A new museum built underground
László Baán, chief director of the Museum of Fine Arts
MúzeumCafé 14.
“If anyone were to look around the world and consider what society expects of museums today they would immediately be confronted by the fact that the Museum of Fine Arts was in need of expansion. In recent decades the number of museum visitors throughout the West has sharply increased. Don’t forget that this building housed its first temporary exhibition from abroad only thirty years after its opening in 1906. Thus what we are doing is simply adjusting our building to present-day demands. “The investment totals four billion forints with the museum being the single player, thus we can coordinate it precisely. “The present extension creates vital space exclusively for the museum, yet it is being implemented in such a way that potential further developments could be linked technically at any time. I don’t think we’ll have long to wait before vehicle traffic swarming around Heroes’ Square is brought to an end, and thus an underground connection between the Museum of Fine Arts and the Kunsthalle loses its justification. “The historic building still has hidden elements which are significant and their presentation will be the task of the post-2011 period. Take, for example, the centrally situated Michelangelo Hall, which was occupied by offices in the 1990s, or the Roman Hall, which has been closed for decades. Then the halls accommodating the German and Dutch collections must also be renewed and the major works of the old sculpture collection should also become visible. In addition, it’s necessary for the items in the collection of 20th-century and contemporary art, which have not been exhibited so far, to enjoy permanent exhibition space. And I haven’t mentioned the establishment of new storerooms and restoration workshops.”