The Malba, a Different Museum

Getting deep into a museum is not something everybody likes. However, when this happens, we may either confirm or reject our election.


The case of the Malba is a constant confirmation.

Inside its venue, it is possible to enjoy permanent and temporary exhibitions, where the Argentinian and the Latin American arts are the protagonists of a carefully chosen and varied selection that makes us feel delighted.

A place where it is possible to get our minds away from the daily routine of the city and get lost in its rooms and halls, searching for what each of us carries inside and most times others have perfectly materialized.

This is what a museum is about, or at least, that is what it should be about: a place where it is also possible to find ourselves. There is no doubt that the Malba has suceedeed in doing it.


A Little Bit of History

Ever since 1990, the Costantini Collection has been open to the visit of specialists and scholars, both local and international, and to the loan of works to exhibitions of Latin American Art organized in various countries of America and Europe.

In 1996, it was presented in public for the first time at the Montevideo National Museum of Visual Arts.

Between 1998 and 1999, an important group of its most remarkable pieces was shown at the São Paulo Modern Art Museum, the Rio de Janiro Modern Art Museum and “La Caixa” Foundation in Madrid.

At the same time, the Foundation presented four subsequent issues of the Costantini Award at the National Museum of Fine Arts, between 1997 and 2000. This contest contributed to the stimulation of Argentinian artistic production, at the same time it incorporated works of artists of the latest generations through the mechanism of an acquisition award.

Late in 1998, there was a possibility to buy a piece of land strategically located in the urban and cultural map of the city for the construction of a museum.

Afterwards, an international open announcement was organised by the International Union of Architects in the International Biennal Exhibition of Architecture in Buenos Aires.

Four hundred and fifty proposals were presented by forty-five different countries. The selection was in charge of an international jury made up by architects and the first prize was granted to three young Argentinian architects: Gastón Atelman, Martín Fourcade and Alfredo Tapia.


The New Figueroa Alcorta Building

The construction of the new building, the institutional organization, the growth of the collection, the entrance of the museum into the international cultural map and, above all, the public dimension of its aims and mission were the challenges that finally transformed a private passion into a project of high communitary impact.

Today, the Malba is a dynamic space for participation where temporary exhibitions of various kinds (sometimes, along with other museums around the world, interantional collections and similar foundations) and Argentinian and Latin American contemporary art displays are presented.

Furthermore, it has an important film program with a film library that grows every month through the acquisition and the rescue of films that are essential for the history of the cinema. Also, various activities regarding literature, such as meetings with writers, courses, seminaries, literary lectures and book presentations, are held.

The education and cultural action area includes programs for children, guided tours and various activities carried out hand in hand with organizations from the civil society, which aim at offering all the sectors of the community the possibility of enjoying, studying and knowing some of the main artists and art movements of the last century.