Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona to double exhibition space for its own collection

Barcelona (ACN).- After its 15^th anniversary, the Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona (MACBA) wants to underline its own collection, giving it more visibility, strength and identity within the museum facilities. This is why, from next February, the permanent collection will occupy the first floor of the Richard Meir building. The project will double the amount of exhibition space for these pieces of art. However, it will not be a typical ‘permanent’ collection, as it will be not be displayed in a single and fixed exhibition, but rather in a series of temporary exhibitions. The series of temporary exhibitions with works from the museum’s collection will show different narratives and focus on different themes. Despite the 5% budget reduction for 2011, leaving the Museum’s yearly budget at 12 million euros, the MACBA faces an intense year. Apart from the permanent collection’s redistribution, 2 projects can be underlined: ‘The International’ exhibition, organised with 4 other European museums, and the acquisition of the Muntadas piece, ‘Between the Frames: The Forum’.

Consolidated as one of the most dynamic museums in Catalonia, the MACBA faces an immediate challenge in 2011: fostering its permanent collection. To do so, it will need to undergo an obvious change; exhibition space to display the permanent collection will be doubled and will occupy the entire first floor of the museum. The intention is not to focus only on a “permanent” collection, but to offer dynamism to visitors with a series of temporary exhibitions using the museum’s own collection. According to MACBA’s director, Bartomeu Marí, “more things, different kinds of exhibitions and different narratives” will be experienced.

Despite the 5% budget reduction, the museum has seen its activity increase, reaching the levels of 2009. In 2010, it was decided in to reduce the number of activities to focus on quality. The museum’s managers believe that this new approach will increase the activity without undermining quality. The agreement with La Caixa savings bank to share their contemporary art collections is a cornerstone of MACBA’s activities. The museum’s short life indicates that the MACBA is particularly important for art from the last 25 years. La Caixa, however, has a very strong collection of art from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

The MACBA will buy a giant work from Antoni Muntadas, entitled ‘Between the Frames: The Forum’. It is a series of closed rooms, painted in different colours, where interviews with art agents are displayed. The work will arrive in October.

In addition, the MACBA is collaborating with La Moderna Galerija of Ljubljana (Slovenia), the Stedelijk van Abbermuseum of Eindhoven (The Netherlands), the Museum van Hedendaagse Kunt of Antwerp (Belgium) and the Julia Koller Society of Bratislava (Slovakia). The 5 museums have put together a project called “La Internacional”. It is an exhibition that attempts to portray the art vanguards of the end of the 20^th century. It is “a way to read” and set a vocabulary and chronology of “what happened around 1989”, states Bartomeu Marí.