Museum of Modern Art of Cartagena, Colombia Visitor Guide

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The Museum of Modern Art of Cartagena, or Museo de Arte Moderno de Cartagena, has a nice collection of modern art from local, national, and international artists.

It’s also located in a beautiful, old, stone colonial building that has an interesting history of its own.

For art enthusiasts, the Modern Art Museum of Cartagena is worth a visit, and its central location makes it an easy addition to any itinerary.

If you’d like to see the Cartagena Museum of Modern Art yourself, read on for a complete visitors guide to the best art museum in Cartagena.

Why Visit the Museum of Modern Art of Cartagena?

To be honest, I would not consider the Museum of Modern Art in Cartagena to be a must visit, especially since they’ve raised their prices in recent years to where it’s not nearly as cheap as it used to be.

Still, it’s one of Cartagena’s best museums, it has the city’s largest collection of modern art, and it’s pretty well put together.

It’s also still relatively cheap if you consider the equivalency of the entry fee in dollars or most other foreign currencies.

Although the collection isn’t the largest, there are some neat pieces on display in the Modern Art Museum in Cartagena. The museum is also located in a gorgeous, old, stone colonial building.

I’d say that if you’re a big art fan and enjoy art museums, then the Cartagena Museum of Modern Art is worth checking out.

It’s central location near the Clocktower, diagonal to the San Pedro Claver Church (which has a decent collection of art itself), also makes it an easy addition to any day walking around Cartagena’s Walled City that you don’t need to go out of your way to see.

If you don’t really care about art, I’d probably just skip it though.

If you do want to see the Museum of Modern Art in Cartagena, you’ll find some info on how to visit and what to expect at the best art museum in Cartagena below.

Visitor Information

• How to Get There:
  • The Cartagena art museum is located diagonally across from the San Pedro Claver Church on the way to the clocktower.
• Cost of Admission (last updated Dec 2024):
  • $25,000 Colombian Pesos (COP) for foreign nationals
  • $15,000 COP for foreign national children (doesn’t specify age)
  • $20,000 Colombian nationals
  • $10,000 Colombian children, students, and seniors (with ID)
• Hours:
  • Closed Mondays
  • Tuesday to Friday: 11 am to 6 pm
  • Saturday and Sunday: 11 am to 5 pm
• Estimated Time to Visit:
  • 30 minutes to an hour

See the museum’s website (Spanish only) for more information and confirm latest prices and hours).

What to See at the Modern Art Museum in Cartagena?

There are several sections of the Cartagena Museum of Modern Art.

Downstairs, you’ll find an exhibit featuring modern Colombian artists.

There are several works by Colombian artist Alejandro Obregón, including a “Condor.” The three paintings by Enrique Grau of Cartagena are also neat and some of my personal favorites. There are also a number of small sculptures from Obregón and others.

There is also an exhibit dedicated to historical photos of the city documenting its transformation to modernity. I liked this part quite a bit as a history buff, and I always find seeing old photos of the city interesting, especially since the city looks quite different.

Also downstairs, there is an exhibit dedicated to the art of Cartagena native and feminist painter Cecilia Porras. My favorite in this section was the gorgeous mural dedicated to the history of Cartagena from the arrival of the Europeans to independence.

Porras left a hidden feminist message on the right hand side of the painting by inserting a self-portrait of herself alongside the city’s republican leaders with a soldier taking aiming at her. Painting in the mid-20th century, Porras was commenting on the continued exclusion of women in public life.

Finally, you can also see a small exhibit featuring artists from elsewhere in Latin America.

Upstairs, there are a few more exhibits, mostly consisting of smaller works.

This building actually housed a pair of galleys that patrolled the Colombian Caribbean coast in the early colonial era. They slid right out the backside of the building into the bay (the water once came all the way up to the city walls).

There’s a lot of neat, historic brick work exposed that you can really take in from the upstairs. The building’s tall stone walls and the ceiling’s wooden rafters are beautiful pieces of art themselves.

Ready to plan your visit to the Cartagena Museum of Modern Art?

There you have it. A complete visitors guide to Cartagena’s Museum of Modern Art.

I hope it was useful and helped you plan your visit if you do decide to go. I’d love to know what your favorite part of the museum was in the comments below.

Cheers and Happy Exploring!