Temporary exhibitions
Contemporary projects built for the space — the reason to come.
Jean-Pierre Dalbéra — CC BY 2.0 · Maria Fátima Leite — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Carlos Figueroa Rojas — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Carlos Figueroa Rojas — CC BY-SA 4.0
If you can only do one, **MuCEM** without hesitation: the building is itself a landmark, it sits on the water by the Old Port, and its material on Mediterranean civilisations has far broader appeal. MAC is the choice for someone who cares **specifically about contemporary art**, has spare time and doesn't mind the trip south. The practical rule: look up which temporary show is on at MAC — if it interests you, go; if not, your time is better spent elsewhere.
**One to two hours**, depending on the size of the temporary show. It is a medium-sized museum that doesn't exhaust you, with wide galleries and an easy flow. Add travel time: it is about five kilometres south of the centre and the bus takes roughly half an hour. That is why it is best folded into a full southern day — MAC, then Parc Borély and its château, or the nearby Prado beaches — which makes the journey pay for itself.
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Marseille's museum of contemporary art, known in short as **[mac]**, sits in the south of the city well off the usual visitor route — which works in its favour: wide, calm galleries that are rarely crowded. The building itself is low, plain and modern, designed to serve the work rather than compete with it. The permanent collection covers art from the 1960s to the present with a clear focus on French art and on the Marseille and Mediterranean scene — installation, video, sculpture and photography, including work by significant names from post-war French movements. But the real strength is the **temporary exhibitions**: the museum programmes seasonal projects by contemporary artists, often built for the space, and they are what decides whether a visit is worth it on any given date. This is a museum for people who specifically like contemporary art. Anyone after classics or an iconic landmark will spend their time better at MuCEM or the Palais Longchamp.
Contemporary projects built for the space — the reason to come.
Off the crowd's path — you can look at the work in peace.
Work by artists from the city and the Mediterranean basin.
69 Avenue de Haïfa, 13008 Marseille