SEEING HISTORY
The MNAC Collection 1947-2007
2018
Artworks selected from the second half of the XX century, a long and problematic period for the romanian arts and society, must be exhibited in the spaces of the first floor of MNAC, a rigid place with a strong history. The two big galleries are overwhelming the artworks, the exhibition route is perimetral and feels agoraphobic.
For showing the exhibition we need a new ‘parcours’, more flexible, free and better connected in order to create a visual dialog between the different periods and artworks, a contemporary reading of history. We want to change the proportion of space and bring the artworks and the visitors to the center.
For showing the exhibition we need a new ‘parcours’, more flexible, free and better connected in order to create a visual dialog between the different periods and artworks, a contemporary reading of history. We want to change the proportion of space and bring the artworks and the visitors to the center.
Opening the central wall between the two galleries creates a new direct spatial and visual link, unifying the space and moving the ‘parcours’ to the center. The proposed connection is left unfinished concrete floor and structural pillars, the gypsum walls and the metalic grid. In the first gallery the artworks are shown on a system of freestanding walls, starting from the existing stair, that they reshape the space, creating new limits and a new dynamic between the center and the edges. The stair’s half-landing thus enlarged, creating a new viewing platform that puts the visitor in the center, proposing a different relation with the space and the artworks. The perimeter walls are used to display a continuous timeline with archival facts about the history of the period, the key for reading the exhibition.
In the second gallery we extended the lateral walls up to the ceiling, creating a central high-space for showing big artworks and a number of smaller galleries on both levels for showing different series and specific periods or clusters of works. The new spatial system and the new route we proposed creates the possibility of multiple/layered readings for the visitors and flexibility of display for the curators of the museum.
Location: MNAC, Bucharest, RO
Client: National Museum of Contemporary Art
Status: finished
Area: 1500sqm
Team: Kalliopi Dimou, Sorin Istudor, Ștefan Păvăluță
Curator: Călin Dan
Photo: Dani Ghercă
Client: National Museum of Contemporary Art
Status: finished
Area: 1500sqm
Team: Kalliopi Dimou, Sorin Istudor, Ștefan Păvăluță
Curator: Călin Dan
Photo: Dani Ghercă