In December 2020, the collection of the Research Centre for Armenian Culture in Poland (within the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences) was enhanced by an archival legacy handed over by Dr. Janusz Kamocki (born 1927), who was curator of the Kraków Ethnographic Museum for many years and the author of a number of publications on ethnography. In 1975, Dr. Kamocki travelled to Armenia to acquire museum exhibits for the Armenian Department, which was to be established in the Ethnographic Museum in Kraków. In 1980 he established the Circle of Interest in Armenian Culture at the Polish Folklore Society in Kraków, which was the first organisation of Armenians in Poland after World War II. He also planned to publish a book entitled Śladami Ormianami polskich [Following the Traces of the Polish Armenians]. As a result, Dr. Kamocki established extensive contacts with the Armenian community in Poland and Armenia and collaborated with Stanisław Donigiewicz and Jan Hasso-Agopsowicz.
The archival materials donated relate to Dr. Kamocki’s Armenian interests. They include one-hundred-and-fifty photographs taken during his stay in Armenia, notes and travel reports, correspondence, press clippings, brochures and dozens of bookplates made by Armenian artists, including Aida Bojajian, Weik Ter-Grigorian, Aram Zakarian, Howhannes Shalasa, and Ashot Mamajanian. The donated archival materials are a valuable gift to the Centre’s collection and will be used for scholarly research.
