After 19 years of roaming, the Warsaw Museum of Modern Art inaugurated its new building dedicated to permanent collections on October 25, 2024 on the emblematic Defilad Square, in the very center of Warsaw. Although the museum is offering numerous events to celebrate its inauguration, the public will have to wait until February 21, 2025 to access the collections.
The inauguration of the new building of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw (MSN) is a historic moment, welcomed Rafal Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw. The white concrete building, a sort of gigantic white cube, covers 20,000 m², including 4,500 m² for the exhibition spaces. The new MSN, designed by Thomas Phifer and Partners, extends over six levels (including two underground galleries) served by a large staircase leading to exhibition spaces and rooms dedicated to mediation and conservation.
The minimalist design of the new building has been controversial since the construction project was announced in 2019. Nicknamed the shoebox or the block, the windowless white concrete monolith was deemed too simple and not up to the project, which had been expected since two decades. “This is not the Guggenheim,” commented one politician. The new MSN has also been criticized because the horizontal architecture hides the view of the PKiN (Palace of Culture and Science), a historic site dominating the city. The socialist realist-style tower, built by Stalin between 1950 and 1955 after the destruction of Warsaw at the end of World War II, has become a symbol of the city. The new building was financed to the tune of 160 million euros by the city.
The new MSN construction project has experienced many upheavals. Architect Christian Kerez initially won the architectural competition. Canceled in 2012, it was taken over by Thomas Phifer and Partners in 2019. The failure of the first project can be explained by difficulties linked to land ownership on Place Defilad, reports Onet. The effects of Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine then interrupted supply chains for the work, explained Joanna Mytkowska, the museum’s director.
Founded in April 2005 by the Ministry of Culture, the Warsaw Museum of Modern Art has collections of Polish and international visual art of the 21st century. A first collection of 2,000 works highlights local and international contemporary artists. In 2017, the museum recovered 200 works belonging to the Exchange Gallery, an independent art venue founded in 1978. The MSN also maintains the collections of the Foksal Gallery in Warsaw. The museum has operated on an itinerant basis since its creation, due to lack of a permanent location. Its collections were exhibited in one of its annexes, at the Museum of Panka street, at the Museum on the Vistula and in the former Emilia Furniture House.
While waiting to access the collections, numerous events, exhibitions and performances are offered to the public with free access until November 10. For the opening, the museum exhibited nine works created by Polish and international women artists such as Magdalena Abakanowicz and Alina Szapocznikow. The cinema opened on October 25 at midnight, and the 16th edition of the Warsaw Under Construction festival was inaugurated with the theme of the history of the parade ground where the museum is located.
