The Museum of Modern Art in Muggia was established in 2002 following a donation from the sculptor and designer Ugo Carà (b. Muggia 1908 - d. Trieste 2004) to the Municipality, whose exhibition collection represents the only existing corpus of the works of the Master. Beside the room dedicated to his work, two large spaces are used to host meetings and conferences, and temporary exhibitions. Modern and contemporary art exhibitions, hosted by the local council over the years at the Museum, span from the figuarative to visual arts, design and applied arts. Among other things at the Museum are a series of exhibitions that the Municipality promotes within the framework of the PRACC project to disseminate and support Italian and international contemporary art.
The creation of the Museum of Modern Art in Muggia is an interesting element of innovation within the cultural area of reference. The building is made of light and memory, lying in a very special topos, characterized by a section of 16th century defensive wall and bastion. Two sets of different thickness form the backbone of the building, reiterating the barrier made up of the ancient walls and deconstructing it, and closing the building to the South while allowing natural lighting from the North. The covering materials, wood and corten steel, refer to the past activity of the Muggia shipyards and to the memory of the historical shipybuilders'cooperative which had its heaequarters at the site.
Even at an early age the sculptor Ugo Carà excelled in design. In 1929, at the age of 21, he sent the great Giò Ponti, architect and director of Domus, several prototypes of very linear and exquisite objects, which the latter repeatedly published in his magazine, alongside the sophisticated interior design for homes, designed and built by Carà in the following years. These furnishings would be followed by those used in the great transatlantic liners built in Trieste, Monfalcone and Genoa, aboard which the artist would also include his own sculptural works. In addition to these design objects, there ar the medals, another important corollary of his modelling work, together with a singular sculpture, "Alba" of 1956, are entirely carved in pink wood.
