My last visit to a Venezuelan museum was over five years ago at the Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art, noted for its logo by designer Nedo Mion Ferrario and its gift shop items featuring Gego’s “Reticulárea” (1969). Recently, news spread on social media that the museum ceased operations on December 12, 2021. This prompted me to explore how a once exemplary institution in Latin America reached such a grim conclusion. In response to the uproar, Venezuelan Minister of Culture Ernesto Villegas stated that one gallery remains open and a cooperation agreement has been signed with an international biennial.
Gertrude Goldschmidt, known as Gego, a German-Jewish artist who became a Venezuelan citizen, held her first retrospective at the museum in 1977. Sofía Imber directed the museum for nearly 30 years, and in 1987, it hosted Robert Rauschenberg’s ROCI project. The museum also showcased pioneering exhibitions, such as one by Venezuelan artist Alexander Apóstol on queersexuality and AIDS. It acquired significant works by artists like Gego and Marisol, pieces that have since been displayed globally at institutions like the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum.
My visit five years ago aimed to update notes from a 2012 conference on the state of Venezuelan museums. During my tour, I found the museum’s condition deteriorating, with burned-out lightbulbs and malfunctioning air conditioning. The museum appeared as a shadow of its former self, with ideological narratives in place of historical context. Another concerning issue was the merging of national museum collections by former Minister of Culture Farruco Sexto, leading to a loss of focus and specificity in exhibits.
Recently, the exhibition Contesting Modernity at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, highlighted the challenges in Venezuelan museums. It faced last-minute rearrangements due to missing artworks from Venezuela’s national museums. This exhibition, one of the few major showcases of Venezuelan art in the past decade, underscores the crisis in Venezuelan cultural institutions. The situation raises questions about the current state of other key museums in Caracas and across the nation.
Venezuela’s cultural field now relies on small private organizations, as national museums fail to draw educational groups due to high dropout rates and governmental neglect. Despite these challenges, cultural centers continue to carry forward Venezuela’s artistic legacy. In the wake of mass migration, these institutions and the nation’s patrimonial artworks remain vital, demanding care and accountability to ensure their preservation amidst the country’s ongoing struggles.
