The Second Museum of Our Wishes

In 2006, Moderna Museet announced its vision of "The Second Museum of Our Wishes", in a debate article written by its then director, Lars Nittve. In the article, he pleaded with the government for a one-off grant of SEK 50 million to address the gender imbalance in the Museum’s collection. The entire sum was to be earmarked for buying works by women artists from the first half of the 20th century. This would entail a real opportunity to achieve a more correct historic representation of women artists.

In consequence, Moderna Museet’s collection has been enriched with a total of 26 works by 14 artists. In addition, the Hilma af Klint Foundation has agreed to deposit its collection with the Museum. The campaign for The Second Museum of Our Wishes yielded a fantastic result – but that does not by any means imply that the efforts to create a collection that conveys a more gender-neutral perspective on 20th and 21st century art history has been completed.