On the 9th September 2000, less than 15 kilometres south of the centre of Bratislava, on the edge of a peninsula where the mighty Danube flows, the opening of one of the youngest museums of modern art in Europe – Danubiana – took place. The River Danube has lent the museum its name and the rest is the result of the enthusiasm and initiative of the Slovak gallery owner Dr. Vincent Polakoviã and the financial resources of the Dutch collector and art patron Gerard H. Meulensteen. The framework of its impressive architecture is formed by its unusual location on the borders of three neighbouring countries, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary, but above all by the superb contrast of the wide expanse of water, open air and the endless banks of a dam. This architecture evokes the shape of a Roman galley bound in the shallows of a river and its diversity provides the opportunity to put on a wide variety of exhibitions.