Santiago Museum of Contemporary Art, Contemporary art museum in Parque Forestal, Chile.
The Santiago Museum of Contemporary Art occupies a Neoclassical building in Parque Forestal and also uses a second exhibition space in Quinta Normal Park. The institution displays contemporary works from Chilean and international artists across both locations.
The museum was created by law in 1946 and inaugurated on 15 August 1947 in El Partenón, a building in Quinta Normal Park that had housed Chile's first fine arts museum from 1885. Its founder, painter Marco Bontá, recovered the abandoned building for the arts. In 1974 the museum moved to the western part of the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Parque Forestal, sharing it with the National Museum of Fine Arts. The 1985 earthquake closed that site until 1992, and the 2005 restorations opened the second floor.
The museum's name is tied to its founding mission: to promote the artists of its own time. Under director Nemesio Antúnez in the 1960s it hosted the Bienales Americanas de Grabado, which established printmaking across the continent. Its collection began with a founding donation in 1947 and grew through purchases, competitions and donations, including works from the 1964 solidarity exhibition with the Chilean people.
The MAC has two sites: the Parque Forestal branch shares the Palacio de Bellas Artes with the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, entered from the rear of the palace, while the Quinta Normal branch occupies the Palacio Versailles inside Quinta Normal Park. The Forestal building's west front was damaged in the 2010 earthquake. The director is chosen by the University of Chile rector from five candidates proposed by the fine arts dean.
The museum's print holdings grew out of the American Print Biennales it hosted between 1963 and 1967 under director Nemesio Antúnez, which is why nearly 1,000 of its roughly 3,000 pieces are engravings. The 1976 Fototeca was founded from Bob Borowicz's donation of about a hundred photographs by club amateurs and professionals.
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