Exhibition Champion of the Child: Janusz Korczak at the Central Library in Dublin
Where: Central Library, Ilac Centre, Henry Street, Dublin 1
When: from 14 th – 31 st October 2012, Monday to Thursday: 10.00am - 8.00pm
Friday, Saturday: 10.00am - 5.00pm
The Embassy of Poland in Dublin, together with the Central Library in Dublin and the Irish Polish Society, invite you to embark on a journey through the life of one of the first promoters of children’s rights.
Prepared by the Jewish Museum in London, the exhibition Champion of the Child: Janusz Korczak tells the moving and inspiring story of Janusz Korczak (1879-1942), who devoted his life to establishing the rights of the child, regardless of nationality or religion. UNESCO declared 1979 the Year of the Child, marking the centenary of Korczak’s birth. In 1989 his ideas on children’s rights were adopted by the United Nations in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This exhibition shows how his teachings on the treatment of children continue to resonate around the world today.
Janusz Korczak was a Polish-Jewish doctor, writer and educator who came to represent the rights of street children and orphans in early 20th century Warsaw, where he introduced the first progressive orphanages for Jewish and Catholic children. In 1942 Korczak's Jewish orphanage was forced to move into the Warsaw Ghetto. Eventually, refusing all offers for his own rescue, Korczak accompanied the children on the train that would take them to the Treblinka extermination camp, choosing to die with the children under his protection rather than abandon them.
The exhibition was developed in association with the Children's Legal Centre, University of Essex and it highlights issues of children's rights today, examining the universalism of Korczak's message and the effect of his teachings on modern thinking.
The exhibition will be complemented by a series of workshops on children's rights directed at schoolchildren in Dublin.
The Embassy of Poland in Dublin together with the Central Library in Dublin invite schools to participate in the Children Rights’ Workshops
The Workshops
This workshop will be an exploration of democratic citizenship and children’s rights and responsibilities which will help develop the capability for participation in society.
The participants will be introduced to the subjects through the life of a Polish-Jewish children’s author and educator Janusz Korczak whose legacy became one of the inspirations behind the works of the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Korczak was one of the first children’s rights advocates, he ran a democratic orphanage, set-up the first national children’s newspaper and campaigned for children’s rights.
Through drama-based exercises children will have a chance to creatively explore themes of citizenship, democracy, justice and tolerance. The session will involve drama exercises and storytelling activities.
The workshop is created and will be performed by Janusz Flakus, a performer, workshop facilitator and theatre maker currently based in Cork. Janusz holds a BA in Drama and Theatre Studies and German (University College Cork) and FETAC Certificate in Theatre Performance (Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa) .
The exhibition “ Champion of
