Gdynia Maritime University GMU

On 4th November 2021, the sitting of the Senate took place in the GMU Faculty of Navigation. The meeting was preceded by the grand unveiling of a recently completed mural above the entrance to the Faculty’s new Aula, officially opened by HM Rector Professor Adam Weintrit, and Dean of the Faculty of Navigation Dr Tomasz Neumann.

The sitting of the Senate was the 10th meeting of its kind during the 17th term of office at the University, and the first to take place in the Faculty of Navigation. In attendance on the day were Professor Krzysztof Wilde, Rector of Gdansk University of Technology, and Daniel Fahrenheit, President of the Fahrenheit Universities Union.

The Sitting was preceded by the unveiling of the mural and the cutting of the ribbon at the entrance to the new Aula. After the meeting, participants were shown a demonstration in the planetarium and also visited the Faculty’s radar navigation simulator.

The mural, which beautifully adorns one of the walls of the Faculty of Navigation, is an artistic representation of the map of the world. In carrying out the work, artist Joanna Rogowska was inspired by a map of the world by Henricus Hondius, published in 1631 in the atlas Atlantis Marioris Appendix.  The work also references a style of painting used in the 17th century. 

The author herself described her work: I’ve included various types of decorations and symbols on the map, such as portraits of Gerardus Mercator, Claudius Ptolemaeus, Ferdinand Magellan, and Jodocus Hondius I. The map also contains symbols of the three elements - the God of Fire on a chariot drawn by two fiery horses, Water - symbolised by the earth in the middle, and on the right, as a positive figure - the Goddess of Wind. Other adornments include sails, sea creatures, plants and fruit.

The unveiling of the mural was carried out by Rector Adam Weintrit, Faculty Dean Dr Tomasz Neumann, and the author of the work, Joanna Rogowska.