The Costantini Fundation has since 1990 been open to visits by local and international specialists and scholars, and to loaning works for exhibitions of Latin American art held in various countries of the Americas and Europe. In 1996 the collection in its entirety was publicly presented for the first time, at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, an exhibition later held at the Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales in Montevideo.  Between 1998 and 1999, a substantial selection of the collection’s most relevant works was exhibited at the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, at the Museu de Arte Moderna de Rio de Janeiro and at the “La Caixa” Foundation in Madrid. 

Between 1997 and 2000, the Foundation presented four consecutive editions of the Premio Costantini award at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, a competition that helped support Argentinean artistic creation, and enhanced the collection with pieces by some of the latest generations of artists, by means of its acquisition first prize.  

In late 1998 the opportunity arose to purchase a tract of land strategically located in the city’s urban and cultural circuit, for the construction of a museum.

An international open call was then organized by the International Union of Architects, within the framework of the Bienal Internacional de Arquitectura de Buenos Aires.  Four hundred and fifty proposals from 45 different countries were presented. Selecting the winner was up to an international jury of architects, and first prize was awarded to three young Argentinean architects: Gastón Atelman, Martín Fourcade and Alfredo Tapia.

Constructing the new building, setting up the institution itself, enlarging the collection, putting the museum on the map of world culture, but above all supporting the public stature of its objectives and mission, made up the challenges that eventually transformed a private passion into a project of enormous public significance.  [The permanent collection]

Malba is a vibrant and participative cultural arena for a wide variety of temporary exhibitions (occasionally as joint undertakings with other museums, international collections or similar foundations world-wide) and exhibitions of contemporary Argentinean and Latin American art. Malba also boasts an important film program and an archive that grows by the month, through the purchase and recovery of historically essential films. Furthermore, Malba arranges diverse literary activities, such as encounters with writers, courses, seminars, literary talks and book presentations, among others.

The educational and cultural activities area includes children’s programs, guided tours and assorted activities organized in partnership with civic organizations, aiming to offer every sector of the community the chance to become familiar with, enjoy, and study some of the most important artists and artistic movements of the past century.

As part of the museum’s educational vocation, on Wednesdays admittance is free and open to all.  In addition, students, retirees, and children under twelve years of age are admitted free every day.

Malba’s collection focuses on art produced in Latin America during the 20^th Century, and is made up of a group of over two hundred and seventy works by Argentinean and Latin American artists. It is an institutional collection that is the patrimony of the Eduardo F. Costantini Foundation.  Most of its works were donated by Malba’s founder, issuing from the collection he brought together largely during the eighties and nineties. During the museum’s three years of public operation, its patrimony has grown, thanks to its acquisition program and to the generous donations received from artists as well as artists’ family members and individual donors.

Initially revolving around Modern and avant-garde movements of the Río de la Plata area, particularly during the ‘10s and ‘20s, the Costantini collection has in the past decade established itself as one of the main players on the international stage, bringing together one of the world’s most significant ensembles of 20^th Century Latin American art.  Artists and works from countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela and Chile have made their way into the collection, which has become increasingly active in Europe and in the United States in terms of its institutional loans policy. From 1997, the project began to take on a public, permanent dimension; and the decisions and steps leading to Malba’s constitution, construction and inauguration gathered pace, culminating in its completion in September 2001.

Since opening its doors to the public, the permanent exhibition of its patrimony has remained one of Malba - Costantini Collection’s main institutional objectives. Most of its Latin American art collection can always be found on display in the museum’s central rooms, presenting visitor and viewer with different approaches and new readings of the region’s art history, from the first avant-garde movements of the 20th Century to the most contemporary productions from the past few decades.  A group of Latin American art’s true master works that includes Retrato de Ramón Gómez de la Serna (Portrait of Ramón Gómez de la Serna) by Diego Rivera, Abaporú by Tarsila do Amaral, La mañana verde (The Green Morning) by Wifredo Lam, Autorretrato con chango y loro (Self-portrait with Monkey and Parrot) by Frida Kahlo, El viudo (The Widower) by Fernando Botero and Rompecabezas (Puzzle) by Jorge de la Vega is complemented by important suites of work by artists such as Xul Solar, Rafael Barradas, Agustín Lazo, Roberto Matta, Antonio Berni, Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Clark, Antônio Dias, León Ferrari and Liliana Porter.