Lima Contemporary Art Museum, Peru

The Museum of Contemporary Art of Lima (MAC Lima) is currently the only museum in the city of Lima specializing in the dissemination of modern art and contemporary art . Founded at the beginning of 2013 , the museum is located on a property granted under concession by the municipality of Barranco . It has a modernist court building designed by Peruvian architect Frederic Cooper Llosa, with three main modules that correspond to the three rooms where the collection and temporary exhibitions are arranged, and large windows that overlook the water mirror and accentuate the island concept. An extensive green area of ​​free access for the public complements the museum spaces.

MAC Lima aims to be an institution articulated with its urban environment and with the sensibilities and debates of its time, allied with the artistic community and open to the diversity of audiences.

Founded in 2013, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Lima (MAC Lima ) is the only institution dedicated exclusively to the promotion, research and dissemination of contemporary artistic practices in Peru. It is located in Barranco, a traditional, cultural and cosmopolitan district. In its three rooms, 100, 200 and 1000 m2, there are exhibitions of its collection of modern and contemporary Latin American art, as well as temporary exhibitions of emerging and consolidated artists.

It has a regular educational program that promotes meeting, participation, critical thinking, enjoyment and creation. Its industrial architecture is surrounded by a terrace and a park where events, shows and multiple artistic expressions take place.

The MAC Lima aims to be an institution articulated with the urban environment and the sensitivities and debates of his time, allied with the artistic community and open to diversity of audiences.

History
On June 11, 1955, the foundation of the Institute of Contemporary Art (IAC) was established in Lima. Since the late 80s, the IAC has decided to build a museum and provide it with a collection, thus being the managing institution of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Lima (MAC Lima), which houses and exhibits the main works of the IAC collection.

Collections and exhibitions
The original IAC collection begins to take shape from these first exhibitions that took place in the various places where it alternately worked: Lima Gallery, Casa Mujica and Museum of Italian Art . To this first stage of the collection belong works from the 1950s and 1960s, which gave a rich panorama of Latin American art of the moment. Works by Gastón Garreaud , Rafael Hastings , Emilio Rodríguez Larraín , Oswaldo Vigas , as well as the strong abstraction of Fernando de Szyszlo , among others.

In the 1990s, on the occasion of an auction that would be used to obtain the initial funds for the construction of the MAC Lima, it is when the IAC receives an important and new contribution from leading artists from all over the continent. Proposals appear in the collection where geometry is the leading instrument – Víctor Pasmore , Jesús Rafael Soto , Carlos Cruz-Diez , Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar -, the postmodern work of Álvaro Barrios , the casual humor of Antonio Seguí’s works , among others.

After the construction of MAC Lima, the collection was nourished by new contributions that would better complement the panorama of contemporary art. Thanks to new donations from national artists such as Ramiro Llona , Armando Varela , Fernando de Szyszlo , Kukuli Velarde , to name a few; and the support provided by MICROMUSEO (“there is room in the background”) with works by artists such as Alfredo Márquez , Ángel Valdez , Moico Yaker , Juan Javier Salazar and Elliot Tupac .

Collection
The MAC Lima protects the original collection of the Institute of Contemporary Art (IAC) , which includes works, from 1950 to 1970, by representative Peruvian and Latin American artists. After the building of the Museum, the collection has increased with works acquired through donations and loans, which allow to expand the panorama of modern art and open paths to contemporary production.

We watch over the research, conservation and dissemination of the works. These are displayed within a plan of temporary and itinerant samples that allow them to be studied in context. They are not permanently displayed.

The collection includes Peruvian plastic teachers such as Ramiro Llona, ​​José Tola, Sonia Prager, Elda Di Malio, Enrique Polanco, Fernando de Szyszlo or Eduardo Eielson, as well as Latin Americans Beatriz González, Carlos Cruz Diez, Jesús Rafael Soto, René Portocarrero , Antonio Seguí or Wifredo Lam, among others. It is worth noting a significant group of Peruvian artists influential in avant-garde art such as Claudia Coca, Kukuli Velarde, Patricia Bueno and Angie Bonino.

After the construction of MAC Lima, the collection was nourished by new contributions that would better complement the panorama of contemporary art. Thanks to new donations from national artists such as Ramiro Llona, ​​Armando Varela, Fernando de Szyszlo, Kukuli Velarde, to name a few; and the support provided by MICROMUSEO (“there is room in the background”) with works by artists such as Alfredo Márquez, Ángel Valdez, Moico Yaker, Juan Javier Salazar and Elliot Tupac.

The current sample does not follow a chronological sequence but seeks to give an overview of the collection and its various languages ​​and trends. It is the introduction to the enormous task that the IAC performed in favor of the valuation and support of Peruvian plastic in all its aspects and in all its epochs, during its almost 60 years of life.

The museum’s education department considers museum collections and contemporary art in general, not only from an aesthetic point of view. In this sense, the museum has the following programs, which aim to be tools for capacity development and the promotion of principles that contribute to humanistic training.

Activities
The museum’s education department considers museum collections and contemporary art in general, not only from an aesthetic point of view. In this sense, the museum has the following programs, which aim to be tools for capacity development and the promotion of principles that contribute to the humanistic training of visitors:

MAC at school
MAC classroom
Free classroom
Sundays at the MAC
courses

Programming
The programming of temporary exhibitions, events and the parallel public program responds to the sensitivities, practices and knowledge of contemporary artistic and intellectual creation.

Museum of Contemporary Art of Lima support and disseminate the work of art and culture professionals, mainly from the creators and thinkers who actively contribute to the development of Peruvian arts.

MAC Lima generate visibility and recognition opportunities for emerging and consolidated artists.
MAC Lima exhibit international art in dialogue with local production.
MAC Lima support initiatives that articulate art, science and technology.
MAC Lima promote research and carry out publications, seminars and conferences.
MAC Lima left the exhibition halls with graffiti projects, film screenings and dance, music and performance presentations.

Educational program
MAC Lima develop and implement formal and experimental educational programs related to the Museum’s collection and its temporary exhibitions. Through participatory strategies, we want to broaden ideas and debates about contemporary art and culture.

MAC Lima promote spaces for reflection and dialogue with the various visiting public and related communities. In addition, we offer conversations and meetings with artists; Summer and winter courses and workshops aimed at children, adolescents or adults, as well as participatory visits for each exhibition we do. We are leaders in training initiatives for students in contemporary art.

Summer and winter courses aimed at children or adults.
Participatory visits with tours to our exhibition halls.
Sundays at the MAC. Creation activities and family participation.
Neighbor School – Boys and Girls Guides.
Provides artistic / pedagogical tools to children in public schools in Barranco.
We exchange research projects with teachers and university students.

Mission and Vision
Through exhibition, cultural and educational programs, the management of its collection and the activation of spaces, MAC Lima generates experiences and knowledge around contemporary artistic practices, which promote participation, critical thinking, enjoyment and creation.

To be a sustainable cultural institution, articulated with its urban environment and with the sensibilities and debates of its time, allied with the artistic community and open to diverse audiences. To be a regional reference as a center that generates experiences and knowledge about contemporary artistic practices.