MOCAK, visualisation by Claudio Nardi Architects
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków (MOCAK) started its activity on February 1, 2010 as the municipal institution of culture. Maria Anna Potocka, curator, critic and art theoretician, assumed the role of Director. The museum officially opened to the public on May 19, 2011.
MOCAK's two most important aims are presenting the art of the two last decades in the context of the post-war avant-garde and conceptual art as well as clarifying the rationale of creating art by highlighting its cognitive and ethical value and its relationship with everyday reality. The programme encompasses presentation of the latest international art, education as well as research and publication projects.
In 2007, a jury led by Professor Konrad Kucz-Kuczyński concluded the competition for the design of the Museum building by selecting the design by Claudio Nardi and Leonard Maria Proli. The project, produced by the architectural office Claudio Nardi Architects, involves erecting a new building on the site of the old Schindler's Factory and adapting six other existing buildings. Claudio Nardi's design is based on three basic concepts: emphasis on the line of a factory sawtooth roof, employing straight lines and using natural lighting of the exhibition rooms through roof windows. The construction work began in December 2009.
The museum covers over 4000m2 of exhibition space, divided into a number of sections, and the entire building will have about 10000m2. The construction work, which will cost in excess of PLN 70 million, is 50 per cent funded by the European Union.
At the opening on May 19, 2011, the museum unveiled two of its permanent exhibitions: The MOCAK Collection and The Library of Mieczysław Porębski. For more information on the opening, see: Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków - Opening Night.
MOCAK
Muzeum Sztuki Współczesnej w Krakowie
ul. Lipowa 4
30-702 Kraków
Phone: (+ 48 12) 350 12 76
Phone/Fax: (+ 48 12) 350 12 78
WWW: www.mocak.pl