Two vast continents, a wealth of diverse traditions and material and spiritual culture. The latest permanent exhibition is historical and presents the cultural heritage of Africa and Asia gathered in the collections of the PME in Warsaw. The stories tell of the past, of how these continents were seen through the prism of collections created in the 19th and 20th centuries. On the two floors of the museum's galleries, we show almost 1,300 objects. One of the newly opened galleries is dedicated to Asia, the other, named after Leopold Janikowski, to Africa. In both, we can find unique exhibits, but also learn about history through multimedia stations.

Africa
Leopold Janikowski, after whom the African gallery is named, was one of those Polish Africanists who wanted to know and understand a continent distant from Poland. This Polish traveller exploring Africa was associated with the State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw. It was he who, at the end of the 19th century, organised the first ethnographic exhibition on Africa in Warsaw. His and other Poles' presence on the continent was of a different nature to that of their European contemporaries. In this section we can look at objects related to power and magic, kings and sorcerers being important figures in the gallery.

Asia
Asian routes have been travelled by wanderers for centuries. Their paths, not only the geographical ones, but sometimes the mystical ones, the Asian Gallery aspires to show. The Buddhism of the Small, Great and Diamond Path, the path of the middle way, the path of knowledge, the path of battle, the path of the sword and the bow, the path of tea, the path of flowers - these can be found in our exhibition. Unique objects include Japanese dolls presenting an emperor couple, or a Korean bowl made of celadon, from which the colour celadon probably originates.