SOME FEATURES OF A CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTATION CENTRE. Case study of the MACBA (Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art) Studies and Documentation Centre

MACBA created the Studies and Documentation Centre, which opened its doors in 2007, to promote the museum’s development by extending its scope of activity so as to foster research on and the analysis of contemporary artistic practices. The tasks of the Studies and Documentation Centre can be summarized as the collection, preservation, and dissemination of materials which are useful or meaningful for the study of such practices. In performing these tasks, the working guidelines followed by the Centre are the same discursive lines as those defining the other institution activity: exhibitions, public programs, teaching sessions, series of brochures and other publications, etc. The Centre therefore changes and expands the activity of the MACBA by adding a new dimension while sharing perspectives and closely coordinating with other working facets of the museum.