New York, 3 August 2011, Art Media Agency (AMA)
Margarita Aguilar has been named director of the Museo del Barrio. She will take up her post on 12 September 2011.
The Museo del Barrio in Harlem promotes the art and culture of Latin America and the Caribbean. The institution was founded forty years ago by the artist Raphaël Montañez Ortiz and a group of artists and activists who realised that traditional museums were still not accessible to Latin-American artists. The Museo del Barrio boasts a permanent collection of more than 6,500 objects, covering more than eight hundred years of the history of Latin America and the Caribbean.
For Margarita Aguilar, this appointment is almost like a homecoming. Currently the vice-president and senior specialist of Latin-American art at Christie’s, she was a curator at the Museo del Barrio from 1998 to 2006. She will replace Julien Aguliar Zugazagoitia who tendered his resignation in March after being appointed director of the Neson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City.
According to the Art Newspaper, Tony Bechara, chairman of the board of trustees, said: “Margarita brings a unique combination of proven curatorial excellence and a long connection with El Museo, as well as a broad perspective on the Latin American art world, to her new position as director. We are delighted to welcome her back.”