Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá (MAMBO)
Colombia's modern art museum in a brick building by Rogelio Salmona, founded by Marta Traba.
The Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá was founded in 1962 by the Argentine-born critic and historian Marta Traba and began its programme in February 1963, occupying temporary premises for its first years. Work on a permanent home designed by the Colombian architect Rogelio Salmona began in the 1970s on Calle 24, beside the Parque de la Independencia. The first stage opened in 1979 and the building was completed in 1985, giving the institution about 5,000 square metres of galleries and public space.
Salmona's design is a brick composition of four levels linked by a broad central stair, with ramped landings, top-lit galleries and a sculpture courtyard. Alongside changing exhibitions of Colombian and international modern and contemporary art, the museum holds a permanent collection covering painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking and design, and runs a library, a photographic archive, an auditorium and a cinema. Its education arm, Academia MAMBO, offers courses and workshops.
Highlights
- Brick building by Rogelio Salmona, opened 1979 and completed 1985
- Founded in 1962 by the critic Marta Traba
- Four levels of galleries around a central stair and sculpture courtyard
- Cinema, auditorium, library and photographic archive on site
