The Research Center of the Bogotá Museum of Modern Art – MAMBO, part of the Digital Futures in Museum Practices research project, is designed as a platform that promotes research practices around art, with a focus on the museum’s collection, archive, and exhibition programme. This initiative underscores the connection between museums and research, fostering innovative approaches to knowledge creation within the museum context. By leveraging interdisciplinary collaborations and innovative methodologies such as arts-based research, the Research Centre aims to encourage collaboration, co-creation, and research.

With open calls for national and international participants and partnerships with universities, the Centre serves as a dedicated platform for artists, museum professionals, academics, students, and independent researchers. It provides opportunities to explore art’s role in society and actively engage in the creation of knowledge related to the museum’s collection, archive, and exhibition programme. The Research Centre focuses on three main areas: research on the collection, photographic archive, and exhibitions developed by the museum; residencies and fellowships for researchers from various disciplines to engage with the museum as a centre for research, co-creation, and dialogue; and knowledge and co-creation spaces through academic activities, including research workshops in collaboration with universities, aimed at promoting practical and real-world research.

Projects at the MAMBO Research Centre

Currently, two main projects are underway at the museum, supported by the Government of Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund and led by Susana Vargas: “Un-Archiving the MAMBO” and the inaugural edition of the Residencies Programme.

“Un-archiving the MAMBO,” led by undergraduate student Juanita Bayona and Susana Vargas, focuses on documenting, cataloguing, and digitising the museum’s photographic archive to enhance public access. These archival processes will support various research and virtual projects, linking the archive’s content with MAMBO’s digital audience. This effort aims to activate historical materials that are vital not only to the museum’s history but also to Colombian and Latin American art. The project involves collaboration with undergraduate students from Universidad de los Andes (Colombia).

Photo and video by Gregorio Diaz. Courtesy of the Bogota Museum of Modern Art.