Adam Budak appointed Director of MOCAK The Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków

Adam Budak has been appointed Director of MOCAK – The Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków – following the institution’s first-ever open competition for the role. A respected curator and art critic, Budak will officially assume the position on 1 August. His vision for MOCAK emphasizes openness to innovation, social dialogue, and international collaboration.

Budak brings extensive local and international experience. He has served as Artistic Director of leading institutions such as the National Gallery in Prague and the Kestner Gesellschaft in Hanover, and has curated numerous exhibitions and projects around the world.

Appointed on 31 March 2025, Budak is the second director in MOCAK’s history and the first to be selected through a competitive process. In his proposed vision, MOCAK will become a vibrant hub of creative energy—an institution engaged in dialogue and collaboration across borders.

Reflecting on his new role, Budak stated:

“It is a great honour and responsibility to take the helm of such an important institution. I am grateful for the trust placed in me by the jury, the artistic community, and the public—both locally and internationally.

I am fully aware of the challenges facing museums today, which call for a redefinition of the role and mission of cultural institutions. MOCAK is still shaping its identity within the Polish art scene, and strengthening its national and international presence is a key priority.

I hope MOCAK will become ‘our museum’—a tender narrator and a living, evolving space that is welcoming, open, and intellectually provocative.”

Budak holds a degree in Theatre Studies from the Institute of Polish Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and another in the History and Philosophy of Art and Architecture from Central European University in Prague. In addition to curating, he is a published author on contemporary art.

As Artistic Director of the Kestner Gesellschaft (2020–2025), Budak developed a wide-ranging program centred on tenderness, anabasis, and amor mundi. Highlights of his tenure include solo exhibitions by Roger Hiorns, Rebecca Ackroyd, Samson Young, Klára Hosnedlová, and Paula Rego, as well as group shows exploring the legacy of El Lissitzky and the political thought of Hannah Arendt.

From 2014 to 2020, he led the National Gallery in Prague as Artistic Director and Chief Curator. There, he realised major projects with Ai Weiwei and Katharina Grosse, retrospectives of Maria Lassnig and Jitka Hanzlová, and group exhibitions such as Generosity – The Art of Giving.

Budak has also held curatorial roles at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., and Kunsthaus Graz, collaborating with artists like John Baldessari, Tatiana Trouvé, Liz Larner, Sharon Lockhart, and Cerith Wyn Evans.

His international curatorial portfolio includes Manifesta 7, the Prague and Gherdëin Biennales, and national pavilions at the Venice Biennale—representing Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and the Czech Republic. Notably, he curated the first Polish retrospective of Louise Bourgeois at Zachęta in 2003.

Earlier in his career, from 1997 to 2002, he was Curator of Contemporary Art at Bunkier Sztuki in Kraków. He later co-founded Poland’s first postgraduate curatorial program at Jagiellonian University and taught at the Institute of Public Affairs there.

Budak’s curatorial philosophy focuses on the ecology of affect, hospitality, and critical intimacy. His work is informed by an acute sensitivity to space, performance, and interdisciplinary discourse.

About MOCAK

Founded in 2011, MOCAK is one of Poland’s leading contemporary art museums. It was the first large-scale institution built from scratch after World War II to present contemporary art. Located on the revitalised site of Oskar Schindler’s former Emalia Factory in Kraków’s Zabłocie district, the museum was designed by Claudio Nardi Architetto and spans 10,000 m², with 4,000 m² dedicated to exhibitions. It is fully accessible to visitors with mobility impairments.

MOCAK’s programme includes exhibitions, education, research, and publishing. The museum’s collection of over 5,500 works highlights Polish art from the late 20th century to the present, situated within a global context.

In 2024 alone, MOCAK organized over a dozen exhibitions—including international collaborations—accompanied by multilingual publications. Its archive and public library serve as important educational and research resources.

MOCAK is a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).