Barcelona October 24-28, 2004

Rédigé par Heather Anderson et Julia Maier avec l'appui de Jerome Grand.

content:




Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA)

www.macba.es

Our visit to the capital of Catalonia introduced us to its major art, art museums, foundations and centres. The city as a whole and its cultural facilities have grown dramatically since the 1992 Olympics. MACBA, Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, designed by American Richard Meier, opened in 1995 in the barrio del Raval constituting one component of an ambitious project to regenerate the Old City. MACBA's collection focuses on art of the second half of the 20 th Century, bringing together works by Catalan, Spanish and international artists--and in particular artists from the Spanish speaking world. MACBA presents temporary exhibitions composed of works from the Permanent Collection, such as The Poetics of Relation (15 October 2004-23 January 2005).

A preliminary tour behind the scenes of the receiving, transit, conservation, and collection storage areas of the museum gave insight into the realities such an institution faces in managing its ever-growing collection and loans to/from other institutions/individuals. Having just come from working in a comparably sized institution where I worked in the Art Handling department, I was particularly interested in MACBA's art transit/storage facilities and practices, and more specifically how MACBA's departmental structuring resulted in a very different distribution of responsibilities and labour with regard to caring for and displaying its collection. A small Conservation department, augmented by freelance/contract staff, deals with incoming/outgoing works, conservation and restoration, installation of exhibitions, and storage (MACBA has onsite storage as well as five offsite locations). Most of the issues and daily challenges raised struck a chord with my own work experience, and are likely familiar to most institutions:

  • How an architectural project such as the building of a museum often neglects to consult the very people who will be working in it, and thus can fall short in addressing the needs of the specialized activities that will be carried out there. For example, the studio has no windows as it is located in the basement, and thus no natural light or ventilation (there is an internal ventilation system). Solvent use must be avoided as much as possible. Fortunately, the team had already developed and put into practice some solvent-free techniques.
  • Staff shortage: how the collection (and thus the amount of work/responsibility) continues to grow yet the number of full-time staff in the department has not expanded to reflect this. As the work outpaces what the small staff can comfortably keep up with, they often feel like 'pompiers putting out fires': i.e. things are dealt with on an urgency basis rather than comprehensively.
  • Focus on preventative conservation (i.e. protection, proper storage and care): sometimes this also means using replicas in multi-component installations where small pieces/parts are often at risk of theft
  • Hiring freelance and contract staff at busy periods and on a project basis: the conservation team expressed that there is a real lack of people adequately trained in restoration and conservation for contemporary art as few training programs exist. The conservation department effectively serves as a kind of internship for the temporary incoming staff. This then creates a pool of experienced workers that MACBA continues to employ.
  • How storage facilities are over-capacity and thus present particular dangers to the collection: have several off-site locations.

We were grateful for the time and insights that the dedicated MACBA Conservation staff shared with us in showing us their work environment and discussing their integral roles within such an institution. I think it is important to gain an understanding of the workings within an institution, particularly the pressures and challenges that individual staff and departments face, because curatorial work involves collaborative effort from all departments within an institution.

 

MACBA Coleccíon. Poéticas relacionales (15 October 2004- 23 January 2005)

MACBA's free publication Ag (Autumn 2004) proposes in its newly renovated format to become a new space of the Museum for opinion and debate with regard to MACBA's collection and program of exhibitions and activities. The front-page article "Poéticas relacionales: repensar el arte como experiencia" by MACBA Director Manuel J. Borja -Villel fleshes out the concept of the current presentation of the collection, Poéticas relacionales or Poetics of Relation .   This exhibition proposes identity as a product of relations between subjects, a "poetics of relation" encompassing an idea of place understood not as a territory, but as "relation." The focus of this exhibition on relationality--which I would say has by now attained a cliché status in contemporary art production--as well as another MACBA project ¿Com volem ser governats? must be considered within the context of the Cultural Forum 2004 in Barcelona.

 

¿Com volem ser governats? 22 September-07 November 2004

Off site at several venues around Barcelona, MACBA was presenting a project curated by Roger Bruegel entitled ¿Com volem ser governats? (How do we want to be governed ?), comprising three staggered exhibitions, each about two weeks in duration, and a schedule of talks, screenings and events. Reading an editorial by Buergel concerning the project on the MACBA website, I was intrigued by the aims of this project to "open up a field of speculation that can contribute substantially to new forms of action, new forms of organisation; new forms of relationality..." Buergel locates his discussion of government within Foucault's reactivation of the 16 th century meaning of the term whereby "government did not only refer to political structures or to the mangagement of states; rather it designated the way of conduct of individuals or of groups might be directed." Buergel is specifically interested in how for Foucault, government designated "modes of action, more or less considered and calculated, which...structure the possible field of action of others." Buergel sees potential in this pre-modern conceptualization of government "to offer an indispensable tool for reworking many of the false opposites of modern discourse."

Over the past few years, Buergel and his partner Ruth Noack have curated a "network" of exhibitions called The Government that greatly informed the shaping of this current project. Although he concedes that art has no mandatory role to play in political struggles, Buergel suggests "we desperately need its constitutive disfunctionality in order to overcome the political rationality we live in...In short, art builds on the incommensurability between the limits of actual experience and the limitless wandering of the imaginary."

¿Com volem ser governats? encompassed multiple sites around the city, principally Institut Barri Besòs, Palo Alto, and Centre Civic de la Mina. It also unfolded over time such that only the third and final exhibition at the Centre Civic de la Mina (25 October-07 November) corresponded with our presence in Barcelona.

The Centre Civic de la Mina is a good half-hour journey by metro and on foot from the centre of Barcelona. It took us longer to get there than it should have (we had boarded the metro in the wrong direction, and it had taken us awhile to find our way in an unfamiliar neighbourhood) so the exhibition was scheduled to close in a half-hour (at 20h)by the time we arrived. Still there was enough time to have a brief tour and to ascertain whether we desired to return the next day.   But we found the Centre already closed. After some insistent knocking, the door was eventually opened and, somewhat reluctantly the invigilators granted us entry. The exhibition's AV equipment had already been shut down for the evening, and there was a lot of work to take in, so after a brief look about, we thanked the invigilators for letting us in and said we'd return the next day.

The exhibition included the work of more than a dozen individual artists and collectives. Comprising the large open space of the Civic Centre, as well as several mezzanine levels, the effect of the installation was a somewhat overwhelming presentation of predominantly information/document-based works. A very low-tech and almost haphazard aesthetic prevailed, presenting texts and diagrams taped onto walls, photocopies laid out on tables, and a series of huge posters hung from the balcony. There was a video presented as a projection, and several others presented on monitors; several computer terminals presented a new media project. My ability to engage with the exhibition as a whole, and with individual works, was very limited as much of the text-based work was in Spanish, Catalan, and also German. In addition, several electronic works were inaccessible because the equipment was not turned on.

I tried to access as much of the work as I could, spending some time with several pieces which captivated my interest, but overall I was struggling to connect what I had read in(to) Buergel's text with what I was experiencing. In particular the exhibition's installation method and aesthetic left me confused: it was so poorly installed, it could only be intentional. But why, was this meant to signify a particular politics? Not having been able to see any of the other exhibitions or events, I didn't have any comparisons and couldn't draw any conclusions.

As we were drawing near to the end of our visit, we were informed by one of the invigilators that they would be closing up, so if we could please...the exhibition was advertised as open daily from 12:00 until 20:00, so they were closing several hours early. This, and the fact that several AV set-ups were not functioning, raises questions regarding the art world's idealism in transposing the museum/gallery to a community centre, and the additional expectation that community members would fulfill duties as attendants (I certainly hope they were being paid). It is one thing for museum directors, curators and artists to have the desire to "democratize" art and the make the museum more inclusive through creating a presence in communities that have typically been left out of the fold. But what is the practical reality? I would like to know whether after the negotiations to take up residence in the Civic Centre (was there rent paid, for example?) and after the artists installed their work, if the artists, curator, and the museum sustained the relationship with the community through any kind of direct interactions/presence. Y-a-t-il eu des actions en direction de la population locale(débats, rencontres, présentations...) avant le montage de l'exposition au centre? What kind of investment do members of the Centre Civic de La Mina community have in keeping an exhibition open for 8 hours each day with apparently almost nobody in attendance...

C'est en passagère rendue un peu ignorante que j'ai visité cette exposition. « un peu ignorante » parce que ne lisant pas le Catalan -le déchiffrant avec peine-, beaucoup du contenu des oeuvres m'aura échappé. Cependant, je suis une regardeuse avertie et au fait des pratiques en usage dans l'art d'aujourd'hui. C'est donc dans cette tension entre deux points celui du connaisseur - de la connaisseuse- et celui de l'analphabète que je construis, ici, mon regard et mes interrogations. Et c'est depuis ce point de vue là que j'avancerai quelques questions.

Nous avons visité l'exposition à son troisième point d'ancrage - et déjà, pourquoi itinérer dans les zones de vies précaires de Barcelone ? - Une maquette de l'exposition, telle que pensée en premier lieu, était présentée parmi les travaux des artistes. Et je me suis mise à penser que cet espace -au centre civic de la mina - était peut-être inapte à recevoir ce dispositif au regard de cette maquette. La maquette propose de sillonner dans trois espaces scindés -ce qui relève -a priori- d'une volonté de mettre en scène et en perspective les différentes propositions des artistes-, or le centre civic de la mina , n'autorise pas un tel découpage. Suis-je, oui ou non ? et comment ? face à une exposition qui se prête indifféremment à toutes les inscriptions dans des contextes différents? Il me semble que cette exposition a pour but d'exercer dans son milieu des tensions ? qu'elle se veut interrogative de son environnement ? qu'elle joue la contribution des habitants du quartier ?

Pourquoi cette inscription dans un centre de quartier ? Cette inscription n'est-elle pas un peu factice ? La volonté qui préside à cela est-elle fondée ?

Il y a une vraie difficulté à accéder -concrètement- à l'exposition, est-ce dû à une négligence vis-à-vis de l'événement en lui-même de la part d'une la grosse institution qu'est le MACBA ? En effet, rien ne guide le visiteur, ni n'indique l'entrée de l'exposition !

Quelles relations avec le MACBA : imposition, négociation, ... ? Le projet artistique a-t-il été réorienté par le projet de politique culturelle de la ville, du MACBA?

Cette exposition s'inscrit dans le cadre très particulier du Barcelona Forum 2004 ( http://www.barcelona2004.org/eng/contenidos/temas/ ). C'est une manifestation organisée dans le souci de dynamiser la capitale catalane, et fait suite à l'important événement des jeux olympiques de 1992 qui bouleversa la ville.

Je suis particulièrement sensible aux propositions des artistes qui oeuvrent avec des outils simples, qui font acte avec des moyens réduits. Et, c'est aussi, parce qu'aisément séduite, que je suis d'autant plus attentive à ces modes opératoires. Cette façon d'oeuvrer peut aussi être vue comme une négligence à l'égard du premier public désigné, les habitants de ce quartier en décomposition. La présence et le passage de ce public sont incertains. Pourquoi les personnes qui gardent l'exposition, la tiennent-elles fermée ?

My ability to draw conclusions about ¿Com volem ser governats? as a whole is limited as I could visit only one component of what was a much wider project. The project's publication in the form of a free newspaper offers further access, but again I struggle to read Spanish so I have to let this one go. I do however, remain very interested in the ideas Buergel has undertaken, particularly his attempts to manifest the exhibition's concerns, thematics, and problematics in the physical and temporal space of Barcelona and its communities. Such modes of curatorial practice are becoming more and more evident... Manifesta 5 in Donostia/San Sebastian and Pasaia shared some similar strategies and concerns. I expect we will witness an evolution of this kind of curatorial mode of engagement...

 

Fondation Joan Miró www.bcn.fjmiro.es

Since 1975, the Fondation Joan Miró, situated in a building conceived by Josep Lluís Sert in the Parc de Montjuïc, has housed the most important collection of works by the artist. In its additional role as a centre for contemporary art, the Fondation Joan Miró also presents temporary exhibitions (recent exhibitions have included Chillida, Warhol, Calder, Magritte, and Rothko). Espai 13 is a unique space dedicated to presenting the work of younger/emerging artists. Typically, a developing curator is selected to curate this space for three years (Frédéric Montornès and Monica Regas, previous Ecole de Magasin participants have held this post).   The current curator is Montse Badia, organizing a cycle of 5 exhibitions for 2004/2005 entitled Obsessions (zero % standard). The current exhibition on show was Masterpieces: Sumi Maro, (14 October-6 December 2004).

 

Centre d'Art Santa MòniCA http://cultura.gencat.net/casm

Located along the busy pedestrian avenue La Rambla, Santa MòniCA is located in a 17 th century convent that was restored in the 1980s by the architects Piñon and Viaplana. The Centre plays an important role in presenting Catalan, Spanish and international contemporary art. It is under the jurisdiction of the Generalitat de Catalunya (as is their website, on which I could find information about programming, but not about the structure of the organization, nor its mandate. Interestingly this information is also absent from their newsletter). Ferran Barenblit is the Director, and Frédéric Montornés, a former participant of the Ecole du Magasin Session 3, has recently taken up a post as curator. He is one of several curators each responsible for presenting several projects each year.

There are several exhibition spaces over three levels (the third level was closed), each of which has particular architectural qualities that pose challenges in the presentation of exhibitions. For example, while a long "white cube" space on the ground floor provides the familiar 'neutral' presentation space, there is also a dark-marbled large high-ceilinged central courtyard-like space viewable from a mezzanine level. This mezzanine level also provides two L-shaped corridor spaces, one running alongside the restaurant. Revisiting the building/exhibitions in my mind, I am impressed by how the Centre maximized its use of available space to present five projects. I imagine that programming exhibitions suitable for the uniqueness of each space must be at times challenging; the hallway spaces in particular could be a bit awkward. Overall, the projects on view each seemed to respond well, or have been configured appropriately, to the qualities and challenges of the space.

Exhibitions (8 October-6 December 2004)

  • Pep Agut Don't Tell me Your Name , curated by David G. Torres.
  • Nedko Solakov Rivals , curated by Ferran Barenblit (Residue of a 'contest' between Solakov and Ferran, the curator of this space)
  • Graham Gussin: Teló de Fons, curated by Miguel Von Hafe Pérez
Consulta
  • Sound and Me David Armengol and Martî Manen (17 September - 6 December 2004)
  • Búnker, curated by Fernando Castro Flórez (8 October - 6 December)

 

Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona www.cccb.org

We were welcomed by Maria Ribas - Responsable de la communication au CCCB.

The CCCB was inaugurated in 1994 by a public consortium (Diputació et la Mairie de Barcelone, 1888) and is another component serving the revitalization of Barcelona, and specifically, the barrio del Raval. Situated in a group of buildings formerly serving the Casa Provincial de Caritat (Provincial House of Charity), an organization established in 1802, the CCCB is a multidisciplinary institution aiming to serve the diversity of its urban constituency through a programme of exhibitions, music, dance, cinema, courses, workshops, debates, conferences, and so on.

Three exhibitions were on view during our visit: The World of Gao: A look at the many-sided oeuvre of Gao Xingjian (21 September-28 November 2004); Hiperiment: Travels, Images and other territories ( 21 September-28 November 2004); and Julio Cortázar: The hypertext brought into play ( 21 September-14 November 2004). Touring the exhibitions demonstrated that the modes of presentation were markedly different than the conventions for the display of contemporary art, giving insight into the CCCB's anticipated audiences and different aims as a cultural institution.

 

Fundació "la Caixa" Collecció d'Art Contemporani http://www1.lacaixa.es:8090/webflc/wpr0pres.nsf/wurl/apcf001_cat

La Caixa Forum is located on Montjuïc in an old factory designed by modernist Catalan architect Puig i Cadafalch. With 3,000 square metres, the Caixa Forum houses one of the largest contemporary art collections in Spain, comprising over 800 works by national and foreign artists.

Merci:

Nous remercions Alice Vergara-Bastiand et Florence Cazzaro pour l'organisation de ce séjour.

Nous remercions égalemment notre guide, pour nous avoir aidé à comprendre les enjeux politiques qui agitent aujourd'hui, et depuis le XIXème siècle, la ville de Barcelone au travers des nombreuses transformations architecturales.