The Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires (Malba) said it has acquired the Daros Latinamerica collection from Zürich, adding 1,233 works to its holdings as part of a strategic expansion timed for the museum’s 25th anniversary next year.
The purchase, which was announced by Malba founder Eduardo F. Costantini, will nearly double the institution’s collection to about 3,000 works and substantially broaden its holdings in photography, video, and installation art, museum officials said.
The new acquisitions, chiefly produced between the 1950s and 2010, bring 75 artists into Malba’s permanent collection for the first time and deepen representation from countries including Colombia, Cuba, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic.
Malba founder says the Daros Latinamerica acquisition is ‘A dream come true’
“My greatest ambition is to never stop. An institution has to grow continuously,” Costantini said by videoconference, calling the acquisition “a dream come true” and a fitting way to mark the Sept. 21, 2026, anniversary.
Malba said the Daros Latinamerica acquisition will be integrated into an already planned building expansion beneath Plaza Peru that will double the museum’s exhibition space to about 8,000 square meters and create a new program dedicated to design and textile art. The second floor of the current building will be devoted to contemporary works from the museum’s permanent collection and will include selected pieces from the Daros purchase for the anniversary opening.
Rodrigo Moura, Malba’s artistic director, said the addition strengthens the museum’s public mission and “reaffirms a commitment to art of the present and to our growing audiences.” Works expected to be on view in September include pieces by Helio Oiticica, Antonio Dias, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Jesus Rafael Soto, Doris Salcedo, Lygia Clark, and Cildo Meireles, the museum said.
The acquisition is part of a broader effort to secure Malba’s long-term sustainability
Malba estimates it now receives about 500,000 visitors annually at its Buenos Aires site and another 250,000 at Malba Puertos, a satellite venue opened in September 2024. Costantini acknowledged the practical challenges that follow so large an acquisition, saying it will affect exhibition planning, archives, loan policies, and curatorial selection.
The founder also flagged financing concerns tied to the expansion project, which he estimated could cost about US$20 million, and said he might have to help cover it personally. Malba said one of the anniversary projects is a newly revised monograph on the Costantini collection that will be distributed in Europe and Latin America and will be reissued to include the Daros works.
Museum officials described the acquisition as part of a broader effort to professionalize management and secure the institution’s long-term sustainability. The Daros Latinamerica collection, long housed in Zürich, has been considered one of the most important assemblies of modern and contemporary Latin American art in Europe.