Untitled - Museo Guggenheim Bilbao

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2 adquisiciones
ANNUAL REPORT 2011
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Annual Report 2011
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Introduction 6
Acquisitions
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Art Program
14
Loans
18
Education
20
Visitors
30
Individual Members
32
Corporate Members
34
Special Events
36
Press
38
Store/Bookstore
41
Publications
42
Projects
43
Awards and Distinctions
44
Forums
45
VIP Visitors
46
Impact
48
RH and Quality
50
CONTENTS
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Juan Ignacio Vidarte, Director General
We were very pleased to see that the museum’s year-end figures for 2011 were quite positive, despite the difficulties that we
have naturally faced due to the state of affairs around the world.
One of the highlights of the year’s activity was the art program, which offered a thought-provoking exploration of art from
the 20th and 21st centuries. We covered the interwar period in Chaos and Classicism: Art in France, Italy, Germany, and Spain,
1918–1936; in The Luminous Interval we engaged in a profound examination of the human condition through contemporary
works from the Dimitris Daskalopoulos Collection, one of the most important in the world; Painterly Abstraction, 1949–1969:
Selections from the Guggenheim Collections took us on a fascinating journey through the affinities between American
and European abstract painting; we witnessed an unprecedented dialogue between two great masters of modern and
contemporary sculpture, Brancusi and Serra; and we ended the year with a new selection of pieces from the Guggenheim
Bilbao Collection that illustrate the artistic debate which took place in Europe in the 1970s and 80s.
This year was also marked by several important additions to the collection. We acquired the installation Home (1999) by
Lebanese-born Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum and Untitled by the Colombian artist Doris Salcedo, two essential figures for
understanding the development of sculptural and installation language since the 1980s. Another welcome newcomer was the
series of feminine portraits entitled Smiles (1994) by renowned American artist Alex Katz. Finally, an additional four works
were donated to the museum: British artist Liam Gillick’s How are you going to behave? A kitchen cat speaks (2009) and three
photographs by the Madrid-based creator José Manuel Ballester entitled May 3 (3 de mayo, 2008), The Royal Palace (Palacio
Real, 2009), and The Raft of the Medusa (La balsa de la Medusa, 2010) from his series Hidden Spaces (Espacios ocultos).
Thanks to its continued efforts to purchase representative examples of the art of our time, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
collection now boasts a total of 124 works by 70 different artists.
INTRODUCTION
View of the museum’s north facade with Anish Kapoor’s Tall Tree and the Eye and Daniel Buren’s Red Arches in the background
One of the most significant statistical figures of 2011 was the number of visitors received—962,358 in total, representing a
slight yet important increase from the previous year—with the proportion of foreign visitors stable at 62%. Meanwhile, our
educational activities were a tremendous success in terms of both turnout and participant satisfaction, and our Individual
and Corporate Members Programs continue to thrive, helping to support the museum’s activities and increase its financial
autonomy. All of this, combined with initiatives such as the renovation and expansion of our dining services with the re-launch
of the Bistró Guggenheim Bilbao and the opening of Nerua (an haute cuisine restaurant that has already earned its first
Michelin star), has served to reinvent the museum experience, making it more enriching, varied, educational, and unique.
The museum has managed to reach the end of a complicated year with very positive results. I trust that our core values of
competitiveness, creativity, innovation, and research will continue to fuel our progress in the months and years to come.
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José Manuel Ballester. The Raft of the Medusa (La Balsa de la Medusa), 2010. Photograph on canvas, 491 x 717 cm. Single edition
Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa
In 2011 the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao collection expanded thanks to the acquisition of Alex Katz’s series of paintings
entitled Smiles (1994), the works Home (1999) by Mona Hatoum and Untitled (2008) by Doris Salcedo, as well as the
donations of How are you going to behave? A kitchen cat speaks (2009) by Liam Gillick and three photographs by José
Manuel Ballester from his series Hidden Spaces (Espacios ocultos). Thus, by the end of the year covered in this report, the
Bilbao holdings comprised 124 works by 70 different artists, spanning the period from 1950 to the present.
Alex Katz. (left to right): Ursula Smiles 2; Ada Smiles; Belinda Smiles; Yvonne Smiles; Katryn Smiles; Karen Smiles; Lauren Smiles; Lysa Smiles; Ahn Smiles;
Alba Smiles; Jessica Smiles; from the series Smiles, 1993. Oil on linen, 243.8 x 182.9 cm each. Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa
ACQUISITIONS
The incorporation of Alex Katz’s pictorial series Smiles marks the artist’s debut in the Guggenheim Collections, where it will
join and reinforce the existing selection of works by American creators who began working in the late 1950s and early 1960s,
such as Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, and James Rosenquist. The son of Russian immigrants, Alex Katz (New York,
1927) is one of the leading painters of his generation. With his particular approach to figuration, in a context where Abstract
Expressionism still reigned supreme, Katz presaged the advent of a renewed interest in “realism” in the field of representation,
even before Pop Art took off. Though he is often associated with this movement due to the fact that his work incorporates
10 acquisitions
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details taken from the film industry, advertising, or fashion, Katz refuses to accept this label: “Pop art is about signs, whereas I
deal with symbols. Pop Art is cynical and ironic, while my work is not. Those are the differences. Pop art is modern, my work
is traditional.” Many of the subjects depicted in Katz’s paintings are women. The series of works, united under the generic
title Smiles, consists of eleven portraits of smiling women against a dark neutral background. To create his portraits, Katz
often relies on people from his own circle of acquaintances (his wife, female friends, etc.) whom he identifies by including
their first names in the titles of the canvases. In his case, the recourse to portraiture should be understood as an exercise that
attempts to solve the classic “figure-ground” relationship; consequently, the portrayed subjects serve the purpose of research
tools.
Mona Hatoum (Beirut, 1952) and Doris Salcedo (Bogotá, 1958) are both essential figures for understanding the development
of sculptural and installation language since the 1980s. Their works reflect the adoption of a new strategy in the museum’s
acquisitions policy, which aims to expand the geographic scope of the Bilbao collection beyond European and American art.
Hatoum’s work Home is a large table strewn with various kitchen utensils that are attached to each other by metal clips and
wires plugged into an electrical outlet. A computer program causes the electric current to turn on several small light bulbs
hidden beneath some of the objects, which shine with variable intensity and frequency, while speakers amplify the humming
noise that this circuit emits. The entire installation is fenced off by a series of horizontal steel cables that separate the
audience from these potentially lethal objects. Hatoum created Home in the 1990s, a critical period in her international career
when museums around the world dedicated major exhibitions to her work and she was shortlisted for the prestigious Turner
Prize (1995). In this piece, as in other pivotal examples from her earlier and later oeuvre, the artist creates an unsettling,
threatening scene that contrasts with the habitual ideas comfort and safety that the term “home” usually evokes. Hatoum
triggers an emotional response in the spectator by creating environments that are halfway between attraction and repulsion,
between the familiar and the bizarre.
Doris Salcedo is the first female Latin American artist to have a work included in the collection of the Guggenheim Museum
Bilbao. Her piece Untitled belongs to the largest series she has produced to date, begun in 1989 and still in progress, in
which she combines groups of old wardrobes and tables to create hybrid forms whose cavities and surfaces are partially
covered with concrete. Thanks to their material qualities, the resulting forms operate as vehicles of implicit narratives, both
personal and collective, and in many cases represent first-hand evidence of a real victim of the war in Colombia, as the artist
has pointed out. In 2007 Salcedo exhibited a work entitled Shibboleth, a huge crack in the floor symbolizing the gap that
separates the First and Third Worlds, in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, London.
In addition to these acquisitions, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao collection also received four donations: an installation by
British artist Liam Gillick and three photographs by José Manuel Ballester.
Mona Hatoum. Home, 1999. Wood, galvanized steel, stainless steel, electric wire, crocodile clips, light bulbs, computerized dimmer switch, amplifier, and
speakers. 76.2 x 198.1 x 73.7 cm (table). Overall dimensions variable. Edition 1/3 + 1 AP. Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa
Doris Salcedo. Untitled, 2008. Wood, metal, and cement, 78 x 247 x 121 cm. Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa
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José Manuel Ballester
May 3 (3 de mayo), 2008
Photograph on canvas, 268 x 347 cm. Edition 1/2 + 1 AP
Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa
The Royal Palace (Palacio Real), 2009
Photograph on canvas, 276 x 318.4 cm. Edition 1/2 + 1 AP
Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa
themes and attitudes that the artist addresses in his work. Here Gillick brings to social sculpture the utopian dream of access
to upscale design and the modern discourse about the inhabitable space. Inside the installation, a stuffed cat sitting on one of
the cabinets talks to the audience about encounters, relationships, utopia and melancholy, dreams and disappointments, the
passage of time and transformation, flooding the exhibition space and the spectator’s mind with sound.
Liam Gillick. How are you going to behave? A kitchen cat speaks, 2009. Wood, lamps, stuffed cat, text, door blinds, MP3 player, dimensions variable.
Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa. Donated by the artist, with the generous support of the Casey Kaplan Gallery, New York, and Esther Schipper, Berlin.
Views and details of the installation at the Venice Biennale, 2009
Originally created for the German pavilion at the 2009 Venice Biennale, How are you going to behave? A kitchen cat speaks
is an installation that stands out within the praxis of Liam Gillick (Aylesbury, United Kingdom, 1964), who is universally
acknowledged as one of the most important artists of his time. His artwork constitutes a new interpretation of Conceptual
and Minimal art, but it is just one part of his extensive, multifaceted output as a critic, writer, designer, curator, filmmaker,
and artist. This installation features a series of pinewood kitchen cabinets inspired by the famous Frankfurt Kitchen, which
architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky designed for a social housing project in the 1920s. The piece is a synthesis of the
José Manuel Ballester (Madrid, 1960), winner of the Spanish National Photography Prize in 2010, donated three largeformat works to the museum: May 3 (2008), The Royal Palace (2009) and The Raft of the Medusa (2010). Thanks to his
generosity, the Bilbao collection’s photography section has gained three creations by one of the most prominent Spanish
artists of his generation. These works belong to the Hidden Spaces series, a reinterpretation of masterpieces of classic and
modern painting which Ballester strips of all their original actions and characters in order to create a new protagonist: space
itself. Some of the pieces from this series are based on famous canvases, such as Francisco de Goya’s The Third of May,
1808, Velázquez’s Las Meninas, and Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa, through which Ballester is reconciled with the classics
without having to forsake his own time. His particular interpretation of humankind’s struggle against time and death is one of
the leitmotifs of his oeuvre.
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permanent collection
title : Painterly Abstraction, 1949–1969:
Selections from the Guggenheim Collections
dates : June 14, 2011–January 8, 2012
galleries : third floor
curated by : Tracey R. Bashkoff and
Megan Fontanella
nr . of works : 71
total visitors : 635,246 (at the end of show)
temporary exhibition
title : Chaos and Classicism: Art in France, Italy,
Germany and Spain, 1918–1936
dates : February 22–May 15, 2011
galleries : third floor
curated by : Kenneth Silver, Helen Hsu, and
Vivien Greene
nr . of works : 156
total visitors : 199,178
sponsored by :
Annette Messager. Dependence/Independence (Dépendance/Indépendance), 1995. Fabric, black-and-white photographs, wool, ropes, fishnet stockings,
stuffed animals, nettings, plastic, and lamps. Dimensions variable. The D.Daskalopoulos Collection
top: Gallery 303 during Painterly Abstraction
bottom: Antonio Donghi. Circus (Circo equestre), 1927.
Oil on canvas, 150 x 100 cm. Gerolamo and Roberta Etro,
Milan, featured in the exhibition Chaos and Classicism
This year’s art program has covered a broad spectrum of modern and contemporary art, from the art of interwar Europe
to the latest trends found in Dimitris Daskalopoulos’s collection. European and American paintings from the 1950s and 60s
belonging to the Permanent Collections of the Guggenheim Museums struck up a sequential dialogue with the second
presentation of the Bilbao Collection within the Selections series, which examines the artistic debates of the 1970s and 80s
by a generation of European artists whose careers began in the late 1960s. Finally, one hundred years of sculpture, illustrated
by the work of one of the field’s most celebrated pioneers, Constantin Brancusi, and one of its greatest contemporary
exponents, Richard Serra, marked the exhibitions scheduled in the final quarter of 2011..
page 16 top: Richard Serra. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 1987. Hot-rolled steel,
eight plates, 184.8 x 400 x 5.1 cm each. Collection of the artist
page 16 bottom: Richard Long. Bilbao Circle, 2000.
Delabole slate, diameter 1,300 cm. Guggenheim Bilbao
Museoa. Gerhard Richter. Seascape (Seestück), 1998. Oil on
canvas, 290 x 290 cm. Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa
page 17 top: Thomas Hirschhorn. Cavemanman, 2002
(detail). Wood, cardboard, tape, aluminum foil, books, posters,
videos, mannequins, cans, shelves, spray paint and fluorescent
light fixtures, dimensions variable. D.Daskalopoulos Collection
page 17 center: View of the exhibition Learning through Art, 2011
page 17 bottom: View of the exhibition Laboratories: Insights
into the Permanent Collection. Aitor Ortiz, 2011
ART PROGRAM
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temporary exhibition
title : The Luminous Interval:
The D.Daskalopoulos Collection
dates : April 12–September 11, 2011
galleries : 103 a, 105, and second floor
curated by : Nancy Spector y Katherine Brinson
nr . of works : 56
total visitors : 532.287
sponsored by :
permanent collection
title : Learning through Art
dates : June 14–August 28, 2011
galleries : 103 b
nr . of works : 56
total visitors : 308.999
sponsored by :
permanent collection
title : Laboratories: Insights into the Permanent
Collection. Aitor Ortiz
dates : September 13–November 13, 2011
galleries : 103 b
nr of works : 4
total visitors : 162.769
temporary exhibition
title : Brancusi–Serra
dates : October 8, 2011–April 15, 2012
galleries : second floor
curated by : Oliver Wick
nr of works : 53
total visitors : 387,851 (at end of show)
permanent collection
title : Selections from the Guggenheim
Museum Bilbao Collection II
dates : November 15, 2011–November 4, 2012
galleries : 103 a and 105
curated by : Petra Joos
nr of works : 8
total visitors : 104,651 (as of December 31, 2011)
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Jesús Mari Lazkano
The Curve of Destiny (La curva del destino), 2004
Acrylic on canvas, 300 x 500 cm
Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa
Over the course of 2011, a total of 331 works have traveled to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao from institutions in the
Guggenheim Network and museums such as the Fondation Beyeler in Basel, the Menil Collection and the Museum of Fine
Arts, both in Houston, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Tate in London;
and from non-institutional lenders such as The D.Daskalopoulos Collection, one of the world’s most important private
contemporary art collections, which loaned works for the exhibition The Luminous Interval that opened at the Museum in April.
LOANS
With regard to loan requests for items in the Bilbao Collection received from other institutions, the CAPC Musée d’art
contemporain in Bordeaux requested Jesús Mari Lazkano’s The Curve of Destiny (La curva del destino, 2004) for inclusion
in the exhibition Dystopia, held during the summer in that French city. Moreover, lenders such as the Spanish Royal Family,
Tubacex, artist Anselm Kiefer, and the Carreras-Múgica Gallery have maintained their relationship with the museum through
the long-term loan of their artwork.
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Target groups
2011 Beneficiaries
Programs
32,656
7
104,686
6
60
1
families
15,950
9
social programs
1,098
5
329
2
museum members and general public
93,757
7
didaktika
391,773
3
640,309
40*
schoolchildren
Different types of tours, orientation sessions, free admission,
and educational materials (in Basque, Spanish, English
and French)
educators Participative programs
Online teaching resources
WikiEducators
university
Undergraduate and graduate students
Participative programs
Virtual tour
Art at hospitals
Volunteers
accesibility
Programs for children and adults with disabilities
Educational spaces
Zero Espazioa
total
*Not including audio guides or Guggenheim Bilbao magazines
Carlos Garaicoa during his lecture at the museum, February 22, 2011
As an innovative and dynamic artistic, educational, and cultural venue, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao offers a broad
and varied array of on-site and online activities and programs designed to meet the public’s growing interest in active
participation.
Catering to students, educators, families, Museum Members, disadvantaged collectives, disabled persons, art professionals,
and the general public from Bilbao and around the world, these programs are designed from a multidisciplinary approach
in which modern and contemporary art education and interpretation is viewed, analyzed, and enjoyed from various
perspectives. BBK (Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa) continues to sponsor a high percentage of these programs.
EDUCATION
Selected Highlights
didaktika
As part of the didaktika project, the museum has continued to design educational spaces with key resources and tools to
help audiences make the most of their visit to the exhibitions. This year, with a view to increasing the visibility and use of the
visitor orientation room Zero Espazioa and making it more user-friendly, interior and exterior signage was reinforced and
some of the contents reorganized.
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View of the annual exhibition of the program Learning Through Art, 2010–11
Worshops for schoolchildren at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Meanwhile, Gallery 103B has been converted into a transitional space leading to the museum exit in order to improve the
flow of people. Visitors are offered one last didactic experience in this space thanks to a number of new features, such as an
extensive overview of the history of architecture, the documentary Sketches of Frank Gehry by American director Sydney
Pollack, a timeline of the most important milestones in the history of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and sneak
previews of upcoming exhibitions.
participated in this new edition of Learning through Art, the educational program sponsored by BBK which involved a total
of 196 students between the ages of 6 and 12. On this occasion, the artists who worked with the schoolteachers and museum
educators were Elssie Ansareo, Nadia Barkate, Naia del Castillo, Ibon Garagarza, Iñaki Gracenea, Joxerra Melguizo, Manu
Muniategiandikoetxea, Jorge Rubio, and Ibon Sáenz de Olazagoitia. A selection of the surprising projects created during the
program were exhibited from June 14 to August 28 in Gallery 103B, and the next edition corresponding to the 2011–12 school
year started in October, with new schools and collaborating artists.
schoolchildren and educators
In 2011, a total of 32,656 students—58% from the Basque Country, 25% from the rest of Spain and 17% from France—and
104,686 educators participated in these programs in one way or another. The 2011–12 school year kicked off on October 4
with the first workshop-tours for preschoolers and primary school students, guided tours for high school students, the special
program for pre-university art students, and the training programs and online materials for educators, all with a transversal,
multidisciplinary approach and offered in several languages.
learning through art
During the 2010–11 school year, nine schools—PS Zuazo LHI in Barakaldo, PS Pío Baroja LHI in Bilbao, PS Juan Ramón
Jiménez LHI in Barakaldo, PS San Ignacio LHI in Bilbao, PS Mendiola LHI in Donostia-San Sebastián, PS Ramón Bajo LHI
in Vitoria-Gasteiz, PS Samaniego LHI in Vitoria-Gasteiz, PS Zabaleko LHI in Amurrio, and PS San Lorenzo LHI in Ermua—
families
With regard to the family-oriented program, 15,950 children and adults actively participated in the activities that the museum
offered specifically for families, such as workshop-tours, children’s performances, and special workshops revolving around the
art program.
The children of Museum Members participated in the Spider Workshops, focusing on Louise Bourgeois’s work Maman,
on March 19, 20, 26, and 27 and November 20, 26, and 27, and the Puppy Workshops involving Jeff Koons’s sculpture were
offered on May 21, 22, 28, and 29 and October 22, 23, 29, and 30. In addition, to celebrate the beginning of summer vacation,
workshops for the children of Museum Members were organized from June 27 to July 8 in connection with the exhibitions
The Luminous Interval and Painterly Abstraction.
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On December 19, the museum opened exclusively
for Individual Members. Families and children
between ages 4 and 12 were able to enjoy the
show Tales of an Ancient Tree, an allegory of
respect and love for nature. Also, starting on
December 20, children’s workshops were offered
that analyzed the symbols of Christmas, and
guessing and drawing games were scheduled for
the winter vacation. Over the holidays, the family
show The Lunnis Visit Bilbao was produced on
December 27 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of
UNICEF’s Spanish Committee.
Finally, a very interesting technological
development was introduced this year with An
Adventure at the Museum, a novel virtual tour
designed for children and families that is available
on the museum website.
social programs and accessibility
Social outreach and responsility is also part of the
educational mission of the museum, which has
continued to organize activities for children at the
hospitals of Cruces and Basurto in collaboration
with artist Mertxe Périz.
Other social initiatives include the Volunteers
Program—talks and workshops given and led
by museum volunteers at senior citizens’ and
women’s associations, recreational clubs, and drug
rehabilitation centers—and tours for senior citizens
and persons at risk of social exclusion. Special
tours designed specifically for children and adults
with disabilities are also offered.
top: Educational space complementing the exhibition The Luminous Interval
bottom: Tales of an Ancient Tree, a show for families organized for the exclusive
Members Day, 2011
Artists Panel organized to mark the exhibition The Luminous Interval
general public
The activities organized for the general public touched upon a wide range of themes and disciplines, with the presence and
participation of influential people from different fields and areas of expertise.
Talks with Artists and Curators
- January 27 and February 22: Talks by artists Sarah Charlesworth and Carlos Garaicoa about their respective creative
processes, in connection with the exhibition Haunted.
- April 9: Talks with artists Paul Chan, Kendell Geers, Thomas Hirschhorn, Nate Lowman, Paul Pfeiffer, and Alexandros
Psychoulis, about their work and creative processes in connection with the exhibition The Luminous Interval.
- April 10: Curators Panel to mark the exhibition The Luminous Interval, with the participation of Achim BorchardtHume, Chief Curator, Whitechapel Gallery; Richard Flood, Director of Special Projects and Curator at Large, New
Museum; Douglas Fogle, Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs, Hammer Museum;
Frances Morris, Head of Collections (International Art), Tate; Dimitris Paleocrassas, consultant for the D.Daskalopoulos
Collection; and Nancy Spector, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
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Oliver Wick, curator of the exhibition Brancusi-Serra, during the Sculpture Network International Sculpture Forum
A Day of Art, Math, and Magic
Multidisciplinary Tours and Lectures
− January 18: Lecture by Patxi Cobo, photographer and professor of photography at the University of the Basque Country,
entitled Camera Obscura, in connection with the exhibition The Golden Age of Dutch and Flemish Painting from the Städel
Museum.
− May 3, 9, 17, and 25: Thematic tours of the exhibition The Luminous Interval given by sociologist Iñaki Martínez de
Albéniz, art critic Xabier Sáenz de Gorbea, and artists Mabi Revuelta and Txuspo Poyo.
A Day of Art, Math, and Magic
On November 19, A Day of Art, Math, and Magic was held in connection with the Brancusi-Serra exhibition. Organized to
mark the centennial of the Spanish Royal Mathematics Society, coinciding with Universal Children’s Day and the meeting of
the European Mathematical Society in Bilbao, this program comprised children’s workshops, activities, tours for adults, a math
and magic show, and a conversation with artist José María Yturralde.
Sculpture Network International Sculpture Forum
On November 10 and 11, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao hosted the 10th Sculpture Network International Sculpture Forum
on the occasion of the Brancusi-Serra exhibition, with the participation of artists Jaume Plensa and Susan Phillipsz, and
curators and art experts Brigitte Franzen, Friedrich Teja Bach, and Oliver Wick.
Audiovisual Cycles
This year’s audiovisual programs included, from March 29 to 31, the series entitled An Educative Revolution: The Pedagogical
Missions of the Second Republic (1931–1936) in connection with the exhibition Chaos and Classicism. Filmmaker Gonzalo
Tapia; video historian and filmmaker Eugeni Bonet; and Aitor Larrabide, a member of the Miguel Hernández Cultural
Foundation, gave presentations about the pedagogical missions and the involvement of Val del Omar and Miguel
Hernández in that historic initiative.
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Performances, Creative Processes, Concerts
− March 10: Kratimosha, performance by artist
Amalia Fernández, organized in association
with La FuNdicIOn during the 12th Dantzaldia
Festival.
− May 15: Concert-Tribute to the Bilbao Choral
Society on its 125th Anniversary, offered by
the Jesús Guridi Orchestra from the Bilbao
Choral Society Conservatory, directed by Radu
Hamzea.
− June 24: Presentation of the interactive
installation LTNSM (La tierra no se mueve/
The Earth Doesn’t Move) by Argentine artists
Adriana Barenstein, Mariana Bellotto, Sergio
Pletikosic, and Juan Pablo Amato, with
Mariana Bellotto and Sergio Pletikosic as the
performers, in the context of the 7th Lekuz
Leku Festival of Dance in Urban Landscapes
and Video Dance.
− August 2: Creative process featuring renowned
dancers from the New York City Ballet as
part of the program Works & Process at the
Guggenheim.
− September 24: Concert by clarinet soloist Luis
Alberto Requejo, a member of the Bilbao
Symphony Orchestra (BOS), accompanied
by Miriam Alonso on the piano, in the context
of the 18th Contemporary Music Festival
organized by Kuraia.
− November 24: King Kong Truna, a performance
by artist Andrés Blanco organized for MEM,
the International Experimental Art Festival.
top: Performance Kratimosha
bottom: Lekuz Leku Festival, 2011
opposite: Stars from the New York City Ballet
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The Guggenheim Bilbao Nights, 2011
In 2011 the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao received a total of 962,358
visitors, which represents a slight increase from the previous year but
higher than expected given the dire situation of the global economy.
Seasonality remained a constant, with spikes in visitor numbers during
the summer months, long weekends, and other holiday periods. With
regard to place of origin, 38% of visitors came from Spain and the
remaining 62% were foreigners. This trend is consistent with previous
years, although a slight increase was registered in the percentage of
visitors from the Basque Country, primarily owing to the popularity of
the exhibitions Chaos and Classicism and The Golden Age of Dutch
and Flemish Painting from the Städel Museum.
Selected Highlights
2011
Other
2010
Japan
In order to improve the quality of the visitor experience, in 2011 a number of actions were carried out primarily related to
improving signage and orienting visitors from the moment they enter the museum. The system of online ticket sales has also
been modernized so that visitors can now bypass the ticket window and head straight for the galleries.
USA
Portugal
New collaboration agreements were signed with public institutions and organizations to offer different types of visitors a
variety of special admission deals, such as the Basque Government (Culture Pass), the Provincial Council of Biscay (Barrutik
Museum Program), Iberdrola, BBVA, and Renfe. In addition, the museum continued to participate in tourism fairs like FITUR
and offer package deals through major travel and tourism agencies.
Italy
Germany
France
United Kingdom
Finally, in addition to the now classic Guggenheim Bilbao Nights, the museum can boast other established initiatives like
the night program Art After Dark, an activity designed for young people held one Friday each month that combines the
museum’s exhibitions with music sessions led by international DJs.
Rest of Spain
Basque Country
0%
VISITORS
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
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left: Guggenheim Bilbao Individual Members visit Venice. right: Presentation of the new gastronomic offer of the museum
Selected Highlights
Members visiting the exhibition The Golden Age of Dutch and Flemish Painting from the Städel Museum
In yet another successful year, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao has received the backing and invaluable support of 16,239
Individual Members, divided among six different categories, who enjoy and participate in the activities that the museum
offers. For example, approximately one thousand people participated in the guided tours offered at the opening of each
temporary exhibition, or took part in the annual Members’ Day organized exclusively for them, held on December 19.
New in 2011
Acting on suggestions made by Museum Members, the program Lagunartean­—an initiative that allows Members to visit the
shows and enjoy a meal at the Museum Restaurant during their lunch break—has been reformulated. Now, besides midday,
the program is available in the evenings as well, providing a new and interesting experience.
In an effort to enrich the Members’ experience in a new way, a program was designed where they can meet some of the
artists featured in the exhibitions. In 2011, Individual Members were given the opportunity to visit and chat with Bilbao-born
artist Aitor Ortiz in his studio and gain first-hand insight into his motivations and creative process.
INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS
In 2011, the activities organized to complement the exhibitions took on a playful tone with the Carnaval Party held at the
museum, a celebration set in the historical period examined in the show Chaos and Classicism. Recreating the spirit of the
Roaring Twenties that witnessed the birth of the works in this exhibit, the event enjoyed a great turnout, a high level of
satisfaction among those in attendance, and significant media coverage.
The cultural trips and getaways offered Museum Members a number of extraordinary experiences. This year they traveled to
destinations such as the Ruhr River Valley in Germany, in connection with the loan of Joseph Beuys’s work Lightning with Stag
in Its Glare from the Bilbao collection; the ARCO Fair in Madrid; the Balenciaga Museum in Getaria; the Venice Biennale;
and the most important cultural centers of Brazil.
Members also benefited from agreements and partnerships that the museum established with local institutions, such as the
Arriaga Theater, the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra (BOS), the Leisure Studies Institute at Deusto University, La Fundición,
the 35th International Getxo Jazz Festival, the Bilbao Choral Society, Getxophoto 2011, and the Emerging Arts Festival
Getxoarte, which were joined this year by FNAC Bilbao. Moreover, the new restaurant facilities with two distinctive venues
allowed the museum to devise interesting promotional offers so that Members can discover these new culinary experiences.
Finally, over 800 Members participated in the open-house day organized on December 19, with special Christmas activities,
guided tours, a “yard sale” of products from the Store/Bookstore, the family show Tales of an Ancient Tree, the traditional
contest, and a concert by the San Antón Chorale. As usual, this day was integrated in the larger program of Christmas
activities that the museum organizes each year with families in mind.
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Exhibitions and Activities
Sponsors
The Matter of Time
ArcelorMittal
The Golden Age of Dutch and Flemish Painting
Fundación BBVA
Collaborators
from the Städel Museum
Caos Chaos and Classicism: Art in France, Italy, Germany
Fundación BBVA
and Spain, 1918–1936
The Luminous Interval: The D. Daskalopoulos Collection
Fundación Iberdrola
Actividades educativas
BBK
Fundación Vizcaína Aguirre
Volunteers Program
BBK
WikiEducators
BBK
Guggenheim Bilbao Nights
BBK
Corporate Film Forum
Adecco
Ysios (Domecq Bodegas)
Ferroser
Deusto Business School
Visitor Services
Prosegur
Carnaval Party
Seguros Bilbao
Cadena SER
Vodka Absolut
IBERIA
Viajes Aguirre
Transhotel
Barullo
Painterly Abstraction, 1949–1969:
Bodegas de los Herederos de Marqués de Riscal
Selections from the Guggenheim Collections
Señorío de Olivenza
Stars of the New York City Ballet
Meliá Bilbao
Change of flowers on Puppy
Hugo Boss
Annual Dinner
Grupo IXO
Norbega–Fundación Coca-Cola España
Grupo G.H. Mumm
Ysios (Domecq Bodegas)
top left:Title wall of Chaos and Classicism; top right: Curators Panel during The Luminous Interval; bottom:Guggenheim Bilbao Nights
Chivas 18
Exclusive Individual Members Day
Norbega–Fundación Coca-Cola España
illycaffè
At the close of 2011, a total of 123 participating companies were signed up in the different categories of the Corporate
Members Program: Strategic Trustees, Trustees, Corporate Benefactors, Media Benefactors, and Associate Members.
Despite the complicated global economic situation, the support received from Corporate Members has remained constant
at levels similar to those registered in previous years.
Specific sponsorships were arranged for a wide variety of projects in 2011, ranging from major sponsorship agreements with
the museum’s Strategic Trustees BBK, BBVA, Iberdrola, and ArcelorMittal to collaborations and contributions, some of which
were made in kind, which have allowed the museum to organize a significant number of activities and events.
Cacao Sampaka
Iberia
NH Hoteles
Bistró Guggenheim Bilbao
Equipment for the Nerua Restaurant
VIP Lounge
Global
Samsung
illycaffè
Children’s Christmas activities
Art after Dark
CORPORATE MEMBERS
Fagor Industrial
Bizkaiko Foru Aldundia/Diputación Foral Bizkaia
BBK
Fever
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top: Exhibition banners outside the museum
opposite: Annual Dinner 2011
Over the course of 2011, the museum has hosted more than 80 special events of various types: social events, such as
receptions, dinners, award ceremonies, and product launches, mostly held in the Atrium or the Vestibule; professional
gatherings, shareholders’ meetings, press conferences, and musical performances, most of which took place in the
Auditorium; and various business meetings conducted in other areas of the museum, such as the Education Room, Zero
Espazioa, and the Library.
Less public events, such as the private tours of temporary exhibitions or the special privileges extended to corporate sponsors
were among the primary reasons why many firms chose to hold their corporate events at the museum.
SPECIAL EVENTS
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Reinforcing the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao’s brand, consolidating its
status as an innovative institution that offers visitors a unique cultural
and educational experience, and achieving as much media coverage
and publicity for its activities as possible were the primary focuses of
the museum’s communications and marketing strategy in 2011.
The institution has been a news item on nearly 19,000 occasions,
and the media impact of this year’s exhibitions and activities was
greater than last year’s at both the national and international levels.
This media coverage, valued at nearly 26 million euros, testifies to
the museum’s ability to turn the international spotlight on Bilbao and
the Basque Country, and confirms the museum’s status as one of
Europe’s leading cultural institutions.
PRESS
Nr. of references
2011
International press
4,573
Spanish Press
5,719
Spanish TV
350
Spanish Radio
413
Internet
7,692
Website Hits
1,356,026
Pages Viewed
5,011,319
Press Visits
626
Images of museum’s publicity campaigns
Chaos and Classicism, The Luminous Interval: The D. Daskalopoulos
Collection, and Brancusi-Serra were the shows that obtained the
widest coverage in both the Spanish and international media in 2011,
garnering praise from critics and audiences alike. Thanks to the public
relations initiatives launched in Germany, France, the US, Italy, and the
UK, the exhibitions appeared in major publications such as Die Welt,
Le Monde, The Wall Street Journal, La Stampa, and The Times. The
new works acquired for the Bilbao Collection, described in a previous
section of this report, also attracted widespread media interest.
40 press
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In addition, other museum initiatives in 2011 made international
headlines: the opening of the new high-end restaurant Nerua and
the awarding of its first Michelin star six months later; the launch of a
mobile phone application about the museum; the aforementioned DJ
sessions at the nocturnal art and music program Art After Dark; the
screening of Matthew Barney’s Cremaster cycle; and the art and jazz
program Guggenheim Bilbao Nights.
Designed to complement the museum’s communications strategy, the
image campaign “It’s not what you see, it’s what you feel” conducted in
Spain and France, as well as the three marketing campaigns launched
to publicize the most important exhibitions of 2011 through the press,
radio, digital media, and outdoor advertising, attracted a greater
number of visitors during vacation periods, yielding a very positive
overall figure despite the adverse economic climate.
Finally, the museum website received over 1.3 million hits in 2011, 24%
more than in 2010, and thanks to the strategy adopted on networking
sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and Vimeo, the institution has
attracted increasingly more—and more active—followers in the social
media.
This year, the museum Store/Bookstore has focused on optimizing product inventory and the available spaces, both physical
and virtual, as well as on improving customer service and satisfaction.
In this respect, and with a view to increasing the number of customers and retail revenue, in 2011 a number of special offers
were devised, such as discounts in the Store for Restaurant customers. Individual and Corporate Members were also offered
exclusive articles, special discounts, Members-only opening hours, and the possibility of issuing complimentary or standard
membership cards on the spot at the Store/Bookstore so that new Members could immediately start enjoying the perks of
belonging to this club.
top: Georg Baselitz at the presentation of his series Mrs Lenin
and The Nightingale in gallery 103
center: Press conference announcing the launch of the
museum app
bottom: Richard Serra during Brancusi-Serra
With regard to renewing stock, the highlights of this year included the addition of a wide range of ecological products,
exclusive technological accessories for Smartphones, iPhones, iPads, and other devices, and special offers on catalogues from
past exhibitions. Moreover, anyone who spent over 50 euros on books received the gift of a reusable ecological bag with an
exclusive design created by the museum.
STORE/ BOOKSTORE
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The museum continues to produce high-quality publications to
accompany the exhibitions in the Art Program. The following titles
were released in 2011:
• Exhibition catalogue of Chaos and Classicism: Art in France,
Germany, Italy and Spain, 1918–1936, Spanish edition [192 pp.], with
a special supplement containing works by Spanish artists featured in
the Bilbao show [64 pp.]
• Exhibition catalogue of The Luminous Interval:
The D.Daskalopoulos Collection, Spanish and English editions
[208 pp. each]
• Exhibition catalogue of Brancusi–Serra, Spanish edition [238 pp.]
• The 2009-2010 Biennial Report, published in three languages
and posted for the first time on the museum’s corporate website:
www.guggenheim-bilbao-corp.es.
PUBLICATIONS
The corporate website, www.guggenheim-bilbao-corp.es, was
launched this year to contain information about the museum of a
more institutional nature. Organizational structure, governing bodies,
the current Strategic Plan, matters related to individual and corporate
support, and Corporate Social Responsibility are just some of the
contents found on this new portal.
As an expression of the museum’s firm commitment to new
technology, in 2011 an application for mobile phones was launched.
Entitled Guggenheim Bilbao, co-produced with TF Editores and
sponsored by BBK, this app was created for the iPhone—also visible
on iPad and iPod touch. Available in Spanish, English, and French, it
includes a feature that allows visitors to plan their tours in advance, as
well as information about the building, highlights of the Collection, and
instant access to the museum’s social media. The next phase of this
project will be the development of the app for Android mobile devices.
PROJECTS
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Over the past year, the museum has maintained its active involvement in multidisciplinary forums which represent an
opportunity to present its particular management model and work with other museum institutions to develop a mutually
beneficial intellectual exchange. Some of the most relevant were:
Nerua Restaurant at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao received the following awards, nominations and distinctions in 2011:
• Rated the “third most popular museum” in Spain, according to a survey conducted by the travel portal TripAdvisor among
its users.
• 2011 Certificate of Excellence Award, also granted by Trip Advisor.
• Nominated by the Lonely Planet travel guide as the world’s most beautiful building.
• EFR (Family-Friendly Organization) certification in equality and work-family balance, Aenor/Fundación Másfamilia, 2011.
• 6th National Award for the Standardization of Spanish Working Hours.
In addition, the Nerua Restaurant, inaugurated in 2011 as part of the museum’s effort to revamp its dining options, was
awarded one Michelin star and three Suns, the highest distinction offered by the Repsol Guide.
AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS
-The Culture Beyond Borders Symposia, New York, organized in September by the Blouin Creative Leadership Summit.
- Lectures on Tourism: New Challenges for Europe after the Adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, Brussels, organized in October by
the European Parliament.
The museum also participated in a number of professional forums:
- Organization of the meeting of the working group WG5: Conservation of Cultural Property—Packing and Transport of
Cultural Heritage within Technical Committee 346 on the Conservation of Cultural Property, organized by the CEN
(European Committee for Standardization) as part of a project to standardize cultural heritage procedures in the
European Union. This meeting, held at the museum from October 5 to 7, was attended by experts, museographers, and
conservators/restorers from across Europe.
- Meeting of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Artwork Registrars, ARMICE.
- Participation in the Museum Management graduate program at the Pompeu i Fabra University in Barcelona and the
master’s degree program in Contemporary Art Conservation and Exhibition at the University of the Basque Country.
FORUMS
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VIP Visitors
In 2011, the museum received a total of 154 VIP visitors,
including prominent figures from such diverse fields as
art and architecture (Antonio López, Alfredo Jaar, and
Pei Zhu), literature (Salman Rushdie, Lêdo Ivo, and
Dominique Lapierre), science (Jean-Marie Lehn and Martin
Chalfie, Nobel Laureates for Chemistry in 1987 and 2008,
respectively), politics (Delphine Borione, Director of Cultural
Policy for the French Foreign Ministry, and the ambassadors
of Chile, South Africa, Bangladesh, and Italy), social
sciences (Howard Gardner, winner of the 2011 Prince of
Asturias Award for Social Sciences, and Davidson Hepburn,
President of the UNESCO General Conference), music
(Herbie Hancock), and film (Antonio Banderas and Frances
McDormand).
Antonio Banderas, Dominique Lapierre and his wife, Salman Rushdie, and
Lêdo Ivo during their visits to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in 2011
VIP VISITORS
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The principal conclusions of the study with regard to economic impact are as follows:
- The total demand generated by the museum’s activities in 2011 amounted to 311 million euros.
- Through its activities, the museum has helped to generate 274.3 million euros in GDP, which works out to be 0.42% of the
Basque Country’s regional GDP and 128.82 euros per Basque citizen.
- The museum has helped to maintain 5,885 annual jobs, which account for 0.57% of the labor force.
- The museum has generated an additional 42.2 million euros in revenue for the Basque treasury and tax authorities, 0.39%
of the total amount collected by the provincial treasuries.
In addition to these quantitative figures, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao has impacted the economy in other ways: as a
driving force of transformation and revitalization of the city, as a major attraction that has triggered an increase in demand
and improvements in the tourism industry, and as a highly visible landmark with a stellar international reputation that has
placed Bilbao and the Basque Country at the vanguard of innovation.
Environmental Impact
In 2011, a new economic impact model was conducted to update the first one carried out in 1998 and revised in 2001 and
2006. This analysis includes what is known as the “triple bottom line” (TBL or 3BL) concept, an accounting framework for
sustainable businesses that evaluates three different dimensions of a company’s performance: economic, environmental,
and social. Thus, in addition to estimating the impact of the museum’s activities in terms of the wealth they generate for the
Basque Country, the study also examines how they affect the social, artistic, cultural, and environmental spheres, effectively
reinventing the model used in past years.
Economic Impact
This quantifies the direct, indirect, and induced effects of the museum’s activities and their impact on the Basque Country’s
economy, measured in terms of regional GDP, jobs maintained, and revenue generated for the Basque treasury and tax
authorities. Economic impact is determined by calculating expenditure inside the museum (tickets, purchases made at the
café, restaurant and Store/Bookstore) and outside its facilities (hotel and catering industry, shopping, transportation, and
leisure). A survey was done to determine visitor spending profiles by place of origin, though the analysis only considered
those visitors who said that the museum was a determining factor in their decision to visit Bilbao (83% of the total). The
study estimated that the total average expenditure of visitors who come to the Basque Country because of the Guggenheim
Museum Bilbao was 352.68 euros.
IMPACT
When carrying out its activities, the museum is constantly mindful of the importance of such factors as the preservation
of the ecosystem, nature conservation, and eco-efficient initiatives. Specific actions taken in this area include annual
environmental audits and staff training and awareness-raising activities. Other impacts detected by the study in this area
include:
- Energy optimization and reduction of water (14.7%), electrical power (6.75%) and gas consumption (9%).
- Selective disposal and reduction of waste, eliminating the equivalent of 500 bins of paper, 270 bins of plastic and 1,000 kg
of used oil.
- Creation of a space reserved for managing hazardous waste, which has been reduced by 40%.
Social, Artistic, and Cultural Impact
Finally, in the social, artistic and cultural spheres, the study noted the following impacts achieved or facilitated by the
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao:
- Making art more accessible to the general populace through 117 exhibitions since the museum opened with
approximately 130,000 Basque visitors per year (6% of the Basque Country’s population).
- Contribution to heritage, with a collection containing 124 works of art.
- Making art more accessible to special collectives: over 1,300 people belonging to disadvantaged social groups
participated in the museum’s educational activities.
- Creating new artistic spaces in the city, which is now home to more than 20 public artworks.
- Promotion of Basque art, with 33 works by 23 Basque artists in the Bilbao collection.
- Contribution to art education: approximately 600,000 people and over 30,000 schoolchildren participate in the
museum’s educational programs each year.
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Images of the Atrium and gallery 104 at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
In line with the approved Strategic Plan for Human Resources, this year the museum has worked to improve several aspects
of this area.
approach of management, and the increasing level of employee satisfaction. Finally, certain work spaces were physically
reorganized in order to achieve maximum efficiency and efficacy at every work station in the museum.
With regard to organization, the museum introduced a new project management system and methodology aimed primarily
at exhibitions, which a significant number of employees helped to devise and implement.
Finally, the President of the Basque Parliament, Arantza Quiroga, and the Chairman of the Council for the Standardization
of Spanish Working Hours, Ignacio Buqueras, invited the museum to give a presentation to the regional parliament about its
experience in the field of equality and work-life balance and the positive results it has achieved, including the 6th National
Award for the Standardization of Spanish Working Hours presented to the museum at Kursaal Palace in Donostia-San
Sebastián (see Awards section).
In terms of working conditions, strides have been made to improve employee work-life balance by establishing policies that
promote equal opportunities for men and women at the museum and are set out in an Equality Plan, which was drafted and
introduced this year. The museum also implemented a protocol to prevent and combat psychological, sexual and genderbased harassment. The audit to renew its 1000-2 efr certification as a Family-Friendly Company was successfully passed,
revealing that some of the most positive aspects of the museum’s human resources policy are its longstanding commitment
to helping employees reconcile their personal and professional lives, its extensive support resources, the motivational
HR AND QUALITY
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Photo credits
Of the works reproduced © the artists; © FMGB Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa, Bilbao, 2012.
Photographic archives of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao