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Bilbao in Polish
For over fifty years no new museums have been designed in Poland. This summer, however, a centre for contemporary art opened in Toruń. New exhibition buildings for Cracow, Łódź and Warsaw are at the design stage. However the boom in museum buildings raises questions in Poland that are not confined to architecture but also relate to the buildings’ contents.
On June 14, 2008 a centre for contemporary art was opened in the Polish city of Toruń, which lies about 180 kilometres to the north-west of the Polish capital Warsaw. This is the first new building for an art museum to be erected in Poland since 1939. The project cost around 14 million euro with up to ninety per cent costs being met by funds from the European Union. The remaining sum was provided by the municipal authorities. Now the largest exhibition floor area in Poland to date has been created in the old town, extending over five levels on a site measuring four thousand square metres. Apart from the many rooms for the presentation of art the building also contains a bookshop as well as a cinema and a room for special events. The design comes from the team of architect Edward Lach from Wrocław. A large cylinder of glass with a steel construction set on top marks the entrance. The facades, in contrast, have been clad in brick so as to relate to the character of the old town in Toruń, which has many brick buildings in the North German Gothic style. It is only the glazed ground floor zone that communicates transparency and modernism towards the outside. Despite such efforts this square complex makes an impression more of a functional building than an exciting piece of architecture. It seems as if in the design reason triumphed over innovation and unconventional formal language. And is it easy to imagine that those responsible rejected spectacular architecture for fear of provoking the local population that has had little contact with contemporary art. The concept proved successful and the building was carried out without causing any major public debate. This building with its three main storeys is more like a commercial centre than of a place for confrontation with contemporary positions in art.
In Warsaw things are different. A museum for modern art has been at the planning stage there for quite some time. The scheduled opening date is 2013. In winter of last year the body put together to set up the programme for an international architecture competition stopped its work due to irreconcilable differences and resigned. The reason was that the decision of the jury,which according to this council far too hastily chose the entry by Swiss architect Christian Kerez, did not meet with unconditional approval. Kerez’ design has been described as unimaginative and lacking in fantasy. Many critics complain that the building is too plain. Equally, Kerez’ design did not meet the criteria laid down in the competition. Many people had hoped for a second Bilbao in the Polish capital, (and a contrast to Toruń), which, thanks to an imposing building, would not only make the city a magnet for the public but would also architecturally reduce the impact of the enormous Palace of Culture (Stalin’s famous “present” to the people of Warsaw), in front of which the new building was to be placed. Nevertheless despite the discussions the municipal authorities had to accept the jury’s decision: Joanna Mytkowska, the newly selected programme coordinator it to implement Kerez’ design by 2013.
Two other Polish cities have also been affected by the museum building boom: Cracow and Łódź are to obtain a number of new exhibition buildings for art by the year 2013.
Most of these are new, architect-designed buildings. In a number of cases existing buildings are being given a new function, such as the new exhibition spaces of the art museum in Łódź. In October of this year a second branch museum is to be opened there in a renovated textile factory dating from 1895. The new art building will thus stand in an enormous factory complex from the 19th century. The museum in Łódź, an institution with a rich tradition, houses the third most important collection of avant-garde art in the world. Works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Hans Arp, Kurt Schwitters, Piet Mondrian as well as representative of the Polish avant-garde such as Władysław Strzemiński und Katarzyna Kobro will here find a permanent home for the first time. A suitable location for this collection was long overdue. The textile factory converted into an art museum is not the only example of the conversion of a huge industrial site in Łódź. Luxembourg architect and urban planner Rob Krier has been commissioned to produce plans for a further culture centre, on a site measuring 90 hectares behind the main railway station. And star architect Frank O. Gehry was invited to convert an electricity works there. Here the hope is to use spectacular architecture to make the city into a tourist attraction. Gehry has not yet decided to accept the commission in Łódź but many are counting on his support.
In creating a new landscape of institutions it is not being forgotten that, in addition to an attractive building, changes in terms of content are also necessary. The new concepts for museums wants to leave behind the old image of dusty exhibits and visitors wearing felt slippers. This was the theme of the conference “In the Direction of a Modern Museum” held in March of this year in the National Library in Warsaw. “In the year 2012 when Poland will host the European Football Championships this opportunity should be used to prepare the museums and to make them more inviting”, it was suggested at this conference. “Female or male attendants who run after one shouting ‘don’t touch’ or ‘please keep your distance’ are no longer up to date”. In museums for modern art such as the CSW (Centre for Contemporary Art) in Warsaw as well as the art bunker (Bunkier Sztuki) in Cracow nowadays orders such as these are far less frequently heard from museum attendants. The history museums however are far more urgently in need of new concepts. The new museum of Jewish history in Warsaw, to be erected on the site of the former Warsaw ghetto in the Muranów district, could serve as an example of how to present history. It is being built by the Finnish architects Ilmari Lahdelma and Rainer Mahlamäki and is due for completion by 2010. With their unbiased design they defeated even renowned architects such as Daniel Libeskind. Here one is given a direct relationship to history, initially through the building’s location. In 1940 the Nazis brought together more than 500.000 Jews on the site where the museum will stand, 300.000 of them were killed in Treblinka. After the Warsaw revolt in 1943 the German occupying forces razed the entire ghetto to the ground. The museum will stand directly in front of the monument to this uprising. But the focus will be less on the holocaust and more on Jewish culture in Poland. Like scenery on a stage the visitors will be presented with a vanished world, including a synagogue and a “Shtetl”, a typical eastern European Jewish settlement. Museums of history have realised that they, too, must be modern in order to attract the public.
However first of all these new buildings are confronted with a different challenge. Questions about the new architectural designs and the innovative presentation of the exhibits are important but what will be shown inside the buildings in the first place must also be considered. Warsaw still does not have a a collection or conception for its museum of modern art. In Toruń a budget has already been allotted to allow new acquisitions to be made.
Given such discussions about contents it is hardly surprising that some of the architectural designs are disappointing. The difficulty of designing a museum without knowing what collection will be presented there represents a major challenge for every architect. The fact is that Poland cannot afford a Picasso, Matisse or Cezanne, and in any case these masters have already found their place in other museums. In Toruń the intention is to place a regional emphasis while at the same time taking the international context into account. Many fear, however, a regionalisation of the collection that will not extend beyond local boundaries. In Warsaw in contrast the intention in building up the collection is to focus on art from eastern central Europe. Most appropriately: in the museum world there are hardly any collections of art after 1989 from this region of Europe. The museum in Ljubljana (Slovenia) can be cited here as a good example. Collecting young Polish art is not so preposterous, given the fact that in recent years through individual artists such as, for example, Wilhelm Sasnal, Artur Żmijewski, Katarzyna Kozyra, the prices of this work on the art market have risen so substantially that shortly Polish museums will no longer be able to afford to acquire these names. Focussing on contemporary art from this part of Europe could be something specific that would allow individual Polish museums to distinguish themselves from the mass of European museums.
Many cities would like to see their new museum as a kind of hallmark that, with new museum concepts, will attract visitors (primarily from abroad) to the cities. The directors and curators are certainly already confronted with a major challenge. They must attempt to implement their projects largely independent of politics, must endeavour to include the local population and yet at the same time remain competitive with other European museums. In the context of a society that, for the most part, still has an extremely sceptical view of modern art, this will certainly not be an easy task.
Berenika Partum was born in Łódź/Poland in 1974. She studied history of art and history at the Freie Universität Berlin. She presently works in Germany and Poland as a free-lance journalist and author, focussing on contemporary art and culture in Poland and eastern central Europe.
Addresses of the new museums:
TORUN´
CSW, Centrum Sztuki Współczesnej (Centre for contemporary art) Toruń
ZZK (“Znaki Czasu”, sign of the times) Toruń
Architectural concept: Edward Lach (Wrocław, PL)
Address: ul. Waly gen. Sikorskiego 13
Opening: 14 June 2008
www.csw.torun.pl
WARSAW
Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej w Warszawie (Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw)
Architectural concept: Christian Kerez (CH)
Address: Plac Defilad
Provisional home of the museum until
completion of the new building:
ul. Pańska 3
Scheduled opening: 2013 or earlier
www.artmuseum.waw.pl
Muzeum Historii Z˙ydów Polskich (Museum of the History of the Polish Jews)
Architectural concept: Ilmari Lahdelma und Rainer Mahlamäk (FI)
Address: ul. Warecka 4/6
Scheduled opening: 2011
www.jewishmuseum.org
CRACOW
Muzeum Sztuki Współczesnej Krakow (Museum for Contemporary Art in Cracow)
Architectural concept: Claudio Nardi Architetto, Leonardo Maria Proli, Annalisa Tronci (IT)
Address: planned for the former site of Oskar Schindler enamel factory (Zablocie) ul. Lipowa 4
Scheduled opening: 2011
www.fabrykaschindlera.pl
ŁÓDZ´
Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi ms2
(Art Museum Łódź ms2)
Architectural concept: Ferdzynowie (PL)
Address: ul. Ogrodowa 17
Opening: October 2008
www.msl.org.pl
Culture-entertainment-trade centre of Łódz´
Adress: ul. J. Karskiego 5, 91- 071 Lodz
www.manufaktura.com
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