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Adam Budak
Adam Budak is a curator of contemporary art and author of texts on art. He holds a degree in theatre studies from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and in History and Philosophy of Art and Architecture from Central European University in Prague.
He served as Artistic Director of Kestner Gesellschaft in Hanover (2020–2024), where he developed an interdisciplinary curatorial programme focused on the notions of tenderness, anabasis, and amor mundi, and realised exhibitions that, amongst others, reflected the avant-garde legacy of El Lissitzky and the topicality of the political thought of philosopher Hannah Arendt. Previously, Budak was Artistic Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery in Prague (2014–2020), and has also held curatorial positions at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., and Kunsthaus Graz. From 1997 to 2002, he was Curator of Contemporary Art at Bunkier Sztuki Gallery in Kraków. He co-founded the first postgraduate curatorial studies in Poland at the Jagiellonian University and taught at its Institute of Public Affairs.
Budak has curated numerous international biennials, including Manifesta 7, the Gherdëina Biennale, the Prague Biennale, and the Polish Pavilion (2003), Estonian Pavilion (2013), and Latvian Pavilion (2024) at the Venice Biennale. He also served as a commissioner of the Czech Pavilion (2017, 2018, 2019). Some of his major curatorial achievements include the first Polish retrospective of Louise Bourgeois (Zachęta—National Gallery of Contemporary Art, Warsaw, 2003) or the first German exhibition of Paula Rego (Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover 2023).
Adam Budak
Biography
Adam Budak is a curator of contemporary art and author of texts on art. He holds a degree in theatre studies from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and in History and Philosophy of Art and Architecture from Central European University in Prague.
He served as Artistic Director of Kestner Gesellschaft in Hanover (2020–2024), where he developed an interdisciplinary curatorial programme focused on the notions of tenderness, anabasis, and amor mundi, and realised exhibitions that, amongst others, reflected the avant-garde legacy of El Lissitzky and the topicality of the political thought of philosopher Hannah Arendt. Previously, Budak was Artistic Director and Chief Curator of the National Gallery in Prague (2014–2020), and has also held curatorial positions at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., and Kunsthaus Graz. From 1997 to 2002, he was Curator of Contemporary Art at Bunkier Sztuki Gallery in Kraków. He co-founded the first postgraduate curatorial studies in Poland at the Jagiellonian University and taught at its Institute of Public Affairs.
Budak has curated numerous international biennials, including Manifesta 7, the Gherdëina Biennale, the Prague Biennale, and the Polish Pavilion (2003), Estonian Pavilion (2013), and Latvian Pavilion (2024) at the Venice Biennale. He also served as a commissioner of the Czech Pavilion (2017, 2018, 2019). Some of his major curatorial achievements include the first Polish retrospective of Louise Bourgeois (Zachęta—National Gallery of Contemporary Art, Warsaw, 2003) or the first German exhibition of Paula Rego (Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover 2023).
