The Museum of Contemporary Art and the Cold War: Nemesio Antúnez director

Abstract

The direction of Nemesio Antúnez between 1962 and 1964, and the administrations that followed him at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC), are an exemplary case of the political-cultural dynamics developed during the Cold War. This article analyses this museum management from the perspective of intellectual history and cultural history, working on the networks of thought that surrounded Antúnez and the conflict between his programming and the North American influence at that time, paying attention to how the MAC became involved in the cultural cold war. In this way, the aim is to contribute to the knowledge of the institutional networks that existed between the peripheral intelligentsia and the metropolitan centers during one of the key periods of the 20th century, presenting some exhibition programs that responded to the impulse of the USA for ideological insertion.