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Valentín Roma Appointed New Director of MACBA

The new director, a writer and curator, joins the museum amidst controversy over the selection process.

Facade of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA).
IA

Facade of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA).

Valentín Roma has been unanimously appointed the new director of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA), succeeding Elvira Dyangani Ose. His five-year term begins amid controversy surrounding the selection process.

Valentín Roma (Ripollet, 1970), previously artistic director of La Virreina Centre de la Imatge, has been named the new director of MACBA. The decision was unanimous, replacing Elvira Dyangani Ose, who left in April to curate the Abu Dhabi Public Art Biennial. Roma's initial five-year term is renewable for an additional three years.
Roma, a recognized writer, essayist, and exhibition curator, has led La Virreina since 2016, fostering a program focused on critical reflection on contemporary culture, political memory, and the relationship between art and society. Previously, he worked as an independent curator and developed research projects and publications on figures such as Alexander Kluge, Susan Sontag, and John Berger. He is also the author of the novel trilogy El enfermero de Lenin, Retrato del futbolista adolescente, and El capitalista simbólico, as well as the essays Rostros and Diecinueve apagones y un destello.
This appointment comes eleven years after Roma was dismissed as chief curator of MACBA following the controversial exhibition 'La bèstia i el sobirà'. The incident, which included a sculpture with explicit sexual content depicting King Emeritus Juan Carlos I, led to the departure of the then-director, Bartomeu Marí, as well as Roma and Paul B. Preciado. His return to the institution is seen by some as a form of restitution.
The appointment occurred amidst controversy over the selection process. The Catalan Association of Art Critics (ACCA), the Assembly Platform of Artists of Catalonia (PAAC), and the Association of Professionals in Cultural Management of Catalonia (APGCC), along with the MACBA works council, issued a statement denouncing that the competition's terms did not guarantee transparency or free competition, thus violating the sector's Code of Good Practice.
The organizations conveyed their complaints to the museum's manager, Eduard Vicente, without receiving the requested rectifications. Key criticisms include the absence of international members on the evaluation committee, doubts about the independence of external members (linked to the MACBA General Council), and the lack of a high English proficiency requirement despite the museum's international profile. They are calling for deliberations based on objective and public criteria.

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