MACBA Han Nefkens Foundation Video Art Donation Expands Collection

A major MACBA Han Nefkens Foundation video art donation deepens collaboration between the museum and the nonprofit foundation.

BY ARTCENTRON NEWS

BARCELONA—The Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) has received a major video art donation from the Han Nefkens Foundation, adding 18 works to its collection and reinforcing a long-standing collaboration focused on the production and circulation of contemporary moving-image art.

The MACBA Han Nefkens Foundation video art donation comprises 18 single- and multi-channel works commissioned between 2009 and 2022 through the foundation’s international programs. MACBA Director Elvira Dyangani Ose and Han Nefkens, founder of the Barcelona-based foundation, unveiled the works. The work will now become part of MACBA’s permanent collection.

“These works are not static objects; they are constellations of lived exchange,” Nefkens said. “Each creation carries echoes of the spaces and dialogues from which it emerged. Though our foundation is modest, its impact resonates far. I offer these works as a tribute to Barcelona—a city that has shaped me. MACBA is not just a museum; it is part of the city’s pulse.”

A Long-Standing Collaboration Focused on Video Art

The donation aligns closely with MACBA’s curatorial vision, particularly its emphasis on postcolonial narratives and artistic practices rooted in the Global South. According to Dyangani Ose, the works bring renewed urgency to the museum’s engagement with memory, ecology, history, and political dissent.

“These pieces are anchored in contextually charged processes,” she said. “Their inclusion allows us to explore alternative forms of knowledge and lived experience, expanding how we approach contemporary history and artistic production.”

The partnership between MACBA and the Han Nefkens Foundation extends beyond the current donation. Since 2019, the two institutions have collaborated on the biannual Moving Image Commission, which supports the creation of new screen-based works in partnership with international institutions such as the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) in Mexico City and The Bass Museum of Art in Miami.

The most recent edition of the commission awarded a $100,000 grant to artist Minia Biabiany, who is currently developing a new work scheduled for presentation in 2024.

Expanding MACBA’s Video Art Collection

The Han Nefkens Foundation donation reflects the organization’s longstanding philosophy of prioritizing artistic production over ownership. The foundation does not maintain a private collection; instead, it commissions new works and places them in public institutions, ensuring long-term stewardship and access.

Each of the videos included in the donation originated within the foundation’s development programs, which provide artists with curatorial guidance, institutional partnerships, and international visibility alongside financial support.

To mark the occasion, MACBA hosted a public event as part of the LOOP Barcelona program. The event celebrated The Joy of Sharing, a publication marking 25 years of Han Nefkens’s patronage of contemporary art. The book brings together literary and poetic responses to audiovisual works commissioned by the foundation. Together, the texts explore the relationship between the moving image and the written word.

The evening opened with a screening of Endless, Sightless (2018) by Vietnamese artist Nguyen Phuong Linh. Following the screening was a conversation between Nefkens and novelist Rowan Hisayo Buchanan.

The Han Nefkens Foundation is a nonprofit organization focusing on contemporary video art. It was founded in 2009 by Dutch writer and philanthropist Han Nefkens. Through international collaborations, it commissions and supports new moving-image works. It emphasizes artistic process, experimentation, and public dissemination—an approach reflected in its latest contribution to MACBA’s video art collection.