MAMCO

The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, known by its French acronym MAMCO (Musée d'art moderne et contemporain), is the contemporary art museum of Geneva, Switzerland. Opened in 1994 in the Plainpalais district, it occupies a converted former factory building with 3,500 square metres of exhibition space, making it the largest contemporary art museum in Switzerland. MAMCO matters as a pivotal institution in the Swiss and international contemporary art landscape, distinguished by its experimental curatorial philosophy, its substantial collection of post-1960s art, and its role in rethinking the traditional museum format through non-hierarchical, de-sacralized exhibition practices.

The origins of MAMCO trace back to 1973, when the AMAN (Association pour un Musée d'Art Moderne) was established with the shared goal of creating a collection and persuading the city of Geneva of the need for a museum of modern and contemporary art. For over fifteen years, the association organized exhibitions, colloquia, events, and artist invitations before succeeding in 1989 in convincing municipal authorities to acquire the building of the Société genevoise d'instruments de physique (SIP). The museum was inaugurated five years later, on 22 September 1994. Christian Bernard served as founding director from 1994 to 2015, shaping the institution's distinctive identity, and was succeeded by Lionel Bovier in 2016. Since 1 January 2005, MAMCO has been managed by FONDAMCO, a public-law foundation involving the MAMCO Foundation, the city of Geneva, and the canton of Geneva. The AMAN became the Association des amis du MAMCO (AMAMCO) upon the museum's opening, supporting acquisition funds and educational programmes, and counted approximately 1,000 members by 2019. In January 2025, MAMCO temporarily relocated its collections and staff to allow for complete building renovation, with reopening scheduled for 2028. During this period, the museum continues its exhibition programme through off-site collaborations including MAMCO x SOMA, MAMCO x Société des Arts, Dial-A-Poem Switzerland at the Bains des Pâquis, and Quickkopy Conceptualism with HEAD-Genève.

MAMCO's collection comprises almost 6,000 works created between the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, with about half of the holdings accessible through the museum's online catalogue. The collection has grown primarily through donations, bequests, and targeted acquisitions rather than through a standing acquisitions budget. Since 2017, the museum has expanded its holdings through its In Course of Acquisition project at artgenève, which had brought approximately sixty works into the collection by 2026. Under Christian Bernard's directorship, the museum developed a principle of not distinguishing between temporary exhibitions and collection works, thereby enhancing mobility within exhibition frameworks and rejecting chronological or monographic approaches. Since Lionel Bovier's arrival in 2016, the museum has moved toward a more chronological and historical organization of art, which the director considers the simplest way to account for what happens at a given moment on an artistic scene. The museum has organized over 450 temporary exhibitions, collection displays, and collaborative projects since 1994, with thematic surveys such as Inventaire and Land Art & Earthworks, summer special edition group exhibitions, and solo presentations.

The collection holds particularly strong groups of works by Siah Armajani, John M Armleder, Tobias Kaspar, Guy de Cointet, Sylvie Fleury, Olivier Mosset, Steven Parrino, Philippe Thomas, and Franz Erhard Walther. It also includes substantial bodies of work by Louise Lawler, Christian Marclay, Maurizio Nannucci, Nam June Paik, and General Idea, alongside pieces by Helen Frankenthaler, Gordon Matta-Clark, and Frank Stella. Specific highlighted works include Siah Armajani's Dictionary for Building (1974-1975), Robert Filliou's Eins. Un. One… (1984), Claudio Parmiggiani's Luce, luce, luce (1968, acquired 1995), and Claude Rutault's L'Inventaire. The collection also preserves L'Appartement, the apartment inhabited by art critic Ghislain Mollet-Viéville from 1975 to 1991. The museum and the municipal collection of contemporary art are each listed in the Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National Significance (Category A).

MAMCO is located at 10 rue des Vieux-Grenadiers in Geneva's Plainpalais district, within the former factory of the Société genevoise d'instruments de physique (SIP). The SIP was founded in 1862 by Auguste de la Rive and Marc Thury, and due to economic constraints began selling off properties from 1983. The city of Geneva purchased parts of the Plainpalais building in 1987 to create a space for cultural exhibitions in the city centre. Architecturally, little was altered, partly for financial reasons and partly because Christian Bernard wished to preserve the original spatial character. The building is now designated the BAC (Bâtiment d'art contemporain), which also houses the Centre d'art contemporain Genève (CAC, merged since 2010 with the Centre pour l'Image Contemporaine, CIC), and the Fonds municipal d'art contemporain de la Ville de Genève (FMAC). The MAMCO logo, with its graphically represented lines between letters, still visualizes the history of measuring instrument development at this site. The building is currently undergoing complete renovation from 2025 to 2028.

MAMCO is situated in Geneva's Bains neighbourhood, in the Plainpalais district. The museum is owned and supported through FONDAMCO, the public-law foundation established on 1 January 2005, which brings together the MAMCO Foundation, the city of Geneva, and the canton of Geneva. From 2016, under Lionel Bovier's directorship, the museum has undertaken significant structural and conceptual changes, including public reception improvements, website redevelopment, visual identity renewal, and the removal of walls to improve visitor circulation, as well as the implementation of hydrometric standards to increase art accommodation capacity. With the building closed for renovation from January 2025 until a planned reopening in 2028, MAMCO has no fixed premises for collection display but maintains its institutional presence through off-site exhibitions and collaborations with partner institutions throughout Geneva.