Statement regarding the work of master Débora Arango

September 23, 2025

On the decision of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Knowledge regarding the work of the master artist Débora Arango

• Our management is guided by a cultural imperative: to broaden citizen access to the legacy of Débora Arango.
• The motivation is above all cultural, pedagogical, and civic.

The Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y los Saberes has recently issued a statement regarding the request by the Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín (MAMM) to transfer two works by maestra Débora Arango, which are owned by the Museum, to the Banco de la República, a request that has generated opinions and communications in some media.

Arango’s works donated to the MAMM were declared Bienes de Interés Cultural (BIC) in 2004 at the Museum’s own request, given their artistic, symbolic, and historical significance. The protection regime for BIC, regulated by Law 1185 of 2008, stipulates a system of prior authorizations by the body that makes the declaration (Minculturas), and it was precisely within this legal framework that the Museum proceeded with the transfer request.

The authorization request to the Ministry was denied based on interpretations that the Museum has debated through administrative dialogue channels (the irrevocability of the donation and the alleged indivisibility of the collection), which generated a public debate in which some sectors perceived the initiative as an attempt at “sale” or “fragmentation.” However, the MAMM has been emphatic: its motivation is above all cultural, pedagogical, and civic. Our management stems from a cultural imperative: to expand citizen access to the legacy of Débora Arango and ensure that more Colombians—in Medellín, in the regions, and among new generations—can know, enjoy, and reflect on her work.

While this Ministry decision sets a course, the Museum will continue seeking alternatives and partnerships that strengthen the shared purpose of both entities: that the maestra’s work circulates and remains alive in the cultural memory of the country, just as it happens with the work of the most important masters.

For more than 40 years, the MAMM has developed exhibitions, research, publications, and projects that have given visibility and relevance to the maestra’s work. Since 1984, the year the exhibition “Débora Arango. Retrospectiva, 1937–1984” was presented—which demonstrated the significance of her return to public life and motivated the donations she would make to the Museum in 1986 and 1987—the MAMM has played a fundamental role in the preservation, research, and dissemination of her work. In the following decades, the Museum promoted more than one hundred solo exhibitions that became milestones and has integrated her work into group exhibitions that put her relevance in dialogue with other artists and contexts.

Looking ahead, the MAMM frames this debate within the upcoming commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Débora Arango’s death, a date that will serve as a platform for a broad agenda of exhibitions, pedagogical activities, and institutional partnerships, and reiterates its commitment to the memory and dissemination of a transgressive artist, historically silenced and fundamental to the history of art and social and gender vindications in Colombia.