Opening of the new Museum of Modern Art in the autumn
On October 25, the Museum of Modern Art (MSN) will open its new headquarters on Plac Defilad. The building’s welcome—a programme of events open to everyone—will last three weeks and will herald the museum’s future activities. In addition to the showing of selected work from the MSN’s collection, it will include performative, social and educational events, concerts, and lectures as well as another edition of the WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION festival. The museum’s publishing house and a cinema opening for the first time will set out their offers, with a rich public programme being held in parallel.
Opening weekend. Two versions of the collection: October 25 and February 21
The opening and first weeks of the Museum of Modern Art in its new building will centre around the presentation of several large-scale sculptures and installations by Polish and world artists. Exhibiting selected works in individual galleries will bring out the architectural features of the new location, which will be discussed by its creator, Thomas Phifer, during the opening. The event will be a preview of the first exhibition of the Museum of Modern Art’s collection, the vernissage of which is scheduled for February 21, 2025.
The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw has the potential to become a showpiece of the capital in a short time. The building, designed by the New York studio Thomas Phifer and Partners, covers nearly 20,000 m², of which over 4,000 m² is exhibition space. The exhibition halls are located on the first and second floors and feature panoramic windows overlooking Marszałkowska Street and the southern part of Plac Defilad. The galleries located on the top floor will be illuminated with diffused sunlight by skylights located in the roof. A spacious staircase is one of the building’s hallmark features.
There will be a café and a museum bookstore on the ground floor. The building will house a cinema with seating for 150 people, an original film repertoire and a programme of accompanying events. The legendary Polish Radio Experimental Studio, designed by Oskar Hansen, will also be reconstructed—with historical and modern equipment, it will once again become a place of work and exchange of experience for new generations of artists. The MSN will also include conservation studios, art storage facilities, and archives. Museum staff will use the new administrative and technical rooms. The space at the museum was planned as a ‘forum’—a place of meetings and cultural activities shaded by trees, a link between the Central Square and Świętokrzyski Park.
