17 May 2011

MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków is the first such institution in Poland to be developed from scratch. The building was erected on the site of, and partly within the structure of, the former Schindler's Factory, in the postindustrial district of Zabłocie, which in recent years has undergone a vigorous renaissance. The building was designed by Claudio Nardi, the Italian architect and interior designer.

MOCAK will be compiling, archiving and making accessible to the public an international collection of art, so as to demonstrate the changes which have taken place within art during the last 20 years, while relating the most recent artistic phenomena to the tradition of conceptual art. The programme of the institution also encompasses educational activity as well as research and publication projects.

The site of the Museum incorporates a library, a bookshop, an audiovisual hall and a café, including a – unique in Poland - restoration workshop for modern art.

On the 19th May 2011 at 6 pm, the formal opening of the Museum will take place, as well as the presentation of the following inaugural exhibitions:

History in Art: 20 May – 25 September 2011
The exhibition of 44 international artists presents a critical, alternative interpretation of history. The presentation of over 120 works aims to provide an analysis of the relationship between history and art, taking a closer look at the prevailing image of history and displaying individual artistic interpretations of the most significant historical events.

The MOCAK Collection: from 20 May 2011
The exhibition of the Museum collection presents a variety of stances, media and interpretations present in contemporary art. The show comprises a few dozen works of both Polish and international artists from the MOCAK collection. One of the main aims of the exhibition is to break the stereotypical view of modern art as detached, enigmatic and incomprehensible.

The Award of the Vordemberge-Gildewart Foundation: 20 May – 26 June 2011
The Swiss Foundation Vordemberge-Gildewart in - co-operation with MOCAK - has organised the first Polish edition of this prestigious competition for a grant awarded to a young artist. Out of the 15 artists nominated from all over Poland, the international jury selected three winners. The main award – 20 000 euro – went to Anna Okrasko, and the second award was split equally between the artists Jan Dziaczkowski and Róża Litwa, who received 10 000 euro each. The exhibition is a presentation of all the works submitted by the participating artists for the competition.

Maurycy Gomulicki. Bibliophilia: 20 May – 8 September 2011
'Bibliophilia is a perhaps somewhat naive, but close to my heart, tale about desire and the beauty of books,' says MaurycyGomulicki about his project. The artist's inspiration was his grandfather – a distinguished humanist Juliusz Wiktor Gomulicki – and his rich book collection. The theme of the exhibition is women and books. The library becomes a place where the intellect and the senses meet; where the lust for knowledge accompanies carnal desire.

Mieczysław Porębski's Library from 20 May 2011
Professor Mieczysław Porębski, a prominent Polish art historian, has donated to the Museum a part of his book collection together with a number of paintings by his friends, amongst whom he counted the members of the Krakow Group. The Professor's collection has been assembled in one of MOCAK's exhibition halls so as to resemble his study in his Krakow flat. Despite it being essentially an exhibition, the Library provides access to its unique book collection for academic research.

ALIAS: Madeleine Sante: 20 May – 12 June 2011
This is one of the projects which are part of the Krakow Month of Photography. The exhibition presents six alternative life stories of the fictitious eponymous character. Human fate is shown as an unpredictable, complex narrative, whose content is dependent on many factors, including historical circumstances and casual meetings and events.