Active between 1929 and 2006, the Los Cerillos Airport — said to be a symbol of modernization for the country — was located on grounds donated to Chile in 1928 by American philanthropist David Guggenheim. Earlier this year, the airport building was transferred to the National Council of Cultural and Arts Chile, which opened to the public in September in a renovated space that will house the National Centre for Contemporary Art.

In preparation for the opening of the arts space, the 4,000-square-meter former airport building was renovated to complement its original Modernist architecture. Exhibition spaces are joined by libraries and space for archives, research and storage, all intended to conserve public and private collections of contemporary art.

While a full exhibition program is still to come, the September opening was accompanied by the exhibition “Una Imagen llamada Palabra” (“An Image Called Word”) curated by the Chilean artist Camilo Yañez and featuring works from the last 50 years by artists including Gonzalo Díaz, Paz Errázuriz, Eugenio Dittborn, Iván Navarro and Cecilia Vicuña.

The center will be home to the contemporary art collection of the National Council of Culture and Arts Chile, including works currently housed in the Council’s gallery, Galeria Gabriela Mistral.

Announcements revealing the future director of the center and the full exhibition program are to follow in early 2017.