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| Faena Arts Center | |
|---|---|
| Name | Faena Arts Center |
| Caption | Façade of the Faena Arts Center in Puerto Madero |
| Location | Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Established | 2011 |
| Architect | Philippe Starck (renovation) |
| Owner | Faena Group |
Faena Arts Center Faena Arts Center is a contemporary art institution located in Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires, Argentina, founded by Alan Faena and associated with the Faena Group; it operates as a multidisciplinary venue hosting exhibitions, performances, and public programs that intersect with international curatorial practice. The center engages with a global circuit of artists, curators, museums, biennials, collectors, and foundations, positioning Buenos Aires within dialogues linked to Venice Biennale, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Tate Modern, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and New Museum. Its programming and architecture reference networks of cultural producers including Phillippe Starck, Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron, and institutions such as Fondation Louis Vuitton, Centre Pompidou, MAXXI, and Fundación Proa.
The center emerged from a private initiative by Alan Faena in the context of large-scale urban redevelopment in Puerto Madero linked to the Faena Hotel Buenos Aires project and investments by the Faena Group. Early collaborations invoked curatorial figures and organizations such as Rirkrit Tiravanija, Michele Lamy, Anish Kapoor, Ai Weiwei, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Iwan Baan to position the institution within international art circuits including the Bienal de São Paulo, Documenta, Whitney Biennial, and Sharjah Biennial. The center’s programming trajectory references precedents like Dia Art Foundation, Walker Art Center, ICA Boston, and Guggenheim Museum initiatives that blend site-specificity with global exchange. Its opening coincided with shifts in Argentine cultural policy under administrations linked to Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and later municipal cultural offices in Buenos Aires.
Housed in a repurposed industrial structure in Puerto Madero, the building underwent redesign and interior staging influenced by designers and architects in the lineage of Philippe Starck, with interior scenography resonant with practices at SculptureCenter, Kunsthalle Basel, Serpentine Galleries, and Hammer Museum. The facility includes large-scale galleries suitable for monumental installation similar to spaces at Guggenheim Bilbao and Tate Modern Switch House, project rooms resonant with The Kitchen and Artists Space, and performance areas comparable to Walker Center for Dance and Performance and ZKM. Technical collaborations have involved engineering firms associated with projects like Arup, Buro Happold, and audiovisual partners akin to BBC Studios and Tate Live.
The center has mounted solo and thematic exhibitions featuring artists whose careers intersect with institutions such as Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, and Palais de Tokyo. Programming includes contemporary art exhibitions, performance art seasons in dialogue with festivals like Performa, Biennale of Sydney, and Festival d’Automne, film series connecting to Cannes Film Festival and Torino Film Festival, and public commissions echoing initiatives by Public Art Fund and Artangel. Collaborative curatorial projects have entailed guest curators from MoMA PS1, Serpentine Gallery, Hayward Gallery, and Fondazione Prada.
Artists who have exhibited or collaborated include figures who also work with Yves Klein-influenced practices, relational aesthetics proponents like Rirkrit Tiravanija, conceptual artists associated with Kara Walker, Douglas Gordon, contemporaries linked to Marina Abramović, Anish Kapoor, Ai Weiwei, and regional Latin American artists connected to Marta Minujín, León Ferrari, Tomás Saraceno, Adrián Villar Rojas, and Gustavo Acevedo. Collaborations extend to choreographers and performers from networks including Rosas, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Pina Bausch, and contemporary composers associated with John Cage legacies. Institutional partnerships have been formed with Fundación Proa, Malba, Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires (MAMBA), Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Argentina), and international partners such as Tate, MoMA, Centre Pompidou, and Palazzo Grassi.
Educational initiatives reflect models from Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Education, Tate Learning, The Metropolitan Museum of Art public programs, and contemporary community engagement exemplars like Creative Time and Americans for the Arts. Activities include workshops, guided tours, artist talks, school partnerships similar to programs at Smithsonian Institution and university collaborations with Universidad de Buenos Aires, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, and Columbia University visiting programs. Outreach also draws on residency models exemplified by Artists-in-Residence programs at institutions like Civitella Ranieri and MacDowell Colony.
Governance is anchored in private patronage characteristic of foundations and collectives such as Tate Modern Trust, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and Getty Foundation-style philanthropy, with funding structures involving the Faena Group and partnerships with corporate and philanthropic actors akin to Banco Galicia, BBVA, Citi Foundation, and cultural sponsors similar to Rolex and Kering. Advisory councils and boards include curators, collectors, and cultural managers drawn from networks associated with International Council of Museums (ICOM), Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), and university art administration programs like Pratt Institute and Courtauld Institute of Art.