Institution history

MMCA, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka was founded in 1948. From its very beginning, the Museum has been building reputation of one of the most prestigious visual arts institutions in Croatia. Its programmes included events such as the first group exhibitions of contemporary art in former Yugoslavia, which under the title of "Rijeka Salon" were held from 1954-1963; Biennial of Young Yugoslav Artists 1960-1991; Biennial of Young Mediterranean Artists 1993-1997; a tripartite research-exhibition project entitled "Architecture of Modernism, Secession and Historicism in Rijeka", realized in 1996-2003 period; International Drawings Exhibition, organized regularly from 1968 to the present day and since 2005 Biennial of Quadrilateral. Due to its high standards, MMSU has been entrusted with presentation of Croatian art and artists at prestigious international art events such as: Venice Biennial 1962, 1997, 2007; Sao Paolo Biennial 1967, 2004, etc. From 1990 onwards, MMSU has been responsible for the presentation of Croatian artists at Biennial of Young Mediterranean Artists. MMSU is also a permanent partner site for the residential exchange programmes such as EERE, NIFCA and PS1, exercising a key position in dissemination of information of contemporary Croatian art on international level.
MMSU collection encompasses over 5,000 artworks, covering periods from the end of the 19th century to present day. The collection will finally be housed in the new Museum, planned to open by 2008. An inspired interpretation of the tradition in modernity, fused with vibrant reality of the contemporary art production, will create a dynamic display for the collection that is bound to drive the public to understand and love the art of today.

Activity:

Museum's activities is defined by the statutory legislation related to museums. Museum work is based on the systematic collecting, storing, restoration and conservation, presentation and permanent protection of museum collection from the area of museum jurisdiction.

Archive:

MMSU collection encompasses over 5,000 artworks, covering periods from the end of the 19th century to present day. The museum's objects are organized into seven collections; Collection of Paintings, Collection of Sculptures, The Photographs Collection, Collection of Drawings, Collection of posters, Collection of Prints, The Installations and New Media Collection, The Božidar Rašica Collection.

Services:

For more than a half of century, Rijeka's Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art has been a place of direct encounter with modern and contemporary artworks. Although the Museum never had a permanent setup, from the very day of its founding a great deal of attention has been paid to the institution's educational function. The Museum organized didactic and educational exhibitions as well as debates, lectures with slides and film projections, discussions with artists, art historians and critics, theoreticians and pedagogues.