Three years of MOMus, its success and development
Last week’s press conference was concluded with a review of a difficult two-year period during which the organization endured (2019-2021), the announcement of a year to restart, and the announcement of changes regarding the administrative structure of the Metropolitan Organization of Museums of Visual Arts of Thessaloniki (MOMus).
Both the presentation of the achievements and the new plans were discussed in an atmosphere of satisfaction, since, as MOMus Board Chairman Andreas Takis commented, “the experience we gained was valuable. We did not interrupt our operation even for a moment, but we also found new ways of contacting a wider audience.”
According to the data announced, in its three years of operation, MOMus managed not only to remain active, but also to participate creatively in the artistic and social life of the city. Focusing on modern and contemporary art, experimental artistic research, photography and contemporary sculpture, the five institutions that constitute the organization in Thessaloniki and Athens organized 85 major exhibitions in Thessaloniki, Greece and abroad, 20 international conferences, 50 street actions and went ahead with the Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art and the Thessaloniki Photobiennale.
Given its experience, the organization has launched, through international competitions, the process for the appointment of its five artistic directors. Through a competition, the art historian and curator Iro Katsaridou was selected as the new director of the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography and took up her duties in December. The competitions for the remaining directors are in the final phase, and the results are reportedly expected until the summer.
Of the current deputy directors of the MOMus, the art historian and former director of the Museum of Contemporary Art – Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art and the State Museum of Contemporary Art Collections, Syrago Tsiara, has not run for the post of director.
Whatever the developments are, the 2022 schedule will be followed up, and it has many interesting points. Unfortunately, due to political developments, MOMus – Museum of Modern Art – Kostakis Collection has suspended the exchange of works in collaboration with the Jewish Museum and the Heritage Art Foundation in Moscow. However, after the completion of Ivan Kliun’s monograph with the title “Organic Education” a new exhibition is programmed.
At MOMus – Museum of Contemporary Art – the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art and the State Museum of Contemporary Art Collections, the modular exhibition “Common Estate” (11/3), which includes 45 new contemporary artworks acquired with the support of the Ministry of Culture and donations, is being prepared, while the 8th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art (from 22/11) will have “Geoculture” as its theme.
At MOMus Photography we will see, among others, the exhibition “Fred Boissonas, A Photographic Odyssey” (8/9), while the international exhibition “The Thread as an Event” opens on Saturday at MOMus Experimental. Finally, at the Museum Alex Mylona in Athens, the new programme starts with the “Sculptor’s Workshop” (31/3) with the participation of 11 Greek artists, as well as an exhibition on Chryssa Vardea (Chryssa).
