The Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, a public institution answering to the Buenos Aires City Government’s Ministry of Culture, is pleased to present its ambitious 2026 Programme / 70 Anniversary Edition, which will be unveiled beginning 15–18 April 2026. Our 70 Anniversary Programme, Habitando el futuro [Our Home, the Future], comprises ten exhibitions housed in the Moderno’s main building, at Avenida San Juan 350. Each exhibition offers different perspectives on and approaches to the ways we inhabit the Earth, with special emphasis on the relationships between art, design, nature, architecture and urbanism. The programme, which will also include hundreds of public, educational and editorial programmes, uses metaphors to situate art research around various geographical spaces: the ocean depths; the power of rivers and riverine environments; the churning ferment at the Earth’s core manifested in volcanic activity; the connectedness of forests, skies and the cosmos. Addressing each of these natural environments in turn, Habitando el futuro will explore how we as humanity relate to our natural and social environments and engage with crucial questions about the future. The Moderno’s 70 Anniversary Edition broadly seeks to affirm and deepen the seven institutional values that guide and inform our work: the promotion of art, imagination and the social role of the artist; a commitment to ongoing research and historical understanding; support for freedom of expression and experimental artistic creation and production; a belief in the importance of education in the arts and of the arts in education; dedication to equity, inclusion and accessibility; care for wellbeing, health and community ties; a commitment to sustainability and care for the planet.
Our 70 Anniversary Edition Habitando el futuro coincides with a crucial date in Argentina’s history: 2026 will mark fifty years since the coup d’état that ushered in the last military dictatorship in our country, a regime marked by censorship, violence and terror. To commemorate this painful chapter in our history while envisioning a different and better future for the country and the region, the Moderno will present two unprecedented and ambitious exhibitions, to take place beyond the walls of our Avenida San Juan home, in major institutions in the city and abroad. First, in the city, and thanks to an initiative of the Parque de la Memoria – Monument to the Victims of State Terrorism, the Moderno will present a major exhibition at the Parque de la Memoria of pieces from its collection that highlight the work of many artists who used art to express their reflections, struggles, condemnations or mourning during this complex period. The exhibition will be curated in partnership with professionals from both institutions. Meanwhile, in Venice, the Museo Moderno will present a collective exhibition at Spazio Punch. This collateral event will run concurrently with the 61st International Art Exhibition – Venice Biennale and is dedicated to highlighting the power of contemporary Argentinian art – from the last military dictatorship to the present – as a tool for warnings, condemnations, criticisms and reflections on civic and democratic values.
Today, at a time of international shortsightedness and growing censorship, it is more important than ever to protect freedom of expression in art, the role of artists as intellectuals capable of stimulating reflection on reality and of fostering critical thinking, as well as the role of the museum as a civic, institutional and, in our case, public space, with all the immense responsibility this entails.
To build the Museo Moderno today means building community and constituting a safe space for dialogue between differing positions and truths, one in which collaboration among a plurality of voices and perspectives remains possible, allowing us to reflect on ourselves as human beings and on the planet itself, its creatures, its environments and its future.
In this, its 70 Anniversary Edition, the Museo Moderno proudly presents inspiring dialogues among pieces from its own collections and works and projects by renowned national and international artists. As is customary under its current leadership, the Museo Moderno will once again actively encourage and support, with great pride and enthusiasm, the production of new works by Argentinian artists.
Victoria Noorthoorn, Director, Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires