Museo de Arte Moderno de Cartagena (MAMC)

The Museo de Arte Moderno de Cartagena, known as MAMC and officially named after the painter Enrique Grau, is the city's main museum of 20th-century art. It was founded by Grau with the support of Alejandro Obregón, two of the most important Colombian artists of the century, and its first director was Miguel Sebastián Guerrero. It celebrated its half-century in 2022. For more than 40 years it has been led by Yolanda Pupo de Mogollón.

The museum sits on a corner of the Plaza de San Pedro Claver, in the part of the walled city historically known as Corralito de Piedras. It stands next to the Baluarte de San Ignacio on the city walls and occupies the former Almacén de Galeras, a colonial building that El Universal describes as a former salt warehouse; the paper's 2025 guide adds a second, 17th-century building that once served as the port customs house.

The permanent collection, built largely from donations, numbers more than 400 works (recent inventories give between 440 and 475) by artists from 18 countries, including Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela. Most date from the second half of the 20th century, with a smaller group from its early decades. Obregón and Grau are central figures, and works by artists such as Camilo Calderón and Ofelia Rodríguez have also been shown. Gabriel García Márquez referred to the collection in his writing. Temporary exhibitions change through the year, so check what is on.

It suits anyone interested in Caribbean and Latin American art and makes a change from the churches and fortresses. Bear in mind that, according to its president, the building has no lift and no air conditioning, so the upper rooms are reached by stairs and can be warm. During the pandemic closure the staff updated the inventory and the storage areas were remodelled between 2020 and 2021 with support from the Ministry of Culture and private donors.

El Universal's 2025 guide gives opening hours of 11:00 to 18:00 from Tuesday to Friday and 11:00 to 17:00 at weekends, with Mondays closed and a paid entry; check before you go. Allow an hour. The San Pedro Claver church and museum are on the same square, and the Museo Naval del Caribe is just behind them, so you can see all three in a morning.