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The Museum of Modern Art (MAM) in Rio de Janeiro has just appointed an artistic direction in keeping with these times in which feminism, anti-racism and transparency are reinvigorated. It is a two-headed and diverse direction, made up of commissioners Keyna Eleison, a 41-year-old black woman from Rio, and Pablo Lafuente, a 44-year-old white Spaniard. The joint project presented by this duo of cultural managers, friends for a long time, was chosen among the hundred proposals submitted to the public competition called in the middle of a pandemic for the position, as announced Tuesday by the MAM.
"Our proposal is to take advantage of this diversity, to work on all aspects (of the artistic direction) as a duo", explains Lafuente from Rio. In the words of co-director Eleison, “A duo curation offers more insights on each issue. Developing collective projects strengthens the work, because the space of doubt is occupied by the act of listening ”.
The MAM was erected 70 years ago, following in the wake of the New York MoMA, on the shores of Guanabara Bay. Dedicated to the avant-garde, experimentation in the arts, cinema and culture, throughout its history it has experienced spectacular ups and downs including a great fire in the 1970s that destroyed almost its entire collection. With 15,000 pieces, it has one of the largest film libraries in Brazil and one of the largest collections of modern and contemporary art in Latin America. Now he faces a new resurrection at the hands of a new CEO, Fabio Szwarcwald, and the newly elected artistic direction. Closed due to the pandemic, this private museum plans to reopen its doors on September 12.
As soon as they found out about the contest, Eleison and Lafuente decided that they would apply for the position and that they would do it together. They intend to carry out all the functions of the position hand in hand. “The culture of museums in Brazil is very white. Our proposal was to work everything as a duo, the design of the exhibitions, the negotiation with the artists, the follow-up of the projects ... ”, details Lafuente, who has lived in Brazil since she arrived to direct -with four
The combination of their looks is one of the assets they offer: “Our different experiences make the structure more intelligent. We are not just a duo that complements each other, but a set of experiences, visions and knowledge that exceeds the sum of Keyna and Pablo ”, points out she, academic and veteran Brazilian cultural manager.
Together they aspire to "give the museum a reconfiguration." They want to open the three blocks of brutalist architecture that make up the headquarters towards the park designed by landscape architect Roberto Burle Max - Óscar Niemeyer's partner in countless projects - and connect them with the view of the spectacular bay. Open up to all audiences in one of the most unequal cities in a country as diverse as Brazil. It is enough to broaden the focus of the city that tourists visit a little to find extremely poor neighborhoods with enormous deficiencies. Lafuente emphasizes that the duo wants to create culture for everyone, but stresses that “you can't just tell them 'It's open' and wait for them to come. We intend to make specific programs for each group ”. For this purpose they intend to make use of the experience they share in the field of cultural education.
His project also contemplates that the various souls that make up the MAM dialogue more closely. "That the cinematheque feed the exhibitions, that they feed the research and that the research feed the school," says the Basque curator. Those are the ingredients with which this duo of curators intends to breathe new life into a museum, financed among others by the state oil company Petrobras and the Itaú bank, which last year had to auction a Pollock to face a financial crisis. It had been donated in 1952 by Nelson Rockefeller.