Rafael Sámano
is participant at
Where is Art Contemporary? The Global Challenge of Art Museums II
Abstract
The Project of the MUAC in Mexico City. Continuing Self-Reflection with Museological Respect
The last museum which was dedicated to international contemporary art has been created 20 years ago. It was dedicated to the collection which it had received from Rufino Tamayo, one of the best known Mexican artists of the 20th century. Today, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) has undertaken to inaugurate a new site which is to preserve the first public collection which the university has brought together. We want to represent local art production since 1952 (the year of the university’s foundation) and in addition works of international importance which were given by sponsors to the university. This collection positions the center within a worldwide framework. But a museum is not justified only by its collection. Even without a collection the center would present exhibitions and inform on contemporary art and visual culture. In our case, the museum was created in order to stimulate the growth of the collection. It is the participation of the user which will justify the institution museum in the near future. The forthcoming Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo of the UNAM therefore will not be limited to the traditional functions of a museum (which are object based and center on objects) but entertain a permanent experiment, centring on the production of knowledge on the basis of a conceptual platform. With the help of the platform, the site will produce “events” rather than exhibitions and favour activities which will provide the visitors with a conceptual network, introducing them to the plan to develop a museum of the future.
