A museum collection in a public space

The Bródno Sculpture Park is considered a permanent exhibition of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. It was inaugurated in June 2009 as a long-term project, involving artists, residents of Bródno district and organized by a public art institution and the local authorities. The initiator, coordinator and artistic supervisor of the whole project is Paweł Althamer, internationally acclaimed Polish artist, known for his community-type projects, who happens to live near the Park. Bródno Sculpture Park project is drawn from different traditions of public art: that derived from minimalism and abstract art, as well as from art of a social, participatory character. The project has been divided into ‘chapters’ – once a year a new sculpture, object or installation appears in the Park. Not all artists’ interventions are material or permanent. ‘Sculpture’ is defined here rather as a kind of dynamic artistic expression about a particular place and time, particular spatial relations and relationships between the people. Among the artists who contributed to the Sculpture Park project are Olafur Eliasson, Jens Haaning, Susan Philipsz and Ai Weiwei. Works located in the park are a part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. A gallery open to the public 24/7 needs proper maintenance. The park is located in a ‘difficult’ residential district, and the works are constantly exposed to acts of vandalism. There are also conservation problems related to unsuitable techniques or mediums used by artists or the interactive character of objects. On the basis of case studies from Bródno Sculpture Park I would like to discuss problems related to the application of conservation standards and museum procedures for works of art from a public collection exhibited in public places.