En The last man From Mary Shelley, a devastating plague and apocalyptic natural forces sweep everything, forcing the characters to wander for the world’s ruin to the search for more benign conditions. “We no longer amazed at these events or other exhibitions, still worse, of the change: when a palace became a simple grave, impregnated with foul smells, covered with death …”, reads in the novel, considered one of the first examples of dystopia. It was published in 1826 and is chronologically set in the last quarter of the 21st century. It is not so much.
Any of the 31 works of Pablo Genoese which make up the sample Strengthen the dikes —All on March 22 at the Fernández-Brasso Gallery in Madrid-he would serve to illustrate those lines and the spirit of that book. Its author is that last man who contemplates a civilization devastated by his own carelessness, for his negligence, negligence and for his predatory ambition. The wave devastated her. The wave flooded it. We talk about nature and climate change, of course, but also of other waves with the photographer.
Westermann receives us in Madrid after participating in a talk around the future of museums and architecture. It is tremendously energetic, but with a clear vocation to listen and open to others. By the way, he has just turned 63.
What should be the profile of a museum director today? Above all, when museums compete with the entertainment world.
There was a time in the 70, 80 and 90 that was said to have a doctorate. Then the opposite happened, because we had to think of the museum in financial terms: with stores, restaurants … then it began to believe that directors were needed to raise money, that they had MBAS or were lawyers.
The majority of museum directors are art historians: Miguel Falomir in the Prado; Glenn Lowry at MoMA, his next successor, Christophe Cherix, too. Everyone came from being brilliant conservatives. You also were as a specialist in flamenco painting. In fact, the Vermeer Exhibition with Alejandro Vergara in 2003 was chattering at the Prado Museum. Do you think today is a doctorate?
I don’t believe it. And I think the pendulum has moved towards knowing what is important in art: why it is collected, why it lends itself. Glenn Lowry, at MoMA, was curious and also the nerve and resilience, and developed a business skill. In the US you learn a lot from your Board of Trustees and I had the pleasure of learning from them in Nyu. I do not think I could do this job only for my curiosity and my desire to be with people if I had not had the experience of being nine years in the Mellon Foundation, which is where I learned the importance of donations in American institutions or handle a large team. We gave between 300 and 400 million dollars a year to different cultural organizations. You learn to read budgets much better. If I had not learned the different business models of cultural institutions, I don’t think I would have been prepared to assume Guggenheim.
One of the greatest responsibilities of a director of a large and more museum in the US, is the collection of funds.
The mission mission and resources have to go hand in hand. Raising funds is a gigantic part of private American institutions, but you can’t do it if you don’t have people committed to your mission.
What annual budget comes from donations in Guggenheim?
Half of the budget comes from donations and that is too high. In the case of MoMA, it is 40-45% of its budget. In Spain, it would be the equivalent of the budget that comes from the State.
How does the museum mission come into play?
We depend a lot on tickets. Unless you offer something that people want, the public will not come. I am determined to update our offer so that people understand it. That is why I am interested in bringing art to unusual places. Surprise a little. We need to be very agile in the online part; We can do it much better to improve our social position.
Abu Dhabi’s headquarters will open in the next two years
How do you compete with YouTube or Tik Tok?
We know that families are concerned about their children; We know what the popularity of Tik Tok is and the number of people on YouTube, and who has nothing to do with the figures of visitors to museums. We have to offer something alternative to the type of toxic or boring content. You have to convince them that there is some great value in museums for today’s people.
You have to be on the street to read people, try things and experiment. It is very important to be agile. If there is a content that does not work, you do not repeat it again. Because we live in a 24/7 cycle without rest.
-Guggenheim is a brand. It has a unique personality. How do you want to focus that brand today?
We are an organization of four museums and each one shows modern and contemporary art. We have that mission in four different cities on three continents. Our goal is for people to connect with art and artists. And that can only happen if you have good spaces to do it.
Is that the unique part of the Guggenheim brand? Its spaces? Frank Lloyd Wright’s building in New York is a World Heritage.
Yes, each of our museums is housed in an architectural jewel that is absolutely differential. The New York is indeed the only building that is World Heritage Site, along with the statue of freedom. That building that opened in 1959 by Frank Lloyd Wright has been the first immersive museum. Because it is tremendously cozy, it wraps you; You see everyone. You have the sense of the time of the visit; You know how long it will take to be there. If you lose your grandmother, you can see it on the other side. It is a site that invites you to share thought while going up or lowering the ramp. When I see the children get to the Museum in the morning, I see them circling as soon as you arrive. We don’t tell you no. It is in our DNA.
When does the headquarters of Abu Dhabi open?
We cannot give a precise date, but it will be in the next two years. Frank Ghery’s building is almost finished.
What do they want to convey with the Guggenheim brand?
It is not just about being a brand but to remind people that when they see the word Guggenheim know that it is associated with experiences of great quality in a cozy environment. Modern and contemporary art can be difficult to understand, but that special atmosphere that is generated in the Guggenheim causes you to have taken something. You will not forget the first time you saw Serra’s sculpture in Bilbao or the first time you saw Kandinsky in New York thanks to the aura of architecture. He is really differentiating of other museums.
“We have a gigantic collection and we show less than 1%”
And how to differentiate from MoMA?
MoMA is totally different. It was also created by private people. It could not be replicable in another city. Its spaces are all octagonal in gigantic constructions with square rooms. You or less well or less for the museum but you can easily miss if you are not totally familiar. You feel a little locked. And is totally identified and linked to New York City.
You have an immense challenge ahead. She is the first woman’s director of Guggenheim and has agreed that they also look at Arzalluz has just taken possession of the Guggenheim of Bilbao and, at the head of Peggy’s collection in Venice is Karole Vail. Three women; A unique situation.
And Abu Dhabi’s headquarters too! Four in total. I am the first CEO of the Foundation and the first woman director of the constellation of the four museums. The strength of the institution is to continue working through borders and cultures. We can speak in everyone’s language.
In the origins of Guggenheim there were other women.
Yes, Hilla Rebay. And Peggy Guggenheim was essentially the first woman’s director of her own museum. She said that she was a museum, not a collector. All these women inspire me a lot. And there was another woman director of the New York headquarters between 2005 and 2007, which is often forgotten, Lisa Dennison, has long linked to Sotheby’s. She was a great conservative for Guggenheim and the one that happened to director Thomas Krens after 17 years. There are predecessor women, but not in this sense as global as my case.
What book would you recommend about the story of Peggy Guggenheim?
His memoirs. First wrote Out of the century in the 40 and later Confessions of an art addict. We have now published them together. They are the most sincere memories I have read. Many should not like them when they were first published. She was a woman with an open heart, tremendously curious and with a lot of resilience. And, of course, also fun, with a lot of energy. He came from a wealthy family but not too much. His father was the least rich of the Guggenheim brothers and died in the Titanic. He had more means than most, of course, but used them for art. When he discovered it he lived by and for art.
