1. Art and Diseño

Universes in Universe - Worlds of Art
http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/art_destinations/colombia/medellin/mamm_expansion
Expansion of the Museum of Modern Art of Medellín, Colombia
Interview with Director María Mercedes González
Founded in 1978, for more than three decades
the Museum of Modern Art of Medellín had its
headquarters in the traditional neighborhood of
Carlos E. Restrepo. In the year 2009, the
MAMM was relocated to the South of the city,
using the spaces of Talleres Robledo, an old
steel mill from the 1930s.
In addition to assembling a core collection of
very important works of Colombian art, the
MAMM has been host of iconic events to the
Latin American avant-gardes, such as the First
Colloquium and Non-Objectual Art Exhibition in
1981, and has promoted initiatives that were
fundamental for Colombian artists, such as the
Arturo y Rebeca Rabinovich art salons between
1981 and 2003. With monographic exhibitions,
for example, of Luis Camnitzer, a key figure of
Latin American conceptual art, and artists of the
standing of Sophie Calle (France) or William
Kentridge (South Africa); tribute exhibitions to
Colombian masters highlighting the work of
Débora Arango, Beatriz González, Luis
Caballero, or Álvaro Barrios; with projects of
support to emerging artists and a varied
program that includes music, film, architecture
and design, the MAMM has developed into a
contemporary cultural center with local, national
and international impact.
In September 2015, the MAMM will inaugurate a
new building that will extend even more its
artistic and cultural project. On a total
construction area of 7200 sq m, it will host
exhibition halls, multipurpose spaces, an
auditorium for film and music for 250 people, a
space for sound experimentation, a
documentation center, storage areas, as well as
service and leisure areas.
In the interview with María Mercedes González,
the director of the MAMM explains key aspects
of the expansion concept, the international
submission call, the winning architectural
project, and the construction's progress, and
gives some details of the museum's program in
the first half of 2015.
Interview with María Mercedes González
Director of the Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín
By Pat Binder & Gerhard Haupt, publishers of Universes in Universe
Pat Binder & Gerhard Haupt: When and why did
the MAMM decide to build an extension to the
museum, and how did the process go?
María Mercedes González: The decision to build
an extension to the museum’s facilities was
almost simultaneous to the relocation of the
museum to its new home at Talleres Robledo, 5
years ago, in November 2009. Although it was
an enormous improvement in terms of space,
and also of visibility, projection and
programming in comparison to the previous
facilities, the museum’s management at that
time already saw the need to expand because
there was a physical space available, which was
the area towards the park and the parking lot. In
2010, an international call was sent out for
architects to submit their projects. Around ten
firms took part, and one of the key requirements
was that the international firm had to establish a
temporary alliance with a local firm to be able to
participate, and that has been of utmost
importance in the whole process.
B&H: What other elements and requirements
were included in the call?
MMG: The director of the museum at the time
already had an idea of what kinds of spaces the
museum needed and what had to be built
according to those terms of reference. The idea
that space was needed for the proprietary
collection of the museum was already there.
There was also a need to have a space for
musical activities, where we could offer a film
program and organize other events. A
warehouse was of the utmost importance, as the
2,500 pieces that comprise the collection were in
urgent need of better storage facilities. The
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importance of having commercial spaces that
could partially sustain the museum’s operation
was also considered. All these elements were
included in the call. I think that’s how these kinds
of competitions work, giving the architects a list
of needs, otherwise things can get difficult
afterwards.
Patiño and Viviana Peña. They have won other
big projects in the region. They are building, for
instance, two educational parks for the
government of Antioquia.
B&H: That’s why you’re so surprised to see that
some modern museum buildings designed by
very famous architects are often not very
functional.
Peru’s 51+1 is a group of very young Peruvian
architects who were the only international
participants to visit Medellín before presenting
their project. Maybe that’s where the uniqueness
and originality of their proposal lie; an idea
inspired by the popular architecture of the more
deprived communities in the north of the city.
MMG: That’s right. That was another criterion
explicitly stated in the terms because we
internally knew that functionality was paramount.
B&H: How are the construction and the finances
progressing? Are you going to be able to meet
the deadline?
B&H: Was it tan open call or by invitation?
MMG: The building is progressing beautifully. By
December 2014, the concrete structure and
façades were ready. As the financial aspect is
concerned, we were lucky to have had the
support of Medellín’s City Council, and from
local companies and foundations. The big
challenge in which we’re working on is to infuse
life into this new MAMM, to attract more visitors,
new art fans, and to make the people of this
area of town --which is the Comuna 14, called El
Poblado-- have a space of knowledge and
enjoyment here. Our great objective, our
mission, is that the people of Medellín find
inspiring and transforming experiences around
contemporary culture in this place.
MMG: It was a direct call to 15 architect firms
from all over the world and we got 11 proposals.
We had a lot of help from our architect allies. As
you know, Medellín is an architectural city, and
that good company, that support, was very
important for us during the whole process.
Another thing that was very clear was that the
new project had to maintain a perfect dialogue
with Talleres Robledo, because this is a heritage
building, a place with a lot of history, an icon of
Medellín’s industrialization process. We wanted
the project to maintain a dialogue, not to be a
mere prolongation or a replica of Talleres
Robledo.
B&H: When you get to this area, you’re
surprised to see all new buildings. It’s not like
other cities where there is an industrial zone
used for or adapted to cultural or recreational
use. Maybe that’s where the importance of
Talleres Robledo lies, because it’s one of the
last icons of an era…
MMG: Absolutely. That’s why the new building -though it had to be a super contemporary
building architecturally speaking-- had to
maintain a dialogue not only with this heritage
site, Talleres Robledo, but also with the rest of
the environment.
B&H: Who were the winners and what
distinguishes their project from the others?
MMG: The winner was the architectural firm
51+1 from Peru. They established a temporary
alliance with the local firm CtrlG, of the very
young and very talented architects Catalina
B&H: Which are the key points of the new
building’s concept and how is it going to work
with the existing building?
MMG: The new halls will be destined mainly to
the museum’s proprietary collection, but we are
also aware that showing our collection without a
dialogue with other works is rather pointless.
The MAMM’s collection, though it contains iconic
works, very important works in the history of
Colombian art from the second half of the 20th
century, is a collection in which many pieces
from contemporary art are missing.
B&H: Colombian or international?
MMG: Colombian. Our collection was built
thanks to the generosity of the artists. In its 36
years of history, the museum has not bought a
single work. We haven’t had a budget for
acquisitions for different reasons because the
priority has always been the operation and
working of the museum, and keeping the
programming running has its implications. To
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strengthen our collection is a challenge. We’re
aware of that fact and we know we have to work
under creative, innovative formulas; for instance,
through people willing to support the museum
with donations, which is a very common formula,
mainly in the United States.
B&H: Last year, you told us that, among other
works, you’d like to collect installations that were
made specifically for the museum’s exhibitions.
Have you considered establishing cooperation
with artists through grants, specific
productions/subsidies so that those works stay
here, for instance?
MMG: Well in fact, that already happened in the
museum with the Arturo and Rebeca Rabinovich
art salons between 1981 and 2003. During those
years, in its old venue, the museum created a
platform for the circulation and dissemination of
artists under the age of 30, and the idea was
more or less what you’ve just described. Many
of the works we now have in our collection come
from that experience with the salons. So the
museum is not alien to that kind of formulas. We
need to have a plan, a structured plan of
acquisitions with very clear objectives, but we
also need to be very aware of our economic
possibilities and of the effort involved. The
arrival of our new curator, Emiliano Valdés, is
instrumental to the development and
implementation of all these ideas.
B&H: The present exhibition of Alvaro Barrios’s
work will continue until March 2015 and the
opening event is scheduled for September 2015.
What other exhibitions are you planning for the
first half of the year?
MMG: In April we’ll have and exhibition of works
by the Utopia group, which is a group of
architects and artists of Medellín. They are very
important in the history and the life of the
museum and the city. They did the renovation of
the Talleres Robledo building; they are behind
all this. The exhibition is called Le Corbusier en
el río Medellín [Le Corbusier at Medellín River]
which was shown in Bogota, at the Alzate
Avendaño Foundation. But here it will be bigger,
taking into account this recent history, because
a big part of the exhibition will be devoted to the
renovation of Talleres Robledo as the MAMM’s
venue.
There’s also a new program being developed at
the museum, called Programa C. It’s a project
that will be held at the special projects hall, the
small hall at the entrance. The idea is for it to be
a platform for the dissemination, promotion and
validation of emerging artists, understanding the
emerging part not regarding an age range but an
incipient career. The guest curator will have to
do some field work, as emerging artists do not
appear anywhere, do not circulate, and nobody
has written anything about them.
Our first guest curator in 2014 was Sebastian
Ramirez, from Cali, who curated ArteCámara in
ARTBO in 2013. He selected Tatyana Zambrano
(Medellín, 1982). Our second guest curator was
María Wills (co-curator of Arco Colombia 2015)
and she chose Víctor Garcés (Medellín, 1978).
His exhibition, Recuerdo sin nombre [Nameless
Memory], will continue until March 2015, and the
3rd version of the program, which is already
defined, is going to be done together with the
opening of Utopia. Cristina Lleras, who curated
the Luis Caballero Award last year, has also
been invited. After doing her field work, she
decided to work with Gabriel Botero, also from
Medellín.
Maria Mercedes González Cáceres
M.A (Master of Arts) in Media Studies at the The New School in New York, specialized in Cultural Studies, and
graduated in political sciences from the Universidad Javeriana. Worked as communication and cultural attaché at
the Colombian Embassy in Argentina between 2004 and 2008. From 2008 to 2010, she was Consultant for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since October 2012, Maria Mercedes González is the General Director of the Museo de
Arte Moderno de Medellín.
(Translation from Spanish: Marina Torres. © Universes in Universe)
>> Photos
The expansion in progress, and the Museum of Modern Art
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