Krakow’s MOCAK Sacks Director Adam Budak, Angering Artists
5May 22, 2026
The City of Krakow on May 16announcedthat its mayor, Aleksander Miszalski, had dismissedAdam Budakas director of theMuseum of Contemporary Art in Krakow(MOCAK), igniting a strong response among the artistic community. The city cited “the finding of improper performance of duties related to work organization and team management” as among the reasons for Budak’s firing. Budak, whoarrived to the Polish institutionlast summer, was replaced on May 12 by acting director Grzegorz Kuźma, formerly the museum’s deputy director, and will officially be terminated when his contract runs out on June 30. Citing Polish news platform Onet as its source,ArtReviewreported that the director’s dismissal came after an internal investigation spurred by a complaint about his behavior signed by thirty-seven MOCAK staffers and delivered to city hall.
On learning of Budak’s firing, scores of artists, curators, and cultural workers signed apetitioninitiated byPaulina Olowskademanding Budak be given a chance to present his position. Signatories include curators Sabine Breitweiser, Alison Gingeras, Ruth Noack, and Joanna Warsza, as well as artists Candice Breitz, Agnieszka Kurant, Alicja Kwade, Sharon Lockhart, Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, and Piotr Uklański. As well, several artists dropped out of MOCAK’s 2026–27 programming, among them Monika Drożyńska, Gabrielle Goliath, Katarzyna Krakowiak-Bałka, and Wilhelm Sasnal.
Budak in a May 16 statement wrote, “I am convinced that the decision to dismiss me from the position of Director of MOCAK has no legal basis and was made under time pressure. I am considering appealing the dismissal decision, while remaining open to dialogue with the Mayor.”
Kuźma in a May 20 statement acknowledged the strong public reaction to Budak’s dismissal and said that MOCAK had reached out to the defecting artists about their upcoming shows, emphasizing that the museum was committed to “the responsible management of the institution, while restoring an ethos inductive to co-operation and mutual trust, and the conditions for the team to continue to carry out its work calmly and professionally.”