2021 Report

2021 at the Association of Friends of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw

We produced, organized the promotion and sale of two collector's editions:
- Agnieszka Polska, untitled, 2021 (print, 27.9x21 cm, ed. 50) - we sold 48 pieces.
- Rafal Milach, four prints from the series "Collection under construction", 2021 (prints, 24×30 cm, ed. 4x30) - we sold 11 sets and 13 single prints.
And we sold nearly 200 "Peace" scarves, 2019, designed by Wilhelm Sasnal.
The editions are available on our website: support.artmuseum.pl/editions.

We held the General Meeting of the Society's members online, during which the new Board of Directors was elected. Aleksandra Auleytner, Michał Borowik, Helena Czernecka, Ekaterina Szczeka and Anna Tryc-Bromley were joined by Krzysztof Nowakowski and Kinga Szafrankowska.

Together with the Survivor Foundation and the Museum, we co-organized the fifth Refugees Welcome charity auction, inviting many independent curators, critics and curators to speak about the 40 works being auctioned. During the promotional campaign, we talked about the works for sale in social media and the newsletter and actively invited Friends of the Museum to participate in the auction. We co-hosted an online auction broadcast with Jagna Lewandowska, curator of this year's auction, and Marcel Andino-Velez conducting the auction. This year, together we raised more than PLN 220,000.

Thanks to generous donors, membership dues and proceeds from 1%, we assisted financially:
- The purchase of the work "window where we" by Nancy Lupo for the Museum's collection as part of the Friends' Art Prize organized during the Friend of a Friend weekend (€11,000);
- Purchase of the work "Stop Calling Me Negro" by Rafał Milach for the Museum's collection (PLN 1,450);
- The realization of a pilot episode of the "Magazine of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw" podcast, in which Zofia Czartoryska invites experts to talk about selected works from the MSN's collection (PLN 5,000).

In April, we organized a meeting at the David Radziszewski gallery dedicated to the work of Nancy Lupo on the occasion of the purchase of her work "window where we" for the Museum's collection as part of the Friends' Art Prize, an award that is an ongoing partnership with Friend of a Friend.

In October, we organized a meeting with collector Tomasz Chmal, who talked about his adventure in the world of modern art and his book "Collection. A Personal Exhibition." During the event, we distributed these books to all those interested and talked over coffee provided by event partner Popular Coffee.

As part of our partnership with Warsaw Gallery Weekend, together with the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, we organized two guided tours:
- a bike tour led by Paulina Olszewska, curator of Studio Gallery;
- a bus tour leading through galleries far from the center of Warsaw.

In cooperation with the Society of Friends of Zachęta, we arranged two trips outside Warsaw:
- We participated in the preview of the exhibitions "Sculpture in Search of Place" and "Cold Revolution" at Zachęta;
- in November, we traveled together to the studios of the Nihilist Church and the Nameless Project, to the exhibitions at 66P and Op-enheim, and to visit the Grotowski Theater in Wroclaw. In Dresden, we saw the exhibition "Johannes Vermeer. On Reflection," Archiv der Avantgarden and we took part in a thematic walk about Dresden's modernist architecture.
On the occasion of our collaboration with the Studio Gallery, we visited their headquarters in the Palace of Culture and Science for curatorial tours of the exhibitions "Disjointed" and "Trans 11.603."

We also visited the studios of two artists in 2021:
- Julia Woronowicz, winner of the Hestia Artistic Journey award;
- Joanna Rajkowska, where we learned about her current and planned projects.
With Private Address we also visited Janusz Galuszka, Ida Karkoszka and Norbert Delman.

At the Museum on the Vistula River, we organized curatorial tours of four exhibitions:
- "Henryk Streng/Marek Wlodarski and Jewish-Polish Modernism".
- "Hestia's Artistic Journey"
- "How to make a school? Warsaw under construction 13"
- "Who will write the history of tears. Artists about women's rights"

As part of our partnership with Contemporary Lynx on the occasion of the Allegro Prize, information about our activities and editions was published on social media in English and reached a wider audience.

With funding from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, together with the Museum's Filmotheque and partners FixaFilm and Docs Against Gravity, we continued the Polish Home Film Archive project. The project collects, digitizes and makes available private, home movies made in postwar Poland in the context of everyday life, mainly on 8mm and 16mm film stock. The project's website is filmydomowe.artmuseum.pl.

We continue to financially support the activities of the Modern Seniors Club, which regularly organizes guided tours of exhibitions, lectures on modern art or art workshops for its members. In addition, we are pleased with the start of the Polish Radio Experimental Studio Supporters' Circle. Two lectures on SEPR were held in 2021 - more information in the news on our website - and you can still join the Circle through a very active Facebook group (Polish Radio Experimental Studio Sympathizers Circle).

All the above activities of the Society and those working on its behalf are possible only thanks to your financial commitment of Friends, Patrons, Patrons, for which we extend our sincere thanks.