Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb (MSU), founded in 1954 as the City Gallery of Contemporary Art, continuously fosters artistic production, experimentation and dialogue, while building one of the region’s most significant collections. Located in New Zagreb - Avenue Dubrovnik 17 - MSU offers more than 14.000 square metres of exhibition space and a multidisciplinary programme. It encompasses exhibitions, performances, film, music, education and public events. Its collections, archives and library preserve the legacy of Croatian and international contemporary art. Over seven decades, the museum has developed a collection and curatorial history closely connected to some of the most important artistic developments of the post-war period in this part of Europe, including the New Tendencies movements, which brought together artists, scientists and theorists around visual research, constructive and kinetic art, and early computer art.
Since 2009, MSU Zagreb has been located in its purpose-built building on the southern bank of the Sava River, where it has become one of the cultural landmarks. The activities - both within the permanent collection and the temporary exhibition gallery - create opportunities for exchange between artists, researchers, communities and audiences of all generations and backgrounds. MSU is an open public space where art responds to the social, political and environmental challenges. This vision is reflected in Collection as a Verb, the evolving collection in duration that reimagines the museum as a living process rather than presenting it as a fixed narrative. The collection in duration display contains four interconnected exhibitions: Sad Songs of War; Comradeship; Futures; and Flowers - NonFlowers - Something Else, as well as the cycles The Triggers and The Situations. The project brings together 150+ artists whose works explore themes of conflict and peace, solidarity, collective memory, ecological futures and social transformation.
The Museum also manages the Richter Collection at the remote location in Zagreb - Vrhovec 38, as well as the Tošo Dabac Archive, among many other smaller collections donated to the City of Zagreb. By connecting historical works with contemporary perspectives, MSU invites visitors to engage with art as a space for critical reflection, shared experience and new ways of imagining the future. It connects artistic heritage with contemporary artistic production through exhibitions, research, education, publishing, film, performance, public programmes and international collaborations. Its current programme addresses ecology, public memory, accessibility and institutional responsibility, considering the museum as an open public space in which contemporary art is presented, interpreted and critically discussed in dialogue with diverse communities and audiences.
Facebook: @MSUzagreb
Instagram: @msuzagreb
Seismographers
