MACBA doubles its space and exhibits more than 500 pieces of art

Barcelona (ACN).- The Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA) is expanding its exhibition zone to accommodate a new area where more than 500 pieces of art while be shown. The museum's director has decided to exhibit a larger portion of its vast collection, and has consequently adapted the first floor of the Museum. The space to exhibit MACBA's permanent collection has doubled for visitors to better appreciate the artworks developed from the 1950s to the present.

MACBA's director, Bartomeu Marí, said that he aims to transform the collection of the museum into a 'narrative' in order to 'understand the recent past'. The new area of the museum starts its exhibition from the 1950s, during which time modern art exploded in Catalonia. Marí argued that Catalan art has been interdisciplinary over the last few decades, with artworks in architecture, design and painting being completely interrelated.

A 'mature' collection

Marí said that the doubling of space for MACBA's permanent collection demonstrates the 'maturation' of the art centre as a reference in the country. According to him, the collection of the museum 'deserves' and 'must have a major role' in the exhibitions and activities organised by MACBA.

Amongst the new artworks that will be exhibited, there are a vast amount that are new acquisitions of the museum. They include art from Thomas Byrle, Bestué-Vives, Richard Hamilton, Josep Maria Mestres Quadreny, Eduardo Paolozzi and Antonio Cumella.

The director of the Museum said that MACBA's collection aims to be 'open' to visitors and is being developed thanks to debates generated by current times. 'We do not only talk about artistic activities, we also want to talk about history, about how we represent ourselves and what artistic characteristics define us', said Marí.