A map of the Adriatic from the 16th century, photographs of the University of Malta from the 19th century, or perhaps a postcard with a grey seal from Prof. Krzysztof Skóra? Take a look at some of the most interesting archival material from the collections of SEA-EU partner universities. Thanks to a collaboration that began as part of Staff Week at the University of Cádiz, representatives from the libraries and archives of SEA-EU universities have prepared an online exhibition on maritime topics entitled. ‘History beyond the Breakwater: the Collections of SEA-EU Member Universities’.

'It was a meeting for archivists and librarians from SEA-EU partner universities, a representative from each university talked about the activities of their unit,’ says Coordinator of Registry Activities, mgr Anna Siekierska. 'I noticed that our exhibition activity is something additional that other SEA-EU libraries and archives do not organise. Hence the idea for each library to exhibit the most interesting materials from their collections.’

Due to the coastal nature of the SEA-EU alliance, the creators of the exhibition decided to bring together the most interesting materials related to the sea. The exhibition presents the collections of the Library and Archives of the University of Gdańsk, the Library of the University of Split, the Library of the University of Malta and the Library of the University of Algarve.

‘I was surprised, for example, that the University of Split had maps from the 18th century. In our country, such old collections are usually found in state archives, and quite rarely because of Poland's wartime history,' says Anna Siekierska.

Angelika Dąbal helped to search for materials from the UG Library's collection, while the coordination of the part of the exhibition devoted to our university was handled by the Director of the UG Library dr hab. Arnold Kłonczyński, prof. UG, and mgr Anna Siekierska .

We invite you on a sea voyage leading from the shores of the Baltic Sea to a peninsula in the Adriatic Sea and a stone island in the Mediterranean Sea to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.