The Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya is launching the public programme entitled MNAC in Transformation, a forum for collective reflection and debate designed to share and shed light on the process of expanding the Museum, which will enable it to improve its facilities, strengthen its public role and forge new ways of engaging with the public.
The programme features industry professionals, artists and creators, the educational community and a diverse audience, with the aim of actively engaging society as a whole. It will be rolled out across Catalonia in a range of face-to-face and digital formats, in collaboration with community organisations and networks, as well as through trade publications.
It's happening…
MNAC in Transformation. Thinking about the museum, imagining futures. Series of talks. 2026 – 2027
24 October 2026: Conversations with Directors and Curators of International Museums · Oval Hall
10.30 am Opening address by Pepe Serra, Director of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya.
Director of Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya
11.00 am In conversation: Adriano Pedrosa, Artistic Director of the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, and Caroline Campbell, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland.
Artistic Director of the Museu de Arte de São Paulo
Photography: Andrea Avezzu, courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.
Director of the National Gallery of Ireland
12.15 pm In conversation: Marc-Olivier Wahler, Director of the Musée d’art et d’histoire de Genève, and Francesca Cappelletti, Director of the Galleria Borghese in Rome.
Director of the Musée d’art et d’histoire de Genève
Director of the Galleria Borghese in Rome
1.30 pm Q&A session with all speakers, moderated by Pepe Serra.
2.00 pm – 3.30 pm Lunch break.
24 October 2026: Conversations with Internationally Renowned Architects · Oval Hall
4.00 pm Introduction by András Szántó, cultural strategy adviser.
Cultural strategy adviser
4.15 pm In conversation: Elizabeth Diller, architect and co-founder of the practice Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Stephan Schütz, architect and partner at gmp Architekten.
Architect and co-founder of the practice Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Photography: Geordie Wood
Architect and partner at gmp Architekten
5.30 pm In conversation: Shohei Shigematsu, architect and partner at OMA, and Kulapat Yantrasast, architect, founder and Creative Director of WHY architecture.
Architect and partner at OMA
Photography: Julian-Cassady
Architect, founder and Creative Director of WHY architecture
6.45 pm Q&A session with all speakers, moderated by András Szántó.
19 November 2026: Conversation with Sir Tristram Hunt · Oval Hall
11.00 am “Civic and Global: The V&A as a Cosmopolitan Museum”, a lecture by Sir Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Followed by a conversation with Pepe Serra, Director of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya.
Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London
MNAC in Transformation kicks off with the series of talks entitled Thinking about the museum, imagining futures. In autumn 2026 and throughout 2027, the various sessions will re-examine the role of museums in the face of the social, cultural, technological, economic and environmental changes that define our century.
This series will feature some of the most influential museum directors and architects on the contemporary cultural scene who are engaged in major cultural and architectural projects and have direct experience with transformation processes comparable to those currently facing the MNAC.
Building on its firm commitment to public service, this series will take a critical look at new museum models, the role of national museums in a globalised world, architecture as a driver of institutional transformation, governance and accountability, innovation in cultural management, new technologies, emerging audiences, sustainability and the contribution of culture to contemporary urban and social challenges.
The programme combines domestic and international perspectives with a clear commitment to the public good and community engagement. It aims to help people understand why the MNAC is undergoing a transformation, what impact this process will have, and what opportunities it opens up. It also aims to foster understanding, trust and engagement concerning a strategic project for Barcelona and also for Catalonia.
Thinking about the museum, imagining futures invites us to reflect collectively on what the museums of the future should look like as the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya moves forward with its expansion and transformation.
The MNAC in Transformation programme is supported by Agrolimen.
→ Thinking about the museum, imagining futures will continue throughout 2027 with new voices and perspectives from the worlds of museums, architecture, the arts, education, technology, well-being and community, and intellectual discourse.
With the collaboration of:
It has happened
29 January: Imagining the Future of Museums
The programme started with the lecture Imagining the future of museums by museum expert András Szántó, held in the Sala Oval. In this video you can see the summary of the main ideas that Szántó shared with the 500 attendees.
7 March: Artists. Feminine plural
The programme is still ongoing in March with an event that pays homage to female artists born between 1920 and 1950. The event is jointly organised with the Xarxa de Museus d’Art de Catalunya and curated by Elina Norandi, aiming to raise the profile of women who have been left on the margins of art history and give them the recognition they deserve.
21 March: Thinking about the New MNAC from perspective of the arts
On Saturday, 21 March, we are organising the conference entitled Thinking about the New MNAC from perspective of the arts, which includes three events organised together with other institutions and addresses a variety of perspectives. Specialists in the arts, writers, visual artists and young creators will share their perspectives and proposals on the possible futures of the New MNAC.
The day will combine several formats open to the public: a live podcast episode, the presentation of artistic projects and a new interpretation of the collections through dance. The programme is designed to bring the public closer to the great challenges of the future and the reflections that are currently shaping the New MNAC.
It is an invitation to think, feel and imagine the Museum from different perspectives, connecting research, live arts and new contemporary viewpoints.
11.00 am. Presentation of the project on the Pèl & Ploma podcast, in collaboration with Biblioteques de Barcelona, and the recording of the latest episode of the podcast in front of a live audience on the New MNAC project, between Ingrid Guardiola and Àlex Mitrani, in the Sala de la Cúpula.
The Pèl & Ploma podcast hosts conversations that feature writers and professionals from the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya who share their views on some of the works in the collection. In each episode, an author proposes his or her own text, inspired by a work of art in the Museum, which is the starting point for a relaxed conversation about literature, art and life.
12.30 pm. Presentation of the final projects from the EMPELT 2025 call for projects and the artists of the 2026 edition.
The perspective of the artists is essential for thinking about the Museum of the future.
EMPELT is a project by the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya and the Plataforma Assembleària d’Artistes de Catalunya (PAAC) that integrates local creators, in a residency or “graft” (empelt in Catalan) format, into working groups to investigate and reflect on the museum’s expansion process, the renewal of its collections and curatorial narratives, and the social and cultural roles that the New MNAC will play.
This year, the EMPELT artists Elvira Pujol, Joan Morey and Marla Jacarilla will present their projects.
4.30 pm. The dance performance entitled, El Museu Dansat, featuring students from the Professional Dance Conservatory of the Institut del Teatre.
The museum is growing… while dancing!
Through body and movement, the 5th and 6th year dance students will bring the Museum’s new acquisitions to life by performing pieces of their own creation: from female artists who have been recovered from obscurity to works from the two avant-garde movements and contemporary art, pieces that open up new narratives and perspectives.
In an MNAC that is growing and transforming with an eye fixed on 2029, dance becomes language, experimentation and the future. In this project, the Museum is opening up, listening to and moving with the new generations.
12 April: USk Meeting, drawing Montjuïc and the New MNAC
On Sunday, 12 April, the two buildings that will form the MNAC of the future, the Palau Nacional and the Palau Victòria Eugènia, will be the main attractions of the 9th Meeting of Urban Sketchers Catalunya. USk is a collective of urban sketching lovers who get together to draw and then exhibit their drawings in a photograph in the foyer of the MNAC. The meeting will bring together around 400 people.
7 May: Venice Biennale (Facing the Future: Reimagining Museums for the 21st Century)
During the Venice Biennale, we participated in the round table Facing the Future: Reimagining Museums for the 21st Century.
Presented by András Szántó and moderated by Ben Luke from The Art Newspaper, the conversation explored how three institutions — The Strauss in San Diego, the Kunstsilo in Kristiansand, and the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya — are shaping the museological discourse of the future and opening new paths in the sector.
MNAC director Pepe Serra presented the Museum and the architectural project of the New MNAC.
And on Canal +MNAC…
Under the title 9 questions for a New Museum, we have organised a series of sectoral round table discussions to address topics such as education, sustainability, communities, communication, facility management and health and well-being.
The discussion focuses on the questions proposed by the speakers, which act as a starting point to encourage reflection and dialogue.
You can now watch the conversations on Sustainability, Facility Management and Education.
