The Museum of Contemporary Art – Skopje informs that the director, Mira Gaćina, after six years of successful management as director of the museum resigned from this position for personal reasons.
Mira Gaćina, who held the position since the middle of 2017, is an art historian by vocation, with a doctorate in production and management of cultural institutions – case study MoCA-Skopje. Gathering and successfully working with an experienced team of curators, Mira Gaćina managed to put MSU on the map of internationally recognized museums, realizing several capital exhibition projects. One of the last major international projects, which is still ongoing, is the exhibition “No feeling is final: Solidarity Collection, MSU Skopje” in the Kunsthalle in Vienna, an exhibition that reaffirms the basic character of MSU Skopje as a museum of international solidarity. The exhibition will also travel to Prague next year, and contacts are underway with other museums to expand the dimensions of this project.
The series of exhibitions “Everything We Have in Common” which included the works and personal presence of a number of relevant world and regional artists, then the collaboration of exhibition projects in Krakow, Thessaloniki and the co-partnership with Manifesta, one of the most important world manifestations of contemporary art, are only some of the successful international projects of MoCA Skopje. Here we should also mention the importance of the Interdisciplinary Program, which, together with the renewed publication of the Large Glass magazine, was very successful in the presentation of today’s relevant theoretical and critical practices. These international successes were crowned by the Museum’s admission to CIMAM (International Association of Museums of Modern Art), as well as the international award “Živa” awarded to MSU for creativity and special achievements.
During her tenure, Mira Gaćina and the curatorial team have continuously produced exhibitions including appearances and collaborations with world-renowned, regional, and Macedonian artists.
The revival of the specific solidarity character of the Skopje Museum of Contemporary Art is of exceptional importance for the enriching the collections with over a hundred new gifts from foreign and Macedonian artists and donors. During this period the museum also raised to a much higher level the importance of the educational programs as one of its essential social missions.
Ariane Spanier, Graphic Design Studio – Berlin, design for the new MoCA Skopje logo
In her statement, Mira Gaćina points out her personal motivations for taking the position: “Probably many residents of Skopje, like me, were, and still are, fascinated by the MoCA’s building, which calmly observes the City, without imposing itself.
But what is the real value of its collection, and especially of its concept, as a museum initiated and realized by the artists’s donations, I realized this over time, through my studies and comparisons with other world museums.
I accepted the opportunity to demonstrate the potential of this Museum, knowing in advance how many followers it has and considering their enthusiasm I intended to revive the pioneering ideals.
Together with the team of curators, we envisioned this Museum of Solidarity as an Open Museum, open to all generations, to all groups, to all communities, and above all, to the people of Skopje, as an integral part of Old Skopje, with all its cultural diversity, following the original Mission. But the most important thing, I think, is that we inspired a new generation of international artists to donate works to the Museum. Solidarity as a value rose above the spontaneous reaction caused by the earthquake in a museum concept, as a transgenerational connection of the artists.
Despite the fact that I will be away from the Museum for a while, I will nevertheless remain forever motivated to participate in its further development, satisfied that the Museum, after 60 years since its foundation, is once again one of the most convincing values of Skopje’s urban life.”
Highlighting some of the more significant achievements, the expert team and employees of the Museum of Contemporary Art hope that this trend of raising the levels of the institution’s work will be properly recognized and will find even greater support from the Ministry of Culture and long-term partners and supporters.
