Warsaw modern art gallery tops Lonely Planet list of world’s best new and reopening museums

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

The new Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw has topped a ranking by travel guide Lonely Planet of the best openings and reopenings of museums across the world this year.

The museum, known by its Polish initials MSN, came ahead of two American institutions in second and third place: the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, which is reopening in March after a two-year closure, and the Frick Collection in New York, which will reopen in April in renovated buildings.

MSN was established in 2005 but spent two decades operating in temporary locations. In October last year, it finally moved into a permanent home in the city centre, alongside the iconic Stalinist-era Palace of Culture and Science (PKiN). Since then, it has hosted temporary exhibitions and events.

However, the new building – which is a large, white, rectangular concrete construction with no ornaments and few windows – has proved controversial. Some commentators have criticised it for being unattractive, unoriginal and out of keeping with its surroundings, as well as for obstructing the view of PKiN.

Lonely Planet acknowledges that the building, designed by American architect Thomas Phifer, “drew criticism for what some considered its architectural timidity, even blandness”.

“Yet the light-flooded central atrium features double staircases that draw visitors up to the galleries – which will make the art the main event when the permanent collection, reinstalled and presented in four sections, opens to the public on February 21,” they add.

MSN has named the upcoming exhibition of its permanent collection “The Impermanent”, which it says reflects the fact that “the canon of contemporary artworks is not fixed, but remains in constant motion”. It will contain over 150 works by artists from both Poland and abroad produced from the 1950s up to today.

Lonely Planet describes MSN as “one of Poland’s most vibrant institutions”, noting that it “has been unafraid to plunge into the heated political debates of the day”.

The museum, however, still appears to have a lot of work to do to convince the public of its merits. On Google, it has an average rating of 2.3 out of 5 from 682 reviews, many of which criticise the design of the building.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Dawid Zuchowicz / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.