Subscribe
Search
ePaper
Newsletters
Subscribe
ePaper
Newsletters
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Search
Appointments & departures
news

Beleaguered Barcelona museum gets a new director

Macba contemporary art space appoints Ferran Barenblit after censorship row

Belen Palanco
24 July 2015
Share

Ferran Barenblit, head of the Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo (CA2M) contemporary art museum in Móstoles near Madrid, has been named the new director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona (Macba).

Barenblit joined CA2M in 2008 where he oversaw exhibitions dedicated to the Mexican artist Teresa Margolles and the UK practitioner Jeremy Deller. He previously ran Centre d’Art Santa Mònica, a contemporary art gallery in Barcelona, from 2002 to 2008. In 2001, he organised an exhibition entitled Irony at the Miró Foundation in Barcelona, which included works by Maurizio Cattelan and Marcel Broodthaers.

Chris Dercon, the director of Tate Modern in London, and the Spanish artist Ignasi Aballí were on the committee which advised on the appointment. The committee was impressed by Barenblit’s “capacity to connect the museum’s practices to the city’s lively urban scene”, said a statement.

In March, the former director of Macba, Bartomeu Marí, resigned in light of a censorship row over a controversial installation on display at the museum, which shows a former Spanish king in a sexual act with a dog. The piece, by the Austrian artist Ines Doujak, is included in the exhibition The Beast and the Sovereign (until 30 August). Two curators at Macba involved in the show, Valentín Roma and Paul B. Preciado, were also dismissed.

Macba, which opened to the public in 1995, is managed by a consortium founded in 1988 whose members include the regional government of Catalonia, Barcelona City Council, and the Spanish Ministry of Culture. There are around 5,000 works in the collection.

Appointments & departuresMuseums
Share
Subscribe to The Art Newspaper’s digital newsletter for your daily digest of essential news, views and analysis from the international art world delivered directly to your inbox.
Newsletter sign-up
Information
About
Contact
Cookie policy
Data protection
Privacy policy
Frequently Asked Questions
Subscription T&Cs
Terms and conditions
Advertise
Sister Papers
Sponsorship policy
Follow us
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
LinkedIn
© The Art Newspaper