Croatian Museum of Contemporary Art
The Museum of Contemporary Art (Muzej suvremene umjetnosti, often abbreviated to MSU) is a contemporary art museum located on Dubrovnik Avenue in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the biggest and most modern museum in the country. Vesna Meštrić is current director of MSU, replacing Zdenka Badovinac in late 2023 first temporarily and as of 2024 officially.
Also recorded as Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb · Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb · MSU Zagreb
Croatian Museum of Contemporary Art

Myriam Thyes · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- Museum of Contemporary Art
- Founded
- 1954
- Headquarters
- Croatia
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Documentary summary
The Museum of Contemporary Art (Muzej suvremene umjetnosti, often abbreviated to MSU) is a contemporary art museum located on Dubrovnik Avenue in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the biggest and most modern museum in the country. Vesna Meštrić is current director of MSU, replacing Zdenka Badovinac in late 2023 first temporarily and as of 2024 officially.
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wikidata · Q3503103 · wikipedia · Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Museum of Contemporary Art • Native Name — Muzej suvremene umjetnosti • Location — Sopot, Novi Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia • Type — Art museum • Collection Size — 12,000 objects • Visitors — 77,998 (2017) • Director — Vesna Meštrić • Website — http: www.msu.hr/ • Illustration — Carsten Höller's Double Slide was custom-made for the museum.
History
History
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 original museum never had a permanent display.
Architecture
Architecture
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 present building has a total area of 14,600 m 2, out of which 3,500 m 2 is reserved for its permanent collection and around 1,500 m 2 is designated for occasional exhibitions. The building also houses a library, a multimedia hall, a bookstore, cafe and a restaurant.
Gallery
Gallery
• Illustration — Museum interior • Illustration — Wikimedia meetup Art+Feminism exhibition VIDLJIVE
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
The full dated record · 2 entries
1954
Croatian Museum of Contemporary Art established.
1954
Croatian Museum of Contemporary Art is recorded from 1954.
Permanent Collection
Permanent Collection
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 Vojin Bakić, Boris Bućan, Tošo Dabac, Braco Dimitrijević, Tomislav Gotovac, Benko Horvat, Alexandar Battista Ilić, Sanja Iveković, Anto Jerković, Julije Knifer, Zlatko Kopljar, Ivan Kožarić, Vlado Kristl, Vlado Martek, Dalibor Martinis, Ivan Picelj, Vjenceslav Richter, Edita Schubert, Mladen Stilinović, Miroslav Šutej; as well as international contemporary artists such as Getulio Alviani, Alberto Biasi, Max Bill, Piero Dorazio, Julio Le Parc, Richard Mortensen, Otto Piene, Jesús Rafael 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 (Eyes of Purification) in front of the building's south side entrance.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3503103: Croatian Museum of Contemporary Art
Unverified · Wikidata
References ==== External links
References ==== External links
• Official website • Brochure with basic information about the museum in English • Article about museum's history published in Vijenac
Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb in colors of the French flag, as a sign of solidarity with the victims of the November 2015 Paris attacks and the citizens of Paris.
Branko Radovanović
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Jendrić, Dorotea. Hram kulture: Umjetnička avangarda dočekala je vidjeti svoja djela u MSU. Večernji list. 12 December 2009.
- 2.Museum Documentation Center. Posjećenost hrvatskih muzeja u 2017. godini. mdc.hr.
- 3.Vesna Meštrić nova ravnateljica MSU-a.
- 4.Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb. Carsten Höller - Double Slide. msu.hr.
- 5.Mamić, Tomislav. Nakon otvaranja MSU na redu su drugi muzeji. Jutarnji list. 6 October 2009.
- 6.Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb. MSU otvorenje: osnovne informacije. msu.hr.
- 7.Vesna Meštrić nova ravnateljica MSU-a. Hrvatska radiotelevizija.
- 8.Jendrić, Dorotea. Šest godina trajao je put od kamena temeljca do novoga MSU. Večernji list. 11 December 2009.
- 9.Tihomir Milovac, Nada Beroš. Zbirke u pokretu: muzeološka koncepcija stalnog postava Muzeja suvremene umjetnosti. Informatica Museologica. 37. 1–4. 82–101. 2006.
- 10.Babić, Vanja. Prokletstvo razbijeno, nastavak slijedi. Vijenac. Matica hrvatska. 17 December 2009.
References
Citations
References
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