The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del Zulia (MACZUL) is one of Latin America's greatest institutions and still the most important museum in Venezuela today. Despite its struggles to keep its doors open to the public amid the crisis facing Venezuela, it continues to be an open cultural entity that encourages visitors to participate and enjoy its "hand-tailored" program of exhibitions, events and other activities, while also offering a cultural alternative of the highest level to the local community. In addition to this already difficult situation, the museum was hit hard in the month of July by three decisive events; three robberies within the same month that resulted, on the one hand, in the loss of audiovisual equipment essential for the presentation of a significant number of works; the theft of all the general service tools used for mounting exhibitions; and the robbery of the truck used for transporting the artistic projects requested by museums and cultural centers across Venezuela. When it was inaugurated in 1998, the museum had a staff of 120 persons. Today, the MACZUL team is formed by 33 individuals practically working for free because of the low and sporadic salaries that they receive. Nonetheless, the staff members are committed to culture as they recognize and promote the transforming impact of art in society. Another extremely important factor contributing to the precarious situation is the budget deficit that the museum must face every month and that has made it very difficult to provide basic maintenance needs. Additionally, the absence of a working air-conditioning system throughout the entire space is a problem that the museum has been trying to solve for nearly two years, but one that has become impossible to overcome due to the constant power outages and the recent theft of copper pieces. We ask anyone in a position to help to make a contribution. Donations will be mainly earmarked for: •Strengthening the physical-technical security of the museum. •Regaining the operational ability lost as result of the theft of our working tools and audiovisual equipment. •Performing mayor repairs to the air-conditioning system. •Maintaining green areas in the museum to ensure their adequate functioning, including the maintenance of lighting so these areas do not become hiding places for thieves. Individuals interested in helping may deposit their contributions into the following checking account number: Rif. J-070452080 Banesco, in the name of the Fundación Museo de Arte Contemporáneo. The deposit must be described as a donation. The museum serves the purposes of cataloging and preserving the collection, educating, as well as offering a program of exhibitions. It is the custodian of important works of art created by local, national, and international artists. In recent years, and thanks to the generosity of allies and donors, the museum has been able to acquire new works. It offers an active and continuous program of exhibitions focused on regional, national, and international contemporary artists. In 2016, it presented fifty-five exhibitions that were very well received and attended, increasing the museum traffic, particularly from the national public. In 2017, its program had to be modified once again in response, on the one hand, to the recent developments in Venezuela that began in April and, on the other, to better serve the needs of average museum visitors. More information is available at:
http://maczul.org.ve/2017/07/25/rescatemos-arte-y-cultura/