If you want to find out what will Muzeum Sztuki (the Art Museum) do in Manufaktura (the Manufactory), if you're wondering whether there is a difference between a museum and a gallery, if you don't know whether Strzemiński was an enterprising man in culture – read the interview with Jarosław Suchan, the Director of Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź.

Soon you're going to open a branch of Muzeum Sztuki in Manufaktura in Łódź. What hopes do you pin on this location and the new branch?

We have great hopes. Otherwise we wouldn't have decided to start this investment project, as it is a very considerable expense. As you can guess, a museum is not an institution that carries out such investments every day. So we faced a very serious challenge. Still, thanks to this new location we hope to achieve a few vital goals. The first very important goal is, eventually, to be able to present our remarkable collection in conditions it really deserves. I don't mean here that we'll be able to show 100 or 80% of our collection, as I sometimes read in the press. Simply, at last the works from our collection will be presented in appropriate surroundings. So, it'll be a place that will guarantee the right comfort of reception of artworks and will allow to create a situation where true aesthetic experience will be really possible. This is the first crucial benefit. The second one is that for the first time the Museum will have exhibitional space complying with the highest international standards set for museum buildings.

Consequently, we'll be able to benefit from our international position, thanks to which not only we  can present our exhibits in the best collections around the world, but also we'll be able to show works of great value here. So far the only obstacle preventing that has been the Museum building, in ulica Wiêckowskiego, as actually it had never been adapted for museum purposes in the first place. We have problems with maintaining appropriate climatic conditions there, and the like. So now there's a chance that we'll be able to present the greatest names and the best works. The third vital goal we hope to achieve will be a larger number of visitors. Since we're a public institution, financed from public funds, we should fulfil our obligations towards a wider audience. We're not a private gallery, and we can't let ourselves realize a very hermetic programme which will have an audience of less than 20 people. That doesn't mean that we'll be realizing a populist programme. Yet, we hope that, thanks to the location in the place with the largest flow of people in Łódź, we'll be able to attract at least some of those coming to Manufaktura.
 
In this subsequent issue devoted to museums, I would like to present an institution that, in the context of enterprise in culture which interests us, is a model one. This is the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the first such museum in the world. It was established in 1929, thanks to the contributions made by such art patrons as Lillie P. Bliss, Cornelius J. Sullivan and John D. Rockefeller, with the assumption was that it would become ''the greatest museum of modern art in the world''.

Everything that the first Director of MoMa, Alfred H. Barr, intended to achieve – was achieved. It can even be said that he achieved much more. Thanks to the example of the New York Musem, after  World War II a whole museological movement emerged concerning modern and contemporary art.  When the Museum was established, it was the first of its kind in the world. Today we find hundreds of similar institutions. Still, MoMa remains unique, not only because of being the first, because of its outstanding collection and its great renown gained throughout the years, but also because its Trustees and staff do not cease looking for new solutions.

The reason for it being a model museum is that, throughout its history, it has always been an initiator of new ideas. Indeed, enterprise in culture does not mean seeking current profits, but such management of an institution that allows fulfilment of its mission as well as  its constant development. The worst thing which can happen is the conviction that one is so perfect that nothing  needs to be done to retain one's position. The managers of the New York Museum, despite its significance, never fell into self-complacency. From the very beginning the Director, Alfred Barr, had a plan for an institution whose realm of interest could constantly expand and which could stay open to new discoveries in art. According to his plan, the Museum was supposed to have a multi-branch structure, which for the first time in the history of museology was to accommodate sections like architecture and design, photography, film and video art. A very important part of Museum's activity has always been education. In fact, the creation of the Museum was linked with the assumption that one of its main tasks would be educating the public about contemporary art. Even today the education department is one of the most important and the biggest, with its sub-departments targeting visitors according to their age group and abilities.
The Museum of Modern Art has always considered cooperation with other cultural institutions as crucial. And it has great achievements in this realm, about which much could be written. However, I would like to focus on two initiatives which, in my opinion, are especially worthwhile. One initiative is the temporary migration of the Museum's collections to numerous places around the world, while the Museum was being expanded. This was in 2003 and 2004, when it was not possible to exhibit the collections in the Museum's own buildings. The decision was made not to keep the works in storage spaces, but to display the best exhibits in other American and European museums. Thanks to this project, the masterpieces from the New York collection could be presented, for example, in Berlin.

The other very interesting initiative is cooperation and creation of ''cultural consortium'' with P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York. Known as the most influential institution dealing with modern art, the Museum initiated collaboration with a partner focusing on cutting-edge, and often risky, art. This way the authority of the Museum was combined with a vibrant artistic experiment, thus bringing together the different audiences of the two institutions. As it is stated on the consortium website: ''The principal objective of MoMA's Partnership with P.S.1 is to promote the enjoyment, appreciation, study, and understanding of contemporary art to a wide and growing audience. Collaborative programs of exhibitions, educational activities, and special projects allow both institutions to draw on their respective strengths and resources and to continue shaping a cultural discourse.''

An interesting idea in this context is the creation of online Art Radio WPS1.org, which provides  a 24-hour stream on-demand, broadcasting cultural programmes, discussions, interviews with artists, musicians, actors, film-makers, curators, journalists and media experts. Also, the radio station has a unique collection of music, including the recordings of concerts from the Warm Up series (organized by P.S.1) and the recordings of experimental music. The station also makes archive programmes about important cultural events available to listeners, and provides a live broadcast of significant events such as Art Basel Miami Beach, The Armory Show, Performa, or the Venice Biennale.

All those endeavours follow from the Museum's Mission Statement, and those who manage the institution recognize:

- ''That modern and contemporary art originated in the exploration of the ideals and interests generated in the new artistic traditions that began in the late nineteenth century and continue today.
- That modern and contemporary art transcend national boundaries and involve all forms of visual expression, including painting and sculpture, drawings, prints and illustrated books, photography, architecture and design, and film and video, as well as new forms yet to be developed or understood, that reflect and explore the artistic issues of the era.
- That these forms of visual expression are an open-ended series of arguments and counter arguments that can be explored through exhibitions and installations and are reflected in the Museum’s varied collection.
- That it is essential to affirm the importance of contemporary art and artists if the Museum is to honor the ideals with which it was founded and to remain vital and engaged with the present.
- That this commitment to contemporary art enlivens and informs our evolving understanding of the traditions of modern art.
- That to remain at the forefront of its field, the Museum must have an outstanding professional staff and must periodically reevaluate itself, responding to new ideas and initiatives with insight, imagination, and intelligence. The process of reevaluation is mandated by the Museum’s tradition, which encourages openness and a willingness to evolve and change.''

To sum up, the Museum of Modern Art is interested in creating a dialogue between the established and the experimental, the past and the present, in an environment sensitive to the problems concerning modern and contemporary art. At the same time it remains accessible to the audience including scholars as well as children. 

Quotations from http://www.moma.org/