The Wroclaw University Library as a partner of the MOSTEM Festival
The Wroclaw University Librar is a partner of the MOSTEM Festival – a cultural and educational initiative aimed at building dialogue, strengthening social relations and creating a space for meetings of different environments and traditions.
The festival is organized on the basis of the Cooperation Agreement concluded between the Wroclaw University Library, the Ostrów Tumski Foundation in Wroclaw, the Ossoliński National Institute, the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław, and the OSTOJA Association for People with Disabilities.
This collaboration is sustainable and long-term, resulting in the cyclical organization of subsequent editions of the MOSTEM Festival. The project coordinator is the Ostrów Tumski Foundation in Wroclaw, responsible for coherent activities and coordination of organizational and promotional efforts.
The partnership brings together institutions representing the fields of science, culture, art, and social activity. The jointly prepared festival program includes artistic, educational, and social events, including exhibitions, meetings, workshops, educational walks, and musical events.
The Wroclaw University Library actively participates to the festival's program, contributing its expertise, extensive experience in working with culture and science audiences, and providing its space and resources for event planning. Of particular value in this context are the Library's unique collections, which constitute an important cultural heritage and serve as inspiration for the festival's programming.
The participation of the Wroclaw University Library in this initiative is an expression of its commitment to promoting cultural heritage, supporting dialogue and integrating academic and local communities.
More information about the festival is available on the website: https://www.mostem.pl/
As part of this year's edition of the Mostem Festival, the Wroclaw University Library invites you to two unique events that tell the story of words, writing and communication in different ways - from the birth of printing to contemporary forms of expression.
The first of these is an encounter with one of the most valuable monuments of Polish literary culture: "Breakthrough. The First Polish Words in Print. Elyan's Statutes".
This is a unique opportunity to see one of the most important works in the history of Polish language and culture – the Elyan Statutes from 1475, containing the first known texts printed in Polish.
Within the walls of the Wroclaw University Library, visitors will be able to move to the moment of a turning point in the history of communication and culture: from the age of the manuscript to the age of printing, from Latin as the language of scholars to the language of the community of the faithful, from local communication to permanent record. It is in this print that, alongside the Latin text, the prayers Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary, and The Apostles' Creed appear – for the first time recorded in print in Polish.
The focal point of the event will be the presentation of an original copy of the Elyan Statutes – one of the most valuable monuments of Polish literature. The exhibition will be complemented by a selection of medieval manuscripts from the former Abbey of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine in Żagań, including a handwritten copy of the same statutes, along with prayers in Polish. The juxtaposition of print and manuscript allows us to capture the moment of transition between the two eras and better understand the significance of this breakthrough.
The event is intimate in nature – tours take place in small groups, which allows for direct contact with the presented objects and in-depth knowledge of their history and context.
Organizational information:
The Wroclaw University Library
Fryderyka Joliot-Curie 12 St. (Grunwald Campus)
Pyramid Exhibition Hall, Level 3
Participation in the event is free of charge.
Limited number of places – maximum 12 people per tour.
Registration: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/YqiVNUGaaj?origin=lprLink
Contact: oiw.bu[w]uwr.edu.pl
The second event is a creative workshop that allows you to look at words and signs from a completely different, practical perspective: Creative workshop "Where did the word begin?"
As part of the workshop, which will take place on 24.06.2026 at 4:00 p.m., participants will take part in a creative meeting led by students of the Faculty of Sculpture and Art Mediation at the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław.
The meeting will be an opportunity to engage in the Library's space - a place where, for centuries, traces of human thought have been collected, recorded in signs, texts, and images. Participants will consider signs not only as an element of language, but also as a form of expression and a carrier of meaning.
This workshop explores the relationship between words and images. After a brief warm-up and introduction, participants will explore the history of visual communication systems - from cave paintings, through Egyptian hieroglyphs and cuneiform writing, to contemporary pictograms and emoticons.
The practical part will allow everyone to create their own symbols. Participants will draw words - including abstract and contemporary ones - and transform them into original pictograms, which they will carve on clay tablets using the bas-relief technique. They will then prepare seals and print their designs on paper.
The collaborative effort will result in an ephemeral exhibition of the created signs, presented in the library space. At the end, participants will have the opportunity to take a photo with their work and receive a souvenir photo taken with an Instax camera.
Organizational information:
Wrocław University Library
hall, level 0
Date: 24.06.2026
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Free participation
Limited number of places – max. 25 people
Registration: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/az8EwPRXRb?origin=lprLink
Kontakt: oiw.bu[w]uwr.edu.pl
Both events are part of the Mostem Festival, which connects the past with the present, building a space for encounter between history and the contemporary sensitivity of the audience.
We invite you to participate.
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