March 12: Claudia Segura at MACBA (Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art)

By Yike Ding

Today we visited MACBA and had the opportunity to speak with Claudia, head of the collection. She introduced how museums choose and develop their collections, how this museum operates under a complex political situation, and how MACBA positions itself within the community and international contemporary art scene.

MACBA has been established for 30 years and over 6,000 pieces. From the beginning, the museum has operated on a model combining private and public funding, receiving support not only from the government but also from foundations and private sponsors. Claudia also mentioned that MACBA focuses on contemporary art and also the development of Catalonia, hoping to place local art within an international context through its collection and research. Furthermore, in terms of management, the director of MACBA serves a five-year term, which can be extended to eight years. However, due to the involvement of many stakeholders, the leadership decision-making process is complex and requires consideration of various factors.

During the visit, I was constantly amazed, and my understanding of modern art was refreshed. I believe contemporary art is about abstract ideas, often hard to grasp, but at MACBA, contemporary art is presented from a different point of view. Art exhibitions may use a variety of forms. For example, in the exhibition Prisoners Of Love: Until the Sun of Freedom, multimedia installations, videos, sound installations, poetry, paintings, and other forms were used to create a narrative, in a fragmented way, to describe the ideas presented. This narrative, beyond time and space, actually attracted me, for the images did not just show history and memory, but also created them.

In conclusion, this visit gave me a more direct and profound understanding of modern art museums and how they manage and balance politics, funding, and community relations. If I have the opportunity to visit Barcelona again, I will definitely see the MACBA exhibitions again, I highly recommend.