An open competition for the project of new building was announced in 1960. Architects Ivan Antić and Ivanka Raspopović won the competition with a project for which they would later, namely at the opening ceremony of the Museum, be awarded the October Prize of the City of Belgrade for Architecture. After the construction of the new building was completed, the Council of the Modern Gallery passes a new name for the institution – the Museum of Contemporary Art. The first director of the Museum was Miodrag B. Protić. The theoretical and practical experiences of the most distinguished international museums of modern and contemporary art were taken into consideration in the process of the creation of Museum’s guiding work principles.

Museum’s founder and its first director was Miodrag B. Protić, a painter and the author of many significant exhibitions, books and texts concerning the history of modern Yugoslav and Serbian art. The other directors of the Museum were: Marija Pušić (1980–1984), Kosta Bogdanović (acting director, 1984–1986), Zoran Gavrić (1986–1993), Radisav Trkulja (1993–2001), Branislava Andjelković Dimitrijević (2001–2013),Vladislav Šćepanović (acting director, 2013–2014), Jovan Despotović (acting director, 2014–2015), Slobodan Nakarada (acting director, 2015–2020), Viktor Kiš (acting director, 2020–2021) and Marijana Kolarić (2021–).