About

The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal makes today’s art a vital part of Montréal and Québec life. For more than fifty years, this vibrant museum has brought together local and international artists, their works and an ever growing public. It is a place of discovery, offering visitors experiences that are continually changing and new, and often unexpected and stirring. The Musée presents temporary exhibitions devoted to outstanding and relevant current artists who provide their own, particular insight into our society, as well as exhibitions of works drawn from the museum’s extensive collection. Every form of expression may be featured: digital and sound works, installations, paintings, sculptures, ephemeral pieces, and more. In addition to its wide range of educational activities familiarizing the general public with contemporary art, the Musée also organizes unique artistic performances and festive events. It is a window onto a myriad of avant-garde expressions that increase the exposure and awareness of art throughout the city and beyond.

2025

The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal is transforming to serve you better in 2025. We will be welcoming you to Place Ville Marie with fresh new programming starting December 1, 2021.

Mission

Canada’s premier museum dedicated exclusively to contemporary art, the MAC is committed to demonstrating the fundamental role played by contemporary art in our society. To achieve this, it offers visitors a range of artistic and educational activities that familiarize the general public with contemporary art. With a history that already spans half a century, the Musée pursues its mission with ever greater conviction: to make known, promote and preserve Québec contemporary art and ensure a place for international contemporary art through acquisitions, exhibitions and other activities.

Vision

Truly a museum for the twenty-first century, the MAC aims to be accessible, trailblazing and visionary; a vibrant place of dialogue and discovery bringing together contemporary art, local and international artists and their works, and all different kinds of audience. The museum is also a versatile place, open to every form of expression: digital and sound works, installations, paintings, sculptures, ephemeral pieces, performances and more. Today more than ever, the MAC wants to reaffirm its leadership role and convince a continually growing public of the essential contribution made by contemporary art in asserting and developing our culture, and the clear value it holds for our society.

History

The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal was founded in 1964 by the Québec government, at the instigation of artists and collectors who wanted to see an institution established to build a collection of contemporary works by artists from Montréal, Québec, Canada and around the world.

The MAC opened to the public in March 1965 in temporary premises at Place Ville-Marie. It was housed at Château Dufresne from 1965 to 1968, when it moved to the Expo 67 Gallery of International Art, at the Cité du Havre. In 1983, the museum was made a provincially owned corporation with the following mission: “To make known, promote and preserve contemporary Québec art and to ensure a place for international contemporary art through acquisitions, exhibitions and other cultural activities.”

In 1992, the MAC moved from the Cité du Havre to its current home on Sainte-Catherine Street, in the Place des Arts.

Directors