Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb
Encyclopedia
The Museum of Contemporary Art is a contemporary art
museum located on Dubrovnik Avenue
in Zagreb
, Croatia
. It is the biggest and most modern museum in the country.
The museum traces its origins from the City Gallery of Contemporary Art which was established in 1954. The gallery was located at the Kulmer Palace in the Upper Town area and also housed the Center for Photography, Film and Television and a museum library. Due to lack of space the museum never had a permanent display.
In 1998, a decision was made to move the museum to a brand new building on the corner of Dubrovnik and Većeslav Holjevac avenues in Novi Zagreb district. A competition for the building's design was held, and architect Igor Franić's design was chosen out of 85 entries submitted. The cornerstone for the new building was laid in November 2003, and the new museum finally opened on 11 December 2009, after six years of construction which was beset with several delays. Originally planned to cost around 200 million HRK
, the cost eventually amounted to 450 million HRK (around 84 million US$
), invested in equal parts by the Ministry of Culture
and the City of Zagreb.
The building has a total area of 14,600 m2, out of which 3,500 m2 is reserved for the permanent display and around 1,500 m2 is designated for occasional exhibitions. The building also houses a library, a multimedia hall, a bookstore, cafe and a restaurant.
The museum houses a total of 12,000 objects (of which around 600 are on permanent display) and numerous works by contemporary Croatian artists, including Julije Knifer
, Tošo Dabac
, Ivan Kožarić
, Vjenceslav Richter
, Benko Horvat, Ivan Picelj
, Miroslav Šutej
, Tomislav Gotovac, Dalibor Martinis, Sanja Iveković
; as well as international contemporary artists such as Getulio Alviani
, Alberto Biasi, Max Bill
, Piero Dorazio, Julio Le Parc
, Richard Mortensen
, Otto Piene
, Jesus Raphael Soto, Victor Vasarely
, Marina Abramović
, Dorothy Cross
, Katarzyna Kozyra
, etc.
The Test Site
metal sculpture by Carsten Höller
was installed in the entrance hall of the museum in time for the official opening, as were installations by Braco Dimitrijević
and Mirosław Bałka in front of the building's south side entrance.
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
museum located on Dubrovnik Avenue
Dubrovnik Avenue
Dubrovnik Avenue is an avenue located in the Novi Zagreb part of Zagreb, Croatia. It is mostly six or eight lanes wide. It runs between the roundabout beneath the southward extension of the Youth Bridge in the east and the Remetinec Roundabout in the west of Novi Zagreb. Its most important...
in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. It is the biggest and most modern museum in the country.
The museum traces its origins from the City Gallery of Contemporary Art which was established in 1954. The gallery was located at the Kulmer Palace in the Upper Town area and also housed the Center for Photography, Film and Television and a museum library. Due to lack of space the museum never had a permanent display.
In 1998, a decision was made to move the museum to a brand new building on the corner of Dubrovnik and Većeslav Holjevac avenues in Novi Zagreb district. A competition for the building's design was held, and architect Igor Franić's design was chosen out of 85 entries submitted. The cornerstone for the new building was laid in November 2003, and the new museum finally opened on 11 December 2009, after six years of construction which was beset with several delays. Originally planned to cost around 200 million HRK
Croatian kuna
The kuna is the currency of Croatia since 1994 . It is subdivided into 100 lipa. The kuna is issued by the Croatian National Bank and the coins are minted by the Croatian Monetary Institute....
, the cost eventually amounted to 450 million HRK (around 84 million US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
), invested in equal parts by the Ministry of Culture
Ministry of Culture (Croatia)
The Ministry of Culture is a ministry of the Croatian government, whose work is aimed at preserving the cultural and natural heritage and overseeing its development...
and the City of Zagreb.
The building has a total area of 14,600 m2, out of which 3,500 m2 is reserved for the permanent display and around 1,500 m2 is designated for occasional exhibitions. The building also houses a library, a multimedia hall, a bookstore, cafe and a restaurant.
The museum houses a total of 12,000 objects (of which around 600 are on permanent display) and numerous works by contemporary Croatian artists, including Julije Knifer
Julije Knifer
Julije Knifer was a Croatian painter and founding member of the prominent 60s Croatian art group known as, Gorgona Group....
, Tošo Dabac
Tošo Dabac
Tošo Dabac was a Croatian photographer of international renown. Although his work was often exhibited and prized abroad, Dabac spent nearly his entire working career in Zagreb...
, Ivan Kožarić
Ivan Kožarić
Ivan Kožarić is a Croatian artist who works primarily with sculpture but also works in a wide variety of media, including: permanent and temporary sculptures, assemblages, proclamations, photographs, paintings and installations...
, Vjenceslav Richter
Vjenceslav Richter
Vjenceslav Richter was a Croatian architect. He was also known for his work in the fields of urbanism, sculpture, graphic arts, painting and stage design.-Career:...
, Benko Horvat, Ivan Picelj
Ivan Picelj
Ivan Picelj was a contemporary Croatian painter, sculptor and graphic designer.Picelj developed a specific variation of geometric abstraction in Croatian painting by using primary colours and by reducing the shapes to geometric elements. He made sculptures and reliefs in wood and in metal...
, Miroslav Šutej
Miroslav Šutej
Miroslav Šutej was a Croatian avant-garde painter and graphic artist.Šutej was born in Duga Resa in 1936. He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Zagreb and was an associate in Krsto Hegedušić's master's workshop...
, Tomislav Gotovac, Dalibor Martinis, Sanja Iveković
Sanja Iveković
Sanja Iveković is a Croatian photographer, sculptor and installation artist. Considered to be one of the leading artists from the former Yugoslavia, she continues to inspire many young female artists.-Biography:...
; as well as international contemporary artists such as Getulio Alviani
Getulio Alviani
Getulio Alviani is an Italian painter born in Udine. He is considered to be an important International Optical - Kinetic artist.-Life and work:Since childhood Alviani showed talent for design and geometric drawing...
, Alberto Biasi, Max Bill
Max Bill
Max Bill was a Swiss architect, artist, painter, typeface designer, industrial designer and graphic designer.Bill was born in Winterthur...
, Piero Dorazio, Julio Le Parc
Julio Le Parc
Julio le Parc is a modern Latin American kinetic artist born in 1928 and active mainly in Argentina. He is also an Op artist.-External links:**...
, Richard Mortensen
Richard Mortensen
Richard Mortensen was a Danish painter.Mortensen studied between 1931 and 1932 at the Royal Danish Academy of Art in Copenhagen. Influenced by the works of Wassily Kandinsky, he developed an abstract style...
, Otto Piene
Otto Piene
Otto Piene is a German artist. He lives and works in Düsseldorf and Groton, Massachusetts.-Biography:...
, Jesus Raphael Soto, Victor Vasarely
Victor Vasarely
Victor Vasarely was a Hungarian French artist whose work is generally seen aligned with Op-art.His work entitled Zebra, created by Vasarely in the 1930s, is considered by some to be one of the earliest examples of Op-art...
, Marina Abramović
Marina Abramovic
Marina Abramović is a Belgrade-born New York-based Serbian performance artist who began her career in the early 1970s. Active for over three decades, she has recently begun to describe herself as the “grandmother of performance art.” Abramović's work explores the relationship between performer and...
, Dorothy Cross
Dorothy Cross
Dorothy Cross is an artist born in Cork, Ireland. Working with diverse media, which includes sculpture, photography, video and installation she represented Ireland at the 1993 Venice Biennale...
, Katarzyna Kozyra
Katarzyna Kozyra
Katarzyna Kozyra is a Polish video artist. She graduated in 1993 from the Warsaw Academy of Fine Art and received a Paszport Polityki award in 1997. She has exhibited internationally since 1997, at venues including Brown University and Carnegie International in the U.S.Her art was involved in a...
, etc.
The Test Site
Test Site
Test Site is an art installation, that was displayed in the turbine hall of the Tate Modern in London, UK, between October 2006 and April 9, 2007. Test Site was designed by Carsten Höller, and was the seventh commission of the series of works in the turbine hall sponsored by Unilever known as "The...
metal sculpture by Carsten Höller
Carsten Höller
Carsten Höller is a German artist. He lives and works in Farsta, Stockholm, in Sweden. Today, he also shares a house in Ghana with colleague Marcel Odenbach.-Early life and education:...
was installed in the entrance hall of the museum in time for the official opening, as were installations by Braco Dimitrijević
Braco Dimitrijevic
Slobodan Dimitrijević , known as Braco Dimitrijević is a Paris-based Yugoslavian artist. His works deal mainly with history and the individual's place in it....
and Mirosław Bałka in front of the building's south side entrance.
See also
- Modern Gallery, ZagrebModern Gallery, ZagrebModern Gallery is a museum in Zagreb, Croatia that holds the most important and comprehensive collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings by 19th and 20th century Croatian artists. The collection numbers around 10,000 works of art, housed since 1934 in the historic Vranyczany Palace in the...
- The Strossmayer Gallery of Old MastersThe Strossmayer Gallery of Old MastersThe Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters is a fine art museum in Zagreb, Croatia exhibiting the collection donated to the city by Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer in 1884...
- Croatian Museum of Naïve ArtCroatian Museum of Naïve ArtThe Croatian Museum of Naïve Art is a fine art museum in Zagreb, Croatia dedicated to the work of naïve artists of the 20th century. The museum holdings consist of over 1,850 works of art - paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints, mainly by Croatians but also by other well-known international...
External links
- Official website
- Brochure with basic information about the museum in English
- Article about museum's history published in VijenacVijenacVijenac is a biweekly magazine for literature, art and science, established in December 1993 and published by Matica hrvatska, the central national cultural institution in Croatia.-Historical background:...