Rodrigo Moura, the chief curator of El Museo del Barrio, will step down from his position in March 2025, the institution announced in a press release today. He leaves to join the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA) as artistic director.
Moura will continue to oversee his 2025 curatorial projects with El Museo del Barrio, however, including Mestre Didi: Spiritual Form (March 13–July 13) and Candida Álvarez: Circle, Point, Hoop (April 24–August 10). The museum plans to conduct a global search for Moura’s replacement.
“Serving El Museo del Barrio over these past six years has been a profound privilege. I am deeply grateful to the Board, our supportive community, and the dedicated team at El Museo for their continued support of my curatorial vision. Working alongside so many talented colleagues and groundbreaking artists has been truly inspiring. I take immense pride in the strides we’ve made with the exhibition program and in growing and diversifying the museum’s permanent collection—a testament to El Museo’s commitment to representing and uplifting Puerto Rican, Latinx, and Latin American voices in the art world,” Moura said in a statement.
In 2019, Moura was appointed chief curator with the goal of creating a larger framework for the curatorial department, expanding the museum’s permanent collection, fostering relationships with emerging and established artists, and deepening its relationship with Puerto Rican, Latinx, and Latin American communities.
Since then, he has organized a number of exhibitions, including cocurating (with El Museo del Barrio curator Susanna V. Temkin and others) the inaugural edition of the museum’s Latinx contemporary art triennial “Estamos Bien” (2021) and its current iteration “Flow States” (2024). Moura also spearheaded the museum’s most expansive presentation of its collection in the show “Something Beautiful: Reframing La Colección” (2023).
“Rodrigo has played a pivotal role in advancing the mission of El Museo del Barrio, elevating our exhibition program and expanding our permanent collection. His dedication and vision have left a lasting impact on our institution and community,” executive director of El Museo del Barrio Patrick Charpenel said in a statement.
“At the same time, we are delighted that Susanna V. Temkin has been promoted to the position of Senior Curator. Susanna has been instrumental in organizing major exhibitions on behalf of El Museo del Barrio, including the recent survey shows of Carlos Martiel,” Charpenel continued. “As we look to the future, we trust in Susanna’s continued stewardship and expertise.”
Temkin, who has been at El Museo del Barrio since 2018, has been promoted to the role of senior curator. Since she first began, Temkin has contributed with exhibitions highlighting underrepresented perspectives like “Culture and the People: El Museo del Barrio 1969-2019” in conjunction with the museum’s fiftieth anniversary celebration and “Juan Francisco Elos: Por América, Domesticanx” (2022).
“Since joining the museum at its pivotal 50th anniversary moment, it has been an honor to reflect on the museum’s groundbreaking history while looking to the future for El Museo del Barrio and the Latinx art and culture more broadly,” Temkin explained in a statement. “I look forward to continuing to expand and innovate this work through upcoming exhibitions and programming that advances Latinx art and scholarship within local and global communities.”
