Birthplace of Solidarity to build home for big art

The Polish city of Gdansk, famous as the home of the Solidarity trade union that acted as a catalyst for the end of Communist rule in central Europe, is to have a contemporary art museum. Scheduled for completion in 2018, the $5m project will house the Muzeum Narodowe w Gdańsku’s (National Museum of Gdansk) contemporary art collection, which is currently on show in the city’s Palac Opatow (abbot’s palace). The move will enable the institution to display more large-scale works, many of which have been in storage. “Contemporary art works are often very large and the abbot’s palace hasn’t adapted to this,” says Wojciech Bonislawski, the national museum’s director. “There is a need for a modern facility in Gdansk and [the region of] Pomerania.” The collection includes around 2,000 works from major Polish art movements since 1945.