Unique collaboration

Government, Region Skåne and the City of Malmö in unique collaboration with Moderna Museet Malmö.

Today, 22 September, 2008, an agreement will be signed between Moderna Museet, Region Skåne and the City of Malmö concerning Moderna Museet Malmö. The agreement will be presented at a press conference at 3 pm, in the former premises of Rooseum in Malmö. Minister of Culture Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, Lars Nittve, director of Moderna Museet, regional counsellor Rolf Tufvesson and Malmö’s cultural commissioner Carina Nilsson will be present at the press conference.

Pablo Picasso, Louise Bourgeois, Henri Matisse, Diane Arbus, Salvador Dalí, Eva Hesse, Ola Billgren, Karin Mamma Andersson… Moderna Museet is one of Europe’s leading museums of modern and contemporary art, with a collection of an internationally high standard. Malmö has one of Sweden’s most beautiful exhibition venues, which has been standing empty for some time. This is where the City of Malmö, together with Region Skåne and the Swedish government will launch a new venture: Moderna Museet Malmö – a branch of the state museum, Moderna Museet.

Moderna Museet Malmö will provide a new attraction and meeting place, as a complement to, and enhancement of, the region’s other art institutions. Access to Moderna Museet’s unique collection will thereby be radically improved. Thanks to this initiative, Moderna Museet Malmö will be able to feature temporary exhibitions and an exceptional art experience for the entire Öresund region.

Moderna Museet Malmö will be a modern museum of the utmost international quality, with an independent exhibition programme, co-operating with both Moderna Museet and its own international partners. Moderna Museet Malmö will open to the public in autumn 2009. The programme will comprise three major exhibitions per year, alternating modern classic oeuvres with more contemporary art. The presentation of the permanent collection will include some 100 works which will be changed every 12-18 months.

The estimated running cost is SEK 12-13 million per year, plus rent. The government, Region Skåne and the City of Malmö will share the costs equally, while Moderna Museet will be in charge of operations. Staff recruitment for Moderna Museet Malmö – some seven permanent employees including a local director, plus staff employed hourly or for projects – will commence in October.

Educational activities will include activities in the art studio and guided tours, family programmes and seminars for a broader audience. The favourable experiences from Moderna Museet’s targeted project for teenagers – Zon Moderna – could readily be implemented locally in Malmö.

The award-winning architects Tham & Videgård Hansson, whose projects include the new premises of Kalmar konstmuseum, are in charge of the remodelling of the former Rooseum building, the John Smedberg electricity plant built in 1901 on Gasverksgatan 22 in Malmö.

A previous highly successful example of a ‘second’ national museum of modern art is Tate Liverpool, created as a branch of Tate Gallery in London nearly two decades ago.