(Rewritten from a first-person account by Maggie Leeming. All photos provided by Leeming.)
The halls of the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires (MALBA) beckoned in the fall of 2024, when Maggie Leeming ’26 did her study abroad program. Drawn by the museum’s unique position in the world of modern Latin American art and its impressive collection, Leeming found herself visiting MALBA more often than any other museums in the city.
“I began to slowly fall in love with the different modernist movements that began to spread across Latin America, and the more I saw, the more I wanted to research further,” she said.
Her dream came true the following summer. With a generous award from the James Lieber Art History Internship Fund, Leeming found herself back at MALBA from June to August in 2025, as an assistant researcher to the curatorial department.
Heading into her new role with “little understanding of the intricate operations of a museum like MALBA but with every desire to learn as much as I could”, Leeming’s summer work experience started on the right foot when the head curator of the museum María Amalia García, who was Leeming’s professor when she studied abroad at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), graciously welcomed her as a member of the department.
In addition to being met with warmth and kindness, the members of the curatorial team were quick to trust me, asking for assistance on various tasks throughout the museum and giving me the opportunity to learn from their expertise.
Maggie Leeming ’26
Tasked with a future publication project, Leeming helped to contact scholars across the globe and coordinated their involvement in the publication. She organized, selected, and located the various pieces within the museum’s collection that would be featured in the book.
“Being able to work so closely not only with MALBA’s extensive archive of artworks, but also the museum’s creative experts was incredibly fulfilling and eye-opening,” she said.
Leeming also contributed to the museum’s upcoming exhibitions by helping to translate the gallery text from Spanish to English.
Another highlight of her internship was collaborating on a retrospective exhibition of Liliana Porter’s extensive career and getting to see the Argentine contemporary artist in person.
“After spending weeks researching her work from behind a computer screen and quickly becoming a quiet fan, I was able to meet the 84-year-old artist as she came to install her work. While we met only briefly, she led with a contagious warmth, and her passion left everyone feeling inspired,” Leeming said.
Weeks after the inauguration of the Porter’s show, Leeming’s family visited. Leeming eagerly took them to the Porter exhibition and walked them through the very rooms she had spent so much time in, watching their reactions closely.
“As they ooh’ed and aah’ed and asked me questions about specific pieces or the installation and curatorial processes, I felt proud to have the answers. As we moved through the exhibit, I quietly pointed out the words I helped translate, a moment I will remember for years to come.”
Leeming said that the amount of experience and knowledge she gained from her time at MALBA was “more than I could have ever hoped for.”
I am so honored to have worked with the incredible team at MALBA who gave me the confidence and inspiration to continue to pursue my studies in Art History.