New MAC-CCB contemporary art museum opens in 2023

Photo: José Sena Goulão/Lusa

The Centro Cultural de Belém, in Lisbon, will inaugurate the new contemporary art museum, the MAC-CCB, in phases throughout 2023, in the space hitherto occupied by the Museu Coleção Berardo, the Minister of Culture announced this Monday.

At the end of a meeting with the CCB board of directors, Pedro Adão e Silva explained that the MAC-CCB will open in a phased manner throughout 2023, and that the CCB foundation will be responsible for managing the entire process. In a statement to journalists, the Minister of Culture also explained that the budget of the CCB foundation will have an additional 2.1 million euros this year, which will be transferred from the Foundation for Modern and Contemporary Art - Berardo Collection, extinct in December. Pedro Adão e Silva did not rule out, however, a budget increase beyond these additional 2.1 million euros, now that the CCB foundation will once again manage the exhibition center which, over the last 15 years, has housed the Museum Berardo Collection. Outside the CCB, the panels indicating what used to be the Museu Coleção Berardo were removed today and those that now designate the existence of the MAC-CCB were placed.

For visitors, there is practically no change at the moment when entering the CCB Exhibition Centre.

From Tuesday, the 3rd, it will be possible to visit the contemporary art collection created by Madeiran businessman José Berardo. Pedro Adão e Silva said that it will be "necessary to make a set of changes throughout 2023, from small interventions to works" to prepare the official opening of MAC-CBB, whose calendar will be revealed later. This contemporary art museum at the CCB, which will be housed in the so-called "module 3" of the building, will house works from the State's Contemporary Art Collection, including the Ellipse Collection, which had been set up by former banker João Rendeiro and now under the tutelage of public, and is open to other art collections. At the MAC-CCB, the works of the Museu Coleção Berardo will also be deposited and on display, as long as "the terms of the arrest remain as they exist today", said Pedro Adão e Silva. It should be recalled that the Berardo Collection works have been on hold since July 2019, following a lawsuit filed in court by Novo Banco, Caixa Geral de Depósitos and BCP, to recover a debt close to 1,000 million euros.

“In this context of uncertainty, what is up to us is to maintain the commitment to pay insurance, guarantee conservation, in return for public enjoyment. (...) The collection is arrested, it is under the terms of the arrest that we are going to work. process. When it is concluded, we will negotiate with whoever it is", recalled the Minister of Culture.

The MAC-CCB will have an "international profile", but will exist in "complementarity and articulation" with the National Museum of Contemporary Art - Museu do Chiado, also in the capital, he explained, without giving further details. As for the MAC-CCB's internal operating logic, Pedro Adão e Silva spoke of "stabilizing the framework within which the new museum will operate", attributing management to the administration of the CCB foundation, led by Elísio Summavielle. The approximately 30 workers of the Museu Coleção Berardo, including the artistic director, Rita Lougares, are transferred to the CCB foundation. "What we tried to convey was a message of all the tranquility of the workers. Labor relations will be maintained and that applies to the director. Later on we will evaluate", said Pedro Adão e Silva.

Source: cultureaominuto