About Collection 1

Collection 1, numbering over 2,000 objects, is an emblematic collection for MSN Warsaw’s institutional identity. Assembly of the collection began immediately after the museum was founded in 2005 and has been pursued without interruption by the MSN Warsaw team under the leadership of director Joanna Mytkowska. Artworks are acquired for the collection with funds provided to the museum by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Culture Office of the City of Warsaw. Of particular note, the collection also grows through donations by artists, their heirs, and private collectors, who cherish the idea of creating a world-class collection of works of contemporary art in Warsaw. 

The creators of Collection 1 have adopted the notions of inclusivity and a vigorous response to social and political reality as a fundamental principle of the contemporary. Alongside the works of artists belonging to the global canon of 20th- and 21st-century art, the collection also includes works by art-world outsiders and anonymous works arising out of public protests. The structure of Collection 1 does not reflect the classic museological divisions into the time, region and medium in which the works were executed. The main themes of the collection, as well as exhibition decisions, are subject to continual redefinition. The collection is in constant motion, shown at numerous exhibitions away from the museum and in changing configurations within the galleries of MSN Warsaw’s main building.

Authors of descriptions of works in Collection 1:

Sebastian Cichocki (S.C.)
Klara Czerniewska-Andryszczyk (K.C-A.)
Jakub Depczyński (J.D.)
Tomasz Fudala (T.F.)
Jakub Gawkowski (J.G.)
Maciej Janicki (M.J.)
Jagna Lewandowska (J.L.)
Magda Lipska (M.L.)
Szymon Maliborski (S.M.)
Daniel Muzyczuk (D.M.)
Agnieszka Pindera (A.P.)
Zofia Płoska-Czartoryska (Z.P.-C.)
Marta Przasnek (M.P.)
Łukasz Ronduda (Ł.R.)
Natalia Sielewicz (N.S.)
Bogna Stefańska (B.S.)
Agnieszka Szewczyk (A.T.)
Agnieszka Tarasiuk (A.T.)
Jarosław Trybuś (J.T.)
Mada Zielińska (M.Z.)

Translations: Christopher Smith

Authors of bios of artists in Collection 1:

Magdalena Drągowska (M.D.)
Kalina Sendułka (K.S.)
Agnieszka Tarasiuk (A.T.)
Weronika Orłowska (W.O.)
Magdalena Wroczyńska (M.W.)

Translations: Marcin Wawrzyńczak