Museum of Art in Łódź – MS²

Inside Manufaktura, a former textile factory complex in the heart of Łódź, one of Poland's most important collections of modern and contemporary art is displayed in a very unusual setting. MS² is a branch of the Museum of Art in Łódź, housed in a restored 19th-century weaving mill.

But the story of the collection began long before MS² opened. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, members of the avant-garde a.r. group began collecting works by leading European artists with the idea of creating an international collection in Łódź. Artists including Fernand Léger, Max Ernst, Hans Arp and Kurt Schwitters donated works, turning the project into an extraordinary example of cooperation between artists across Europe.

An Avant-Garde Collection

The collection was opened to the public in 1931, making Łódź one of the earliest places in Europe where an international collection of avant-garde art could be seen. Its founders included artists Władysław Strzemiński, Katarzyna Kobro and Henryk Stażewski, together with poets Julian Przyboś and Jan Brzękowski.

The collection continued to grow after the Second World War through further donations and international collaborations. Today, it covers a wide range of 20th- and 21st-century art, reflecting the experimental spirit that has shaped the museum since its beginnings.

Art Inside a Former Factory

MS² opened in its current form in 2008, giving the collection a large exhibition space inside the former Poznański textile factory. The industrial architecture has been preserved, creating an unusual dialogue between Łódź's textile heritage and the art displayed inside.

Rather than following a simple chronological story, the museum explores its collection through different themes and ways of looking at art. The current permanent exhibition, Ways of Seeing, presents works from the 20th and 21st centuries through questions about perception, memory, identity and the way we understand the world around us.

MS² is therefore more than a contemporary art gallery inside Manufaktura. It is a place where the history of the European avant-garde, Łódź's industrial past and contemporary ways of thinking about art meet under the same roof.