Museum of Contemporary Art of Republika Srpska
A national museum in the old Austro-Hungarian railway station
Set in the old Austro-Hungarian railway station of 1891 on Trg srpskih junaka, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Republika Srpska is one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's leading institutions of contemporary art.
The museum was founded on 13 January 1971 by decision of the Banja Luka Municipal Assembly, originally as the Art Gallery in Banja Luka. Its origins are tied directly to the catastrophic earthquake that struck the city on 26–27 October 1969.
From solidarity to a museum
In the aftermath of the earthquake, visual artists from across the former Yugoslavia and other parts of the world launched a campaign of solidarity with the stricken city. They donated around 750 artworks, which became the foundation and first collection of the new institution. The gallery was renamed the Gallery of Fine Arts of Republika Srpska in 1994, and on 10 February 2004 it took its present name, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Republika Srpska.
The old railway station
The museum occupies one of Banja Luka's most representative buildings — the old Austro-Hungarian railway station, built in 1891. In 1981 the building was adapted to serve as a museum, and in 2007 it was declared a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The collection
Today the museum holds a collection of more than 1,600 works of art from the second half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century. Alongside its permanent display, it regularly hosts temporary exhibitions and accompanying educational programmes.
Visiting
The museum stands at Trg srpskih junaka 2, in the very centre of the city, a short walk from Gospodska Street and the banks of the Vrbas.
