Zachęta

Zacheta is Warsaw's flagship contemporary art gallery, housed in a neo-Renaissance palace on Plac Malachowskiego. Founded in 1860 as the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, it has been the showcase of Polish art through partitions, world wars and communism. In December 1922 Poland's first president Gabriel Narutowicz was assassinated here by a nationalist painter, just five days after taking office. The building survived the Warsaw Uprising heavily damaged and was rebuilt in the 1950s. Today Zacheta mounts rotating exhibitions of Polish and international contemporary artists, often politically charged, and awards the annual Spojrzenia prize to emerging Polish artists. The skylit halls give serious stage to ambitious installations.