{"id":426649,"date":"2026-05-01T08:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T08:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/426649\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T08:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T08:40:08","slug":"museo-de-arte-moderno-de-bogotas-director-departs-amid-accusations-she-harassed-staff-the-art-newspaper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/426649\/","title":{"rendered":"Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogot\u00e1’s director departs amid accusations she harassed staff – The Art Newspaper"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogot\u00e1<\/a> (Mambo) is facing a leadership crisis. The Colombian museum now needs to fill two key positions following the resignation of its director, Martha Ortiz, who left amid accusations of harassment and creating a toxic environment for her colleagues. Ortiz\u2019s departure earlier this month comes on the heels of the dismissal of Mambo\u2019s artistic director<\/a>, Eugenio Viola, in February.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the museum\u2019s board announced Ortiz\u2019s departure by saying it would begin the search for a new director \u201cwith the utmost rigour that this process deserves\u201d. Ortiz had assumed the position in March 2024, having come from a background in journalism and media management, with no prior experience in museum leadership.<\/p>\n

For now Mambo board\u2019s chair, \u00c1ngela Royo, will oversee the institution\u2019s strategic decisions while Francy Hern\u00e1ndez, the financial and administrative manager, will handle administrative processes.<\/p>\n

Mambo\u2019s leadership crisis began earlier this year, when the museum unexpectedly dismissed Viola from the role he had served in for seven years. The decision was announced on social media, with the museum’s leaders citing a \u201ccomprehensive review\u201d; comments were disabled on all posts, blocking any possibility of public response.<\/p>\n

Weeks later, an open letter addressed to the board and signed by more than 140 artists, curators, critics, museum directors and cultural figures\u2014including David Manzur, \u00d3scar Mu\u00f1oz, Miler Lagos and Delcy Morelos\u2014called for \u201cpublic, clear and well-reasoned\u201d explanations regarding Viola\u2019s departure. The letter noted: \u201cCommunicating without explaining and closing off spaces for dialogue amounts to exercising an authoritarian stance that erodes trust and undermines the museum\u2019s legitimacy in the eyes of its community.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Ortiz still serving as director, the museum issued a new statement on its website, which began: \u201cMambo maintains open and transparent communication with all its stakeholders.\u201d The text included an acknowledgement of Viola\u2019s departure, noting that his exit had followed \u201ca process of sustained discussions\u201d with the board regarding the operational structure and resources of the curatorial department. As no agreement had been reached, his contract was terminated. The statement also noted that the exhibition schedule would proceed as previously planned; the museum opened a solo exhibition by Ana Mar\u00eda Rueda that same day titled, poignantly, The Sensitive Chaos (El caos sensible). The statement concluded with an email address for enquiries, but messages sent to that address proved undeliverable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe board\u2019s decision to remove Martha Ortiz is a necessary\u2014yet markedly delayed\u2014measure,\u201d Viola tells The Art Newspaper. \u201cHad it been taken in time, it could have prevented much of the institutional erosion observed in recent months. I formally alerted the board as early as the end of September 2025 to deteriorating working conditions and broader structural issues affecting the museum,\u201d concerns he claims were not addressed. He adds that now the institution must appoint a director capable of rebuilding its relationship with the artistic community, \u201csomeone who understands that a museum is governed not by imposition but by dialogue, trust and ethical rigour\u201d.<\/p>\n

The position of artistic director has not yet been filled, and the search for a new director is now underway, according to museum leaders. Representatives for Mambo did not respond to a request for comment. On the museum\u2019s website, both Ortiz and Viola are still listed as staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogot\u00e1 (Mambo) is facing a leadership crisis. The Colombian museum now needs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[34664,307,304,305,306,9151,308,93,61,60,186541,8541],"class_list":["post-426649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-appointments-departures","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-colombia","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-museo-de-arte-moderno-de-bogota","tag-museums-heritage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}