On 25 October, the new building of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw was officially opened. It is intended to be a place open and accessible to everyone, a place integrating various initiatives, cultural institutions, and creative circles. Located in the New Centre of Warsaw, in the heart of the city, it will also offer its audiences a variety of ways to spend their free time: from visiting exhibitions to taking part in activities for children and adults to exploring the archives of contemporary artists. Guest events, combining different fields of art, will run in parallel with exhibitions of works by various artists.
New home
The Warsaw Museum of Modern Art is moving into premises that are the first building in the capital’s post-war history to be conceived and designed as a space dedicated to modern art. The nearly 20,000 square metres, occupying six floors, will host exhibitions concerts, meetings, workshops and presentations.
A project that stirs emotions
The minimalist building was designed by New York architect Thomas Phifer. Its final visual form and location arouses as much admiration as controversy. Why? The modern shape of the building is the quintessence of simplicity. With its clean lines and smooth white façade, it is reminiscent of the modernist buildings of the so-called Eastern Wall, the legendary department stores of Wars, Sawa and Junior, neighbours located on the opposite side of Marszałkowska Street. Thanks to its simple form, it does not compete with them. On the other side, behind the Museum building rises the monumental, social-realist, richly ornamented Palace of Culture and Science, attempting to refer to the Renaissance aesthetics, once the tallest building in the city. Built in 1952, the Palace of Culture was officially Stalin’s gift to Warsaw, which was being rebuilt after the war. In the capital, however, it was always seen as a stigma of Soviet domination.
– The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw is a long-awaited building that has begun the reconstruction of the centre of Warsaw and the change in its symbolic meaning from post-Soviet to a city confident of its modern identity and vibrantly developing. MSN is also a sign of the social change that has taken place in Poland. A public, open-access building has been created in the centre of Warsaw, whose mission is to engage ever new groups of the public in a conversation about art and to popularise emancipation,’ says Joanna Mytkowska, director of the Museum.
Plans to start with
The opening and the first weeks of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw in its new building include first and foremost the presentation of several large-scale sculptures and installations by Polish and international female artists, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Karolina Jabłońska, Zhanna Kadyrova, Kateryna Lysowenko, Sandra Muijnga, Monika Sosnowska, Mariela Scafati, Alina Szapocznikow and Cecilia Vicuña. Also on view are three exhibitions: MSN Collection, Difficult Love. Museum between the Square and the Palace and Basic Forms, the latter aimed at a younger audience. Displaying selected works in the spaces of the individual galleries will bring out the architectural qualities of the new premises.
The opening of the first exhibition of the Museum of Modern Art collection is scheduled for 21 February 2025. MuseumofModernArt
Monika Gimblett
