The director of Arco, Maribel López, chosen to direct the Miró Foundation

BarcelonaArt historian and cultural manager Maribel López (Barcelona, 1973) has been chosen to direct the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona through an international competition. Having served as director of the Arco art fair in Madrid for the past eight years, she will return to her hometown, where she took her first professional steps. Maribel López will thus succeed Marko Daniel, who has been director of the foundation for eight years, until this past June, after the board announced four months ago, surprisingly, his end of stage just one month after renewing his contract for three years. López's name is a departure from the trajectory of the center's directors, who had always been experts in Miró and the avant-garde (Francesc Vicens, Rosa Maria Malet, and Marko Daniel), whereas his profile is more linked to management. López will have a four-year contract, extendable by two more, and a salary of 115,000 euros annually.

Maribel López was deputy director of the Estrany de la Mota Gallery from 1999 to 2007 and was part of the curatorial collective Creatures (1994-2000). She then opened her own gallery in Berlin (2007-2010) and also worked as a curator there. From 2011 onwards, she began her role as commercial director at Arco and, subsequently, from 2018, as director, replacing Carlos Urroz, who left the position after the censorship of the work dedicated to the political prisoners. His name was chosen by a committee of experts formed by Manuel Segade, Joan Oller, and Cécile Godefroy, along with members of the institution's board (Rosa Maria Malet, Sara Puig, Ana Vallés, Ignasi Aballí, and Joan Punyet) and representatives of the institutions that finance the house, such as the Generalitat, the Barcelona City Council, and the Ministry of Culture.

The Miró Foundation is undergoing a real change of cycle in its organization. In April 2024, Marga Sala joined the institution as the new manager, coming from the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park. The head of collections and archivist of the Fundació Joan Miró, Teresa Montaner, is retiring. And the Foundation has dismissed the curator and exhibition coordinator, Dolors Rodríguez.

The map of Barcelona and Catalan museums is taking shape, and it's becoming a little more feminized. The Picasso Museum has already presented its new director, who is also returning to Barcelona after a period in Madrid, the Valencian Rosario Peiro, who replaces Emmanuel Guigon. The new direction of the Macba has also been announced, after the end of Elvira Dyangani Ose's tenure, whom Valentín Roma is succeeding. The mathematician Lluís Nacenta has been appointed new director of the Design Museum and head of programming for the DHub. It remains to be seen who will lead La Virreina.