After decades of nomadic existence, the Polish capital’s art temple is open for permanent business in an inspirational, light-filled new building

When Poland joined the European Union 20 years ago, our world changed. I was a student in Warsaw, and spent my savings on a train ticket to Berlin – not for migrant work, but to see the 200 masterpieces at the Neue Nationalgalerie on loan from the New York Museum of Modern Art.

In 2017, ahead of a stint working in Silicon Valley, I rushed to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The very first painting I saw was a personal delight because the artist was a woman, Paulina Ołowska, and Polish.