State Museum of Contemporary Art (Thessaloniki)

The State Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki , modern Greek Κρατικό Μουσείο Σύγχρονης Τέχνης (ΚΜΣΤ) Kratiko Mousio Synchronis Technis (KMST) , English State Museum of Contemporary Art (SMCA)

history

Even before it was founded (1997) there was the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art , which dates back to the initiative of Alexander Iolas , and the Thessaloníki City Art Gallery .

The background to the re-establishment was the purchase of the Costakis Collection by the Greek state and events for the European City of Culture in 1997.

At times, the museum also looked after the Thessaloniki Design Museum , which has no permanent exhibition rooms. The museum has been participating in the Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art since 2007 .

In 2013 it was decided to merge with the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art. The photography collections of both museums will be spun off into a new photography museum at the same time.

collection

The museum is based on 1275 works owned by George Costakis. This collection is considered to be one of the most important of the Russian avant-garde .

Some of the artists are: Kasimir Malevich , Wassily Kandinsky , Alexander Rodschenko , Lyubow Popowa , Vladimir Tatlin .

Works by internationally known Greek artists such as Joannis Avramidis , Stilianos Antonakos and Cris Gianakos can also be seen .

Exhibitions

• 2004–2005 the traveling exhibition "Light and Color of the Russian Avant-garde: The Costakis Collection" was on view in the Martin-Gropius-Bau (Berlin) and in the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig (Vienna), compiled from works of the SMCA and by the museum director Miltiades Papanikolaou was curated.
• In 2017 the exhibition "Art Without Death: Russian Cosmism" was shown in the House of World Cultures (Berlin) with a selection of works by the SMCA.

location

The SMCA is currently housed in the former Lazarist monastery in Stavroupoli , but due to space problems, a move is planned in the medium term. There is a branch at the port, the "department store B1".

literature

• Light and color in the Russian avant-garde. Light and Color in the Russian Avant-Garde. DuMont, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-8321-7404-4 . (Exhibition catalog with numerous essays, German and English).

Web links

• Museum website (Greek, English, Russian)
• Exhibitions in the State Museum of Contemporary Art on kunstaspekte.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ «« Αναίμακτη »συγχώνευση δύο μουσείων». In: Eleftherotypia , February 8, 2013.
2. ↑ to the exhibition Art Without Death: Russian Cosmism at HKW Berlin

Coordinates: 40 ° 39 ′ 29.2 "  N , 22 ° 55 ′ 51.6"  E