About MAC VAL
MAC/VAL is the first museum entirely dedicated to the French art scene from the 50’s up until today.
After the creation of the Fond Départmental d’Art Contemporain in 1982, the museum project progressively took shape over a period of nearly fifteen years. In 1999, the Conseil Artistique des Musées approved the collection, and the Scientific and Cultural Project was accepted by the Direction des Musées de France.
This project was carried by the Conseil Départemental du Val-de-Marne, its President Michel Germa, (1984-2001) as well as his successor Christian Favier, based on the belief that supporting artistic creation, with a special focus on cultural mediation, contributes to individual well-being, the understanding of others, mutual respect and sound social cohesion. The various missions of the museum embody this humanitarian vision of culture. The museum collection counts 2,000 artworks by well-known artists such as Christian Boltanski, Bruno Perramant, Claude Closky, Gina Pane, Annette Messager, and Pierre Huyghe etc. but also emerging ones, which shows MAC/VAL’s desire to promote contemporary creation.
To complement the permanent collection, the museum offers three to four temporary exhibitions a year. Whether monographic or collective, they take the form of an invitation inspired by the museum’s artistic encounters. Conceived as an extension of the permanent collection, they provide in-depth exploration of the contemporary art scene.
MAC/VAL’s team is constantly looking for new and better ways to bring the audience closer to French contemporary art from its emergence in the 1950’s up to its most recent production.
A unique architecture and garden
The Conseil Général du Val-de-Marne undertook to create a contemporary art museum to enhance the collection of artworks of the Fond Départmental d’Art Contemporain (FDAC) created in 1982.
In 1990, the Conseil Général du Val-de-Marne decided that the future museum would be located at the Carrefour de la Libération, in the heart of Vitry-sur-Seine.
In 1992, Jacques Ripault’s and Denise Duhart’s architecture firm was chosen based on a project built around pure and horizontal lines: a white and transparent building opening on the urban landscape and green areas around. La Chaufferie avec cheminée by Jean Dubuffet was erected in front of the future contemporary art museum in 1996. The overall cost of the project was 30.5 million euros.
This project became part of the 2000-2006 government region plan contract. It received the support of the Ministry of Culture and Communications/ Regional Office of Cultural Affairs of the Ile de France as well as the Regional Council of the Ile-de-France, which all contributed 7.5 million euros to the project. Construction work started in February 2003 and ended in May 2005. MAC/VAL officially opened on November 17th, 2005.
The Building
Located on a 20,000m² piece of land in the heart of Vitry-sur-Seine, the museum building spans over a total surface of 13,000m², which includes 4,000m² exhibition space, 2,600m² dedicated to permanent exhibitions and 1,350m² to temporary exhibitions. Storage and maintenance area represent 1,700m².
In addition to art related areas, the museum is also home to:
— A 150-seats auditorium, used as a place of encounter around the various museum exhibitions and activities
— A 480m2 documentation center
— A 395m2 space dedicated to educational workshops divided into three studios
— Two studio spaces for several months-long artist residency programs
— A bookstore
— A restaurant
— A 45-lots outdoor parking
The Garden
“Le jardin Michel Germa”
MAC/VAL is surrounded by a public garden conceived in a minimalist style that sprawls over 10,000m². Adorned with sculptures from the museum collection, the garden was landscaped by Gilles Vexlard, professor at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure du Paysage de Versailles.