There will be 8 different exhibitions to visit during the 2018 Crystal Days in Lubań (short descriptions below). The exhibitions will be presented at the Regional Museum in the Lubań City Hall and the historic Bracka Tower and will include a few thousands of unique specimens from Polish and foreign collectors from Austria, Germany, USA and Italy.
Gold Fever – main exhibition
Gold is a precious metal – ore that has been searched and desired for centuries. One of the rarest and the most valued of its natural forms are crystalline clusters. The main exhibition will be focused on them. Presented specimens of gold will have great value both museum and material. Among them you will find the largest gold specimen ever exhibited in Poland, impressive nuggets from the USA, and also gold from Lower Silesia.
Agates of the worldThe best agate specimens from the collection of Dietrich Mayer (Germany)
Dietrich Mayer will present over 100 of the best, most spectacular and colorful agates from his collection. Collecting specimens for several decades, he created one of the best agate collections in the world, numbering several thousand specimens. It will be an exhibition unique in the world scale.
Flying jewels – minerals and insectsExhibition from the collection of Piotr and Wiesława Stróż
It will be a spectacular and very colorful exhibition showing the incredible resemblance of colors, patterns and textures that occur in the world of nature shown with examples of mineralogical specimens and insects (mainly butterflies). At this exhibition, there will be 60 species of minerals with a striking resemblance to meticulously chosen insects.
Agates and prasiolites from the Katzbach MountainsExhibition from the collection of Sławomir Błądek (Lubań)
Sławomir Błądek is a known agate collector from Lubań – the home of 2018 Crystal Days. He has been collection minerals for 40 years and which focusing on agates for 30 years. He has gathered an enormous collection and will present about 300 best specimens from surrounding areas such as Płóczki Górne, Bystrzyca and other localities of the Katzbach Mountains. Many of the pieces have been found and polished by Sławomir Błądek himself.
Minerals of the West SudetesExhibition by the Regional Museum in Lubań
This exhibition, showing the mineralogical abundance of the West Sudetes including the region of Lubań, will be presented in Bracka Tower. There will be over 500 mineral specimens on display in 18 cabinets with quartz, calcite, fluorite as well as agates and unique Fe quartz specimens from the region of Jelenia Góra, and recently discovered high quality calcites from a basalt quarry in Leśna near Lubań. This exhibition will be prepared by the Regional Museum in Lubań and will become the museum’s permanent collection.
Ice - an incredible mineralPhotography exhibition by Albert Russ (Slovakia)
It will consist of a few dozens of spectacular photographs taken by the Slovakia mineral collector and artist - Albert Russ. Albert specializes in photography of the unique patterns and structures of natural ice formations - in caves, mines, on glaciers. Ice in its natural form is a formally recognized mineral.
Sudeten landscapes in painting and graphicsThe exhibition of Regional Museum in Lubań
The exhibition “Sudeten landscapes in painting and graphics" will include a few dozens of art pieces created from the 18th until the middle of the 20th century by extraordinary artists from the Lower Silesian Region. Among them - probably the most interesting will be two big oil paintings by Edward Harrison Compton (1881-1960) - world-renowned landscapist picturing Śnieżka and Śnieżne Kotły mountains.
The competition exhibitions
Over 20 exhibition showcases from private collectors will take part in the competition for the best exhibition of Crystal Days 2018
During the 2018 Crystal Days, a competition for the best exhibition from private collectors will take place. The private collectors will display their showcases with their selected minerals under a chosen exhibition theme. The international jury will then evaluate the quality of specimens as well as their visual arrangements and the contents. For the public participation, visitors will vote for their favorite showcases and the collectors will receive audience awards and also valuable prizes. There will be abundant of specimens of gemstones, agates and rare minerals displayed in this exhibition from Poland as well as abroad.
Collectors and their exhibitions:
Andrzej Bezkorowajny „Polish minerals from outside of Sudetic locations”Grzegorz Bijak„Minerals of Morocco”Przemysław Budzyński„The colorful world of copper minerals”Tomasz i Filip Dzielniccy „Minerals of the Ślęża Massiv”Joanna Gajowniczek-Praszkier „Size matters ” (out of competition)Mariusz Gardocki „Minerals of pegmatites from Piława GórnaHannes Holzmann „Agates of the World”Dariusz Jończy „Minerals from the Madan region, Bulgaria”Józef Kawałko „Quartzes from Jeleniogórska Hollow”Andrzej Korzekwa „Minerals from the pegmatites of the Strzegom Massif”Łukasz Kruszewski „Oddities and news”Łukasz Tekiela i Piotr Lejczak „Calcites of Lubań” (outside the competition)Emanuele Marini „Classic minerals of Italy”Ireneusz Niemczyk „Minerals from the pegmatites of Strzegom-Sobótka Massif”Mariusz Oleszczuk „Minerals from the Tsumeb mine in Namibia”Bartosz Pieterek i Mateusz Szczepanik „Mineralogical specimens as a record of polish mining”Tomasz Praszkier „Minerals of Poland” (outside the competition)Piotr Sarul „Agates from Nowy Kościół”Jacek Szczerba „Malachite – a wealth of forms and shades” (out of competition)Janusz Zajdel „Minerals from the vicinity of Kamienna Góra”
Interviews with collectors
Andrzej Korzekwa
Joanna Gajowniczek-Praszkier
Ireneusz Niemczyk
Janusz Zajdel
Sławomir Błądek
Jacek Szczerba
Dariusz Jończy
Zapowiedź wywiadów
USEFUL INFORMATION
Exhibitions will be open from Thursday (12th of July) at 10.00 until Sunday (15th of July) until 17.00,
Admission to all exhibitions is free of charge,
Exhibitions: "Gold Rush", "Agates of the World", "Flying Jewels", "Agates and Prasiolites ...", "Competition exhibitions ..." and "Sudeten Landscapes ..." will be presented n the City Hall building (NOTE! 3 various entrances),
The exhibition “minerals of the West Sudetes” will be presented in the Bracka Tower,
The exhibition "Ice - an incredible mineral" will be presented in a park near the Tower.
Location of Crystal Days Exhibitions
