the project has been divided into two phases. Stage I, in 2022, is field research culminating in a study report. Stage II, in 2023, is the continuation of field research culminating in the preparation of materials for the author's catalogue of the museum collection.

Nineteen museum sites in Brazil were selected for identification, evaluation and inventory. Due to the eminently peasant nature of the settlement (Polish peasants accounted for 90-95 per cent. of the total number of immigrants from Poland to Brazil), the collections of the museums in Brazil include mostly ethnographic items, such as rural architecture (including houses, farm buildings), agricultural tools and equipment (including carts, agricultural machinery), elements of costumes, toys, objects of everyday use and non-professional art, as well as photographs, documents, objects of worship and works of sacred art (including sacred paintings, chapels). This represents the material Polish cultural heritage brought by Polish settlers or already produced on Brazilian soil.

The research project was conducted by the research team of Rev. Dr Zdzisław Malczewski (substantive project leader) and Mikołaj Radomski, M.Sc.

Rev. Dr. Zdzisław Malczewski, a permanent resident of Brazil, obtained his doctorate in history from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (1995). He is the rector of the Polish Catholic Mission in Brazil, editor-in-chief and publisher of the journal "Polonicus - revista de reflexão Brasil-Polonia" and a regular correspondent of Vatican Radio. As an independent researcher, he explores the history of Polish settlement in Brazil ("The presence of Poles and the Polish community in Rio de Janeiro", 1995; "In the service of the Church and the Polish community. Society of Christ: social and pastoral functions in the Polish community in Latin America", 1998; "Perfis polônicos no Brasil", 2000; "In care not only for compatriots. Polish missionaries in Brazil", 2001; "Polish traces in Brazil / Marcas da presera polonesa no Brasil", 2008).

Mikołaj Radomski M.A. is a graduate of ethnography and cultural anthropology at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, as well as postgraduate editorial studies there. He is currently a curator at the Pomeranian Folk Culture Museum in Swołów. Author of ethnographic research in Brazil under the supervision of Professor A. Posern-Zieliński ("Parafia polonijna a proces assimilacji potomków polskich osadników w Brazylii", 2002-2003).

The POLONIKA Institute plans to publish the results of the queries in 2024. The book will include a historical outline and characteristics of emigration to Brazil, as well as the history of selected museums, together with an assessment of the collections and a scientifically compiled inventory catalogue.

The progress of the work of researchers active in Brazil, as well as statements by descendants of Polish emigrants living in South America, can be seen in the material prepared by the TVP Polonia station at the address below:

Inventory of Polish monuments in Brazil