FRANKFURT.- 2014 will be a special year for the MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main. The long-cherished wish for more space in which to showcase the museum collection more comprehensively is finally coming true. In the autumn of 2014, the new branch of the MMK will open in the TaunusTurm with some two thousand square metres of additional exhibition space; concurrently, the restructuring of the museum’s main building will be presented. Already at this early date, we cordially invite our visitors to the grand reopening in the autumn of 2014. And the coming year moreover holds a number of exceptional programme highlights in store for you.

A Unique Private Funding Initiative
In cooperation with the planning and culture departments of the city of Frankfurt as well as the real estate developer Tishman Speyer and with support from the museum’s partners Stefan Quandt, the Ernst Max von Grunelius Stiftung and the Helaba, the MMK has succeeded in establishing a public-private partnership unique in the German museum world. Within the framework of an exclusively privately funded undertaking, the museum is gaining some two thousand square metres of additional exhibiton space in the form of a branch in the newly constructed TaunusTurm, a real estate project by Tishman Speyer and the Commerz Real AG in Frankfurt’s financial district. Not only is Tishman Speyer placing the space at the museum’s disposal at no charge for rent or utilities; thanks to donations from the MMK’s partners, the operating costs will also be covered. Over and above the technical facilities, these partners are moreover financing the costs of the organization and supervision of the exhibition programme, including an additional employment post – all in all an unprecedented act of support.

“This form of contribution is an expression of special mutual trust. Our donors have been supporting the MMK for many years and have now joined us in taking a fabulous step into the future – a step for the MMK and the city of Frankfurt”, observes MMK director Susanne Gaensheimer, who is delighted about the cooperation.

Through the expansion of the MMK by the addition of a new location, a wide range of possibilities will open up for making a larger share of the outstanding MMK collection accessible to the public on a long-term basis, and for presenting those holdings in thematic exhibitions.

The Museum Branch – The MMK 2
The branch of the MMK in the TaunusTurm, the future MMK 2, will have altogether more than 2,250 square metres at its disposal, including an exhibition space on the second upper level and a museum shop and café-bar in the entrance area on the ground floor. From September 2014 onwards, the MMK 2 will present changing large-scale thematic exhibitions drawing on the MMK collection and bearing a relation to current themes. The focus will be on the collection’s contemporary holdings. The exhibitions, which will run for a minimum of half a year each, will integrate aspects of architecture, urbanism, work, design and fashion, while also addressing sociopolitical issues. Regular guided tours and an art education programme will accompany the exhibition activities.

The Classics in the Main Building – The MMK 1
For the MMK’s main building – the post-modern architectural icon in Domstrasse and future MMK 1 – the museum’s expansion represents a long-awaited means of being able to present outstanding masterpieces of the collection held in high regard locally and internationally on a long-term basis. In the future, the highlights will be permanently accessible to the public: works by Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, Walter de Maria, Hanne Darboven, Alighiero Boetti, On Kawara, Blinky Palermo, Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Rosemarie Trockel, Douglas Gordon, Isa Genzken, Wolfgang Tillmans and many more will accompany our visitors for years at a time.

As before, major changing exhibitions and retrospectives of internationally prominent artists of the present will be staged at the MMK 1 at three to four-month intervals. These shows will contextualize the collection presentations, expand the perspective on them, and enhance them with regard to content.

MMK Zollamt – The MMK 3
The building hitherto known as the MMK Zollamt, the future MMK 3, will continue to present new manifestations of the most recent contemporary art, while also hosting a wide variety of projects carried out jointly with local, supraregional and international partners. Exhibitions – featuring, for example, the graduates of the Städelschule or the Jürgen Ponto-Stiftung grant recipients – will be as much a part of the programme as the symposia, lectures and receptions accompanying the shows in the main building, the MMK 1.