MAC Lima

The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo opened in 2013 after a long campaign - Lima had gone decades without a dedicated contemporary art museum - in a modern low building set in gardens on the edge of Barranco. Its permanent holdings centre on Peruvian and Latin American art from the mid-twentieth century onwards, including work by Fernando de Szyszlo, Jorge Eduardo Eielson and others of the generation that took Andean forms into abstraction, and the programme is mainly temporary exhibitions of contemporary Peruvian and international work. The sculpture garden and open lawns are used for installations and events. It is small by international standards and the collection is modest, but it fills a real gap, and it combines naturally with the Pedro de Osma museum and a walk through Barranco. What is showing at any time varies considerably.

What you actually see

• The temporary programme - changing contemporary exhibitions, the main draw.
• The collection - Peruvian and Latin American work from the mid-twentieth century.
• The garden - lawns and sculpture around the low modern building.
• The gap it filled - Lima's first dedicated contemporary art museum, from 2013.

When to go

Year-round. One to two hours. Closed Mondays. Check what is currently on - the permanent display is small and exhibitions are the reason to go.

Honest expectations

Small, and if the temporary exhibition does not appeal there is not much else. The permanent collection is modest. Signage is largely in Spanish. Ticket price is high for the scale.

Nearby

The Pedro de Osma museum is close; the Barranco square and Bridge of Sighs are north.