The foundation was bankrupt, and only the sale in 1971 of numerous works from its collection of Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque art to the federal government for 2.1 million pesos (US$500,000), staved off its liquidation. Remembered nostalgically by friends of the arts, and particularly during the "Dirty War" of the late 1970s, when repression of political terrorism quickly extended to dissidents and controversial artists, the institute's absence became an example of the "cultural blackout" described by writer Ernesto Sábato at the time. Following President Néstor Kirchner's appointment of Torcuato Di Tella (jr.) as Secretary of Culture in 2003, the idea of reviving the storied center was first plausibly discussed by the president of the board of regents of Torcuato Di Tella University, Manuel Mora y Araujo. Much of the 1960s-era documentation and numerous works had been stored by the library at the university, the Di Tella family's surviving contribution to local culture, and the material's recataloguing was initiated in 2004. New facilities were developed that year from a former water company building by one of the center's alumni, sculptor and architect Clorindo Testa, and on April 21, 2007, the institute's center for visual arts was reinaugurated at the Figueroa Alcorta Avenue location with the "Otro Modo" ("Another Way") Festival. Continuing to host media and conceptual art displays, the institute celebrated its 50th anniversary in March 2008.