Profile: The long view
Juan Ignacio Vidarte tells Eleanor Mills why the Guggenheim Bilbao has much to celebrate in its 20th year
Much of the public opinion was sceptical,” says Juan Ignacio Vidarte, the director general of the Guggenheim Bilbao, looking back at his time overseeing the venue take shape between 1992 and 1997. “People would say, ‘if it’s so good why is it happening here?’ or ‘it won’t be completed in time’ or ‘it’s going to cost so much and the great exhibitions being talked about won’t be so good’.”
But the Guggenheim Bilbao, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, didn’t just prove itself a successful art space, it has also become a model for cultural regeneration, known as the Bilbao effect, and Vidarte has led it from the beginning.“
As the building got closer to completion and the community started to see the scale and ambition, the tide of public opinion turned from sceptical to interested,” Vidarte says. “And as the opening got closer, there was suddenly a wave of support, so when we opened the museum we already had three or four thousand friends who had joined. That was a very clear sign that some-thing positive was going to happen.”
But why was Bilbao chosen in the first place? Vidarte hails from this area of north-ern Spain but when he was growing up it was largely an industrial city with little cultural infrastructure. However, in the early 1990s the Guggenheim Foundation was looking at expanding its presence in Europe – it had the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice but it wanted to develop further on the continent.
“The city of Bilbao learned about this and at that time was undergoing its own kind of strategic brainstorming in order to improve its situation for the future,” says Vidarte. “One of the ways the city saw as essential to reinforce its significance was the role that culture played in the city. Until then, cultural venues were important but most were only oriented towards satisfying the demand of residents, and it was considered that boosting its international relevance would be increasingly important in the 21st century.”
After about a year of discussions the city of Bilbao made a proposal that the Guggenheim Foundation received positively. Talks then began about the form the new Guggenheim might take.
The Bilbao effect
The original concept for the Guggenheim Bilbao was strong, Vidarte says, which has helped it retain its vibrancy and ambition since it opened in 1997.
“I think the idea of developing a museum that is both a local institution but also has global appeal was unique back then.” He also says that the striking appearance of the building, which was designed by US architect Frank Gehry, has helped to maintain Guggenheim Bilbao’s appeal because it doesn’t just provide a strong visual identity but also offers unusual spaces in which to show art. “It’s 20 years old but it feels young – every time I walk through the spaces I see something new.”
Vidarte likes the analogy of the museum as a beach: “There are people who go to the beach because they just want to have a walk on the sand, some to lie in the sun, some to swim, surf, dive or fish. I think the Guggenheim is like a beach. We should provide something that meets anyone’s expectations who comes here.”
As part of its 20th birthday celebrations, the museum’s exhibition programme features monumental contemporary video work in the form of a Bill Viola retrospective (until 9 November), Georg Baselitz’s Hero paintings series (until 22 October), David Hockney: 82 Portraits and 1 Still Life (10 November–25 February 2018), and the innovative fabric designer and artist Anni Albers (6 October–14 January 2018).
But the real celebratory events take place on the evenings of 11-14 October. These are free for locals and non-locals alike, and will include large-scale videos projected onto the titanium facade of the museum. Second only to the museum’s architecture are the works of modern and contemporary art on show from the Guggenheim Foundation’s collection. They include Jeff Koons’s large flower-laden puppy, which sits obediently outside the museum, and Richard Serra’s huge rhythmic swirls of steel that are on permanent display inside the building. Both remain attractive draws for visitors.
The international appeal of Bilbao’s Guggenheim is obvious but apart from the interest in cultural regeneration the museum sparked since its inauguration what does it do for its local community now?
The birthday celebrations are providing the impetus to make improvements to the museum, which will benefit all visitors. Vidarte notes in particular the Jenny Holzer LED light installation and the Daniel Buren red bridge, just outside the institution, that need updating with new software. The museum is also using the anniversary to strengthen its relationship with local artists and Bilbao’s cultural community.
“We have an initiative to bring the work of artists younger than 35 years into the Guggenheim. We are also inviting cultural institutions that work in the area, including disciplines such as music, dance, theatre and even gastronomy, to run activities as part of our 20th birthday programme.”
The museum also has an active outreach programme that works with different communities in the city.
“We think an art institution can be helpful for those people that are in, for different reasons, unfortunate situations,” Vidarte says. “For example, we have been working for quite a long time with public hospitals in the Basque country, especially with children. We have learned how useful and how important contact with art can be for these children. We also make a special effort to help bridge that gap for underprivileged social groups, including refugees, that don’t have so much access to cultural resources.”
Despite Vidarte being involved in Guggenheim Bilbao for so long, early on in his career he never saw himself ending up in the cultural sector. Is the experience he gained more than 26 years ago working for the Provincial Council of Bizkaia useful for his job now? “I think that my professional background has provided me with a thought framework to address problems,” he says.
One off his next challenges is to ensure the successful development of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, which is being built in the United Arab Emirates as the next addition to the Guggenheim Foundation’s international empire. Gehry is the architect for this as well.
“It’s moving forward – it’s a long term project,” he says. “It’s very transformational and it’s very visionary. These types of projects require time but we are moving forward slowly.”
But with two roles to straddle as director general of the museum and chief officer for global strategies of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation does Vidarte ever feel overwhelmed?
“It gives me a very interesting perspective of the foundation and of the world of museums,” he says. “It’s also very useful for me as the director of the museum in Bilbao. I feel comfortable wearing both hats.”
There is a session on culture-led regeneration at the Museums Association Conference & Exhibition, 16-18 November, Manchester. Speakers include Simon Green of Hull Culture and Leisure. Visit: www.museumsassociation.org/conference
Guggenheim Bilbao at a glance
The Guggenheim Bilbao opened 20 years ago in the Basque city of Bilbao in northern Spain. The museum, designed by Frank Gehry, is known for its unique architecture.
Annual visitor figures are about 1.2 million, with two thirds visiting from abroad. About 150,000 of the 400,000 Spanish visitors are from Bilbao, which has a population of about 1 million.
About a third of the museum’s annual €28m budget comes from three public institutions in the area: the Basque Country, the province of Biscay and the city of Bilbao. A third comes from activities the museum generates, with the last third from private sources, corporations or members.
The museum has almost 17,000 individual members. The standard membership rate is €40.
Juan Ignacio Vidarte at a glance
Juan Ignacio Vidarte has been the director general of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in northern Spain since 1996. He is also the chief officer for global strategies of the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation.
He graduated in economics and business administration from the University of Deusto in Bilbao in 1978, and then studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.
He was the director of the Institute for Regional Research of Bizkaia (a Spanish province that has Bilbao as its capital city) between 1986 and 1988. He then became the director general for regional development of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, a position he held until 1989, when he became the director general of tax and financial policies, also for the Provincial Council of Bizkaia.
In 1992 he became the director of the consortium for the Guggenheim Bilbao Project, where he led the building’s construction and installation until 1996.
But the Guggenheim Bilbao, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, didn’t just prove itself a successful art space, it has also become a model for cultural regeneration, known as the Bilbao effect, and Vidarte has led it from the beginning.“
As the building got closer to completion and the community started to see the scale and ambition, the tide of public opinion turned from sceptical to interested,” Vidarte says. “And as the opening got closer, there was suddenly a wave of support, so when we opened the museum we already had three or four thousand friends who had joined. That was a very clear sign that some-thing positive was going to happen.”
But why was Bilbao chosen in the first place? Vidarte hails from this area of north-ern Spain but when he was growing up it was largely an industrial city with little cultural infrastructure. However, in the early 1990s the Guggenheim Foundation was looking at expanding its presence in Europe – it had the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice but it wanted to develop further on the continent.
“The city of Bilbao learned about this and at that time was undergoing its own kind of strategic brainstorming in order to improve its situation for the future,” says Vidarte. “One of the ways the city saw as essential to reinforce its significance was the role that culture played in the city. Until then, cultural venues were important but most were only oriented towards satisfying the demand of residents, and it was considered that boosting its international relevance would be increasingly important in the 21st century.”
After about a year of discussions the city of Bilbao made a proposal that the Guggenheim Foundation received positively. Talks then began about the form the new Guggenheim might take.
The Bilbao effect
Richard Serra’s monumental work, The Matter of Time, at Guggenheim Bilbao
The original concept for the Guggenheim Bilbao was strong, Vidarte says, which has helped it retain its vibrancy and ambition since it opened in 1997.
“I think the idea of developing a museum that is both a local institution but also has global appeal was unique back then.” He also says that the striking appearance of the building, which was designed by US architect Frank Gehry, has helped to maintain Guggenheim Bilbao’s appeal because it doesn’t just provide a strong visual identity but also offers unusual spaces in which to show art. “It’s 20 years old but it feels young – every time I walk through the spaces I see something new.”
Vidarte likes the analogy of the museum as a beach: “There are people who go to the beach because they just want to have a walk on the sand, some to lie in the sun, some to swim, surf, dive or fish. I think the Guggenheim is like a beach. We should provide something that meets anyone’s expectations who comes here.”
As part of its 20th birthday celebrations, the museum’s exhibition programme features monumental contemporary video work in the form of a Bill Viola retrospective (until 9 November), Georg Baselitz’s Hero paintings series (until 22 October), David Hockney: 82 Portraits and 1 Still Life (10 November–25 February 2018), and the innovative fabric designer and artist Anni Albers (6 October–14 January 2018).
But the real celebratory events take place on the evenings of 11-14 October. These are free for locals and non-locals alike, and will include large-scale videos projected onto the titanium facade of the museum. Second only to the museum’s architecture are the works of modern and contemporary art on show from the Guggenheim Foundation’s collection. They include Jeff Koons’s large flower-laden puppy, which sits obediently outside the museum, and Richard Serra’s huge rhythmic swirls of steel that are on permanent display inside the building. Both remain attractive draws for visitors.
The international appeal of Bilbao’s Guggenheim is obvious but apart from the interest in cultural regeneration the museum sparked since its inauguration what does it do for its local community now?
The birthday celebrations are providing the impetus to make improvements to the museum, which will benefit all visitors. Vidarte notes in particular the Jenny Holzer LED light installation and the Daniel Buren red bridge, just outside the institution, that need updating with new software. The museum is also using the anniversary to strengthen its relationship with local artists and Bilbao’s cultural community.
“We have an initiative to bring the work of artists younger than 35 years into the Guggenheim. We are also inviting cultural institutions that work in the area, including disciplines such as music, dance, theatre and even gastronomy, to run activities as part of our 20th birthday programme.”
The museum also has an active outreach programme that works with different communities in the city.
“We think an art institution can be helpful for those people that are in, for different reasons, unfortunate situations,” Vidarte says. “For example, we have been working for quite a long time with public hospitals in the Basque country, especially with children. We have learned how useful and how important contact with art can be for these children. We also make a special effort to help bridge that gap for underprivileged social groups, including refugees, that don’t have so much access to cultural resources.”
Despite Vidarte being involved in Guggenheim Bilbao for so long, early on in his career he never saw himself ending up in the cultural sector. Is the experience he gained more than 26 years ago working for the Provincial Council of Bizkaia useful for his job now? “I think that my professional background has provided me with a thought framework to address problems,” he says.
One off his next challenges is to ensure the successful development of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, which is being built in the United Arab Emirates as the next addition to the Guggenheim Foundation’s international empire. Gehry is the architect for this as well.
“It’s moving forward – it’s a long term project,” he says. “It’s very transformational and it’s very visionary. These types of projects require time but we are moving forward slowly.”
But with two roles to straddle as director general of the museum and chief officer for global strategies of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation does Vidarte ever feel overwhelmed?
“It gives me a very interesting perspective of the foundation and of the world of museums,” he says. “It’s also very useful for me as the director of the museum in Bilbao. I feel comfortable wearing both hats.”
There is a session on culture-led regeneration at the Museums Association Conference & Exhibition, 16-18 November, Manchester. Speakers include Simon Green of Hull Culture and Leisure. Visit: www.museumsassociation.org/conference
Guggenheim Bilbao at a glance
The Guggenheim Bilbao opened 20 years ago in the Basque city of Bilbao in northern Spain. The museum, designed by Frank Gehry, is known for its unique architecture.
Annual visitor figures are about 1.2 million, with two thirds visiting from abroad. About 150,000 of the 400,000 Spanish visitors are from Bilbao, which has a population of about 1 million.
About a third of the museum’s annual €28m budget comes from three public institutions in the area: the Basque Country, the province of Biscay and the city of Bilbao. A third comes from activities the museum generates, with the last third from private sources, corporations or members.
The museum has almost 17,000 individual members. The standard membership rate is €40.
Juan Ignacio Vidarte at a glance
Juan Ignacio Vidarte has been the director general of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in northern Spain since 1996. He is also the chief officer for global strategies of the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation.
He graduated in economics and business administration from the University of Deusto in Bilbao in 1978, and then studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.
He was the director of the Institute for Regional Research of Bizkaia (a Spanish province that has Bilbao as its capital city) between 1986 and 1988. He then became the director general for regional development of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, a position he held until 1989, when he became the director general of tax and financial policies, also for the Provincial Council of Bizkaia.
In 1992 he became the director of the consortium for the Guggenheim Bilbao Project, where he led the building’s construction and installation until 1996.