La misión del Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá es ser un espacio pluricultural y dinámico que investiga, comunica y expone su patrimonio cultural y las diversas manifestaciones del arte moderno y contemporáneo con el fin de generar experiencias significativas y procesos de aprendizaje que contribuyan a la transformación social.

As the Minister of National Education, Aurelio Caicedo Ayerbe signed the founding act of the Museum of Modern Art on July 27, 1955.

In November 1962, the renowned historian and art critic Marta Traba brought this initiative to life and assumed the directorship of the Museum. She emphasized the need to create an institution to promote the visual arts, and thus, the Museum of Modern Art began its activities in February 1963.

During the initial months, the focus was on setting an action plan and raising awareness among the public and the cultural community about the need for a museum to foster the cultural progress of the city. In that year, the first exhibition, “Tumbas” by Juan Antonio Roda, was inaugurated in a location in the city center, which served as the Museum’s first venue. In 1965, with the support of the National University Headmaster, José Félix Patiño, the Museum was relocated to the university campus. The Faculty of Philosophy of the University offered the Museum a space within the university grounds.

In 1969, Gloria Zea assumed the directorship of the Museum, which continued operating at the University until June 3, 1970, when a protest left it exposed to insecurity. The University did not take responsibility, and due to the lack of guarantees, the Director withdrew the 80 works in the Collection at that time. The new Directorship prioritized three objectives for the Museum: securing funding for one year, obtaining an immediate provisional venue, and launching the project to acquire a permanent location. A new provisional venue was secured in the Bavaria Building, where exhibitions of major national and international artists were presented. Before completing the permanent location project, the Museum continued its work at the District Planetarium, where the Auguste Rodin exhibition was presented in 1971.

The current MAMBO, designed by architect Rogelio Salmona, is located in the cultural and historical center of Bogota. Its first phase was inaugurated in 1979, and the construction was completed in 1985. The building features four floors, six exhibition halls, an auditorium or cinema, a project room, two workshops for educational activities, a storage area for the permanent collection, a library, a bookstore, a restaurant, and administrative offices, covering an approximate area of 5,000 square meters. To date, it houses around 3,633 works by prominent Colombian and international artists as part of its permanent collection.

The MAMBO building, situated in the cultural and historical heart of Bogotá, was designed by architect Rogelio Salmona.

Exhibitions that hold the different visions of the modern and contemporary world, retrospectives of Colombian, Latin American and international masters, as well as art seminars, theoretical meetings, projections and live arts in the auditorium have been done through the years.

The history of the Museum in recent years divides its history: In April 2016 the sculptor and cultural manager Claudia Hakim was appointed by the Directive Board as the new director of the institution that Gloria Zea led for forty-six years.

The new director aims to internationalize the Museum, strengthen the pedagogical area and themediation processes, as well as restore the Association of Friends of the Museum (MAMBO Network) and reclaim the building spaces. Thus, 2017 began with an adaptation of the Marta Traba Room, which recovers the original spaces designed by the architect. The new spaces are revealed to the public in the framework of the exhibition entitled from line to space, with works by the artists Olga de Amaral, Jim Amaral and Ricardo Cárdenas, under the curatorship of Eduardo Serrano. The Museum has doubled the number of visitors to its exhibitions and talks between 2016 and 2018.