MUACC is the new University Museum of Contemporary Arts and Cultures in Cagliari, part of the rich cultural offer of the ancient city of Casteddu.
The MUACC contemporary art museum was inaugurated on the 17th of March 2021, in via Santa Croce 63 in the middle of Castello, one of the historic districts of Cagliari.
Rector Maria Del Zompo’s initiative was to create a meeting place between the artistic expression and the multiform cultural stories of the present. The Museum is part of the principles established by the International Organization of Museums (ICOM) and specific attention to the mission of university museums.
“Art is an inestimable asset, the basis of culture and civil society – said Maria Del Zompo, Rector of the University of Cagliari – At this time, especially since the pandemic, we want to send a message of hope and create a new beginning with the desire of our museum being as open as possible”.
“Our aim is the enhancement of the entire artistic heritage of our University, the attention will focus mostly on the Collection of contemporary art dating back to the second half of the 20th century, added Pamela Ladogana, History of Art Professor and scientific manager of MUACC, who also explains the relationship between contemporary art and the university: “Contemporary art needs the University to consolidate its historical awareness and to get in touch with the community of teachers and scholars who enrich it in a multidisciplinary perspective. This will be a place for students and scholars, who are already protagonists of this space through a special laboratory dedicated to curatorial practices”.
The presuppositions on which the new home of contemporary art is based are the vocation to research and the commitment to teaching, in addition to the need to disseminate knowledge with a perspective of participation and social change.
The commitment in teaching provides for the constant involvement of students, both in the implementation of exhibition projects and in training courses of a laboratory nature, to encourage the application of knowledge and the development of skills related to curatorial practices and museum professions.
MUACC in Cagliari: the museum of contemporary art
The University of Cagliari celebrates 400 years of activity with a new museum: the MUACC, collecting works of art acquired since the initiative of Corrado Maltese, professor at the University of Cagliari from 1957 to 1969, and so far kept in the various spaces of the Department of Letters, Languages and Cultural Heritage.
In addition to the artworks that make up the permanent collection, you can also admire the works donated by the sculptor Italo Antico, one of the most important protagonists of the artistic renovation in Sardinia since the early sixties, who will be present at the inauguration of the new exhibition space.
The artworks of the temporary exhibitions will interact with those of the permanent collection, allowing visitors to have a multidisciplinary journey to discover contemporary art and content that shapes the exhibition.
The historical and artistic heritage of the University is an important resource made accessible not only to teachers and students but also to the wider community of scholars and multiple audiences. The objectives of the museum are the conservation and enhancement of the collection, and to host activities such as seminars, conferences and public programs to present the result of scientific research and give way to an open, plural and inclusive debate environment. Also, a central role in the life of the newborn museum is the constant collaboration with other institutions, public and private, which offers valuable opportunities for growth in the key of exchange and sharing.
Aldo Urru, General Manager of the University of Cagliari, explained that the initiative is added to the already important investment plan launched in recent years. Urru is particularly grateful to the administrative structure that has taken care of the realization of the MUACC.
The museum is a gift that the University of Cagliari gives to the city for its fifteenth century.
Founded in 1607, and officially operational in 1626, the University is due to the action of the Sardinian parliament (the Stamenti) led by the archbishop of Cagliari Francisco Esquivel.
In 1607 Pope Paul V issued the bull of institution of an Athenaeum in the city of Cagliari and in 1620 the university obtained the privilege of foundation by Philip III of Spain. The activities of the Universitas Studiorum Caralitana began in 1626 and the Studium Generale, which was inspired mainly by the models of the Spanish universities and to a lesser extent by the Italian ones, initially had four teaching colleges: philosophy, laws, medicine and theology.
In the second half of 1700, Palazzo Belgrano was built, which still houses the Rector and the University Library, while the other existing structures were built in three different phases during 1900: In the thirties, the Faculties of Pharmacy, Magisterium and Mining Engineering followed by, after the Second World War, Letters and Philosophy, the Student’s House and the “Citadel of Museums”. The construction of the new university citadel and polyclinic dates back to the 1980s.
Today, the University of Cagliari has 6 Faculties and 17 Departments, over 24,750 enrolled, 37 three-year degree courses, 34 Master courses and 6 single-cycle courses, 30 specialization schools, 15 doctoral courses and 12 active Masters.
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