MNAC considers renaming and adding ‘Barcelona’ to promote its image abroad
The Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (Catalonia’s National Museum of Art) is considering changing its name to include ‘Barcelona’. The Museum Director, Pepe Serra, wants to better explain the Museum to a global audience and considers using the “Barcelona brand” as a superior way of raising the gallery’s status. Also he believes the collections of Romanesque art, which are considered exceptional, have not been sufficiently exploited on an international level. The Museum Director also announced that despite the crisis, they will open up “many more areas for free”.
Barcelona (ACN).– The Director of the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC), Pepe Serra, has announced that they are considering changing the name in order to “explain themselves better”. He said that on a global level, “we can’t go around calling ourselves MNAC and neglecting the ‘Barcelona’ brand”. In an interview with Catalunya Ràdio (Catalonia’s Public Radio Broadcaster), he gave the example of the National Gallery in London or the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, citing that “everybody knows what they are” without putting the United Kingdom or the USA. For Serra, when the gallery “goes global” it should incorporate the word Barcelona, considering ‘Catalonia’ redundant because it is already referred to in ‘national’. Furthermore, he believes the collections of Romanesque and Gothic art have not been sufficiently exploited internationally.
Serra believes that the MNAC’s main challenge is to “believe in itself”. “We can not say that we have the best collection of Romanesque art in the world and not export it. Those from Madrid should come and see it here and we’ll export it to Central Europe”, he stated.
According to the MNAC’s Director, the Picasso ‘brand’ for example, is “very important” and the MNAC has made ??a “significant effort” in this sense. “We have collections of a high level but we do not have iconic works. We are not known enough,” he said.
Serra believes that with lower contributions from the public sector it is “more necessary than ever to open up many more areas for free”. The Director also regrets that in terms of art there is “discriminatory treatment of Catalonia” with a bias towards Madrid. “Everything is placed in Madrid, therefore we have a lot to do,” he proclaimed.
Regarding the relationship with CaixaFòrum, Serra explained that they must work together “to clean up the system”. “I congratulate la Caixa for the work it has done but considering the current situation we have to be better integrated with the public system” he stressed. Also he stated “while MNAC is 10€ and la Caixa’s exhibitions are free, the work [promoting the museum] will be much more difficult”.
Finally, Serra - who is radically opposed to the VAT increase for the cultural sector, considering it a “huge” error - believes the museum should move closer to the city and occupy an area in Fira de Barcelona’s Montjuic venue (one of Europe’s most prominent trade shows and exhibition spaces) as well as completely embrace contemporary art.