The group exhibition "MoCAA Collection in Yucatán" opened on September 18 at the Museum of the City of Mérida as part of the activities commemorating the 53rd anniversary of UADY's Faculty of Architecture, Habitat, Art and Design and the 20th anniversary of the founding of its Visual Arts program.
The opening drew a large audience of university students, faculty members, artists, regional specialists, and art enthusiasts. The ceremony was led by Karla Patricia Berrón Cámara, director of Identity and Culture for the Mérida City Council; Carlos Alberto Estrada Pinto, rector of the Autonomous University of Yucatán (UADY); architect David Reynaldo Alcocer, director of UADY's Faculty of Architecture, Habitat, Art and Design; Leonardo Rodriguez and Ivonne Ferrer, director general and director of MoCAA, respectively; artist and professor Javier Barrera; and David Mateo, curator, art critic, and editor-in-chief of Artcrónica magazine.
Most speakers emphasized the importance of supporting and promoting local and international art within the Yucatecan community, particularly the work of academy graduates and emerging artists. They also stressed the need to continue building bridges with Latin American art and expressed special appreciation for the professional and material effort made by MoCAA to bring a representative selection of its Cuban art holdings to Mérida.
Half an hour before the exhibition opened, Leonardo Rodriguez, Ivonne Ferrer, and David Mateo jointly presented a lecture titled Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas (MoCAA): A Platform for Visibility and Legitimacy for Cuban and Latin American Art. The speakers offered a concise overview of the history and formation of the Rodriguez Collection, which sustains the institution's public holdings; discussed the team's current direction and future strategies; and highlighted the importance of cultural exchange with Mérida and the exhibitions currently presented in the city.
MoCAA Collection in Yucatán brings together works by more than 60 Cuban artists, including late masters who have become landmarks in the history of Cuban art, figures working on the island, and members of the artistic community established in Florida and other parts of the world. Diverse in generation, subject matter, and technique, the paintings, prints, photographs, and installations offer a distinctive journey through Cuban art from the 1960s to the present.
MoCAA directors Leonardo Rodriguez and Ivonne Ferrer offered special thanks to David Reynaldo Alcocer and Karla Patricia Berrón for the invitation to exhibit part of the museum's Cuban art collection and to present a focused selection of Ivonne Ferrer's paintings and works on paper, organized by curator and art critic David Mateo. They also announced their decision to establish a MoCAA representative office in Mérida to strengthen artistic and educational exchanges with UADY's Faculty of Architecture and the city's cultural community.
MoCAA Collection in Yucatán will remain on view through October on the second floor of the Museum of the City of Mérida. It is one of two projects presented at the institution as part of the anniversary program honoring UADY's Faculty of Architecture, Habitat, Art and Design. The other curatorial project, titled Utopia, brings together works by masters, students, and alumni of the university.
