MAC/VAL is the first museum entirely dedicated to the French art scene from the 50’s up until today.

After the creation of the Fond Départmental d’Art Contemporain in 1982, the museum project progressively took shape over a period of nearly fifteen years. In 1999, the Conseil Artistique des Musées approved the collection, and the Scientific and Cultural Project was accepted by the Direction des Musées de France.

This project was carried by the Conseil Départemental du Val-de-Marne, its President Michel Germa, (1984-2001) as well as his successor Christian Favier, based on the belief that supporting artistic creation, with a special focus on cultural mediation, contributes to individual well-being, the understanding of others, mutual respect and sound social cohesion. The various missions of the museum embody this humanitarian vision of culture. The museum collection counts 2,000 artworks by well-known artists such as Christian Boltanski, Bruno Perramant, Claude Closky, Gina Pane, Annette Messager, and Pierre Huyghe etc. but also emerging ones, which shows MAC/VAL’s desire to promote contemporary creation.

To complement the permanent collection, the museum offers three to four temporary exhibitions a year. Whether monographic or collective, they take the form of an invitation inspired by the museum’s artistic encounters. Conceived as an extension of the permanent collection, they provide in-depth exploration of the contemporary art scene.

MAC/VAL’s team is constantly looking for new and better ways to bring the audience closer to French contemporary art from its emergence in the 1950’s up to its most recent production.