A Reply to Beatriz Plaza's 'The Guggenheim-Bilbao Museum Effect (original) (raw)
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In the past two decades the industrial decline of many western economies has forced them to turn towards the tertiary sector in order to diversify their infrastructure and find new sources of income. One of the characteristics of this process was the development of urban regeneration plans, which recognised the potential of the cultural sector for economic development. Central to this approach was the use of modern art museums as magnets for tourism and inward investment. This practice has produced a number of examples, the most famous being the Guggenheim Bilbao. The phenomenal success of this museum has caused it to become a model and this is why it ought to be examined critically. The creation of the museum is initially considered in the framework of particular historical and political circumstances. It is then placed in the context of the local cultural policy, a combination of theory and local political aspirations. The involvement of the external factor – the Guggenheim Foundation – is considered next, followed by an assessment of the museum in both quantifiable and non-quantifiable terms. Lastly, the preference shown in modern art museums to play this role is discussed. It is concluded that the Gug-genheim Bilbao is the outcome of special political and socioeconomic circumstances, which renders it a unique case that should not be replicated uncritically.
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2008
AbstractThe mission of a museum is essentially cultural, however this is not the case for all museums. There are a minority of universally famous museums, like the Tate Liverpool, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Tate Modern London, the new forthcoming Louvre-Lens (France), the Guggenheim-Hermitage in Vilnius (Lithuania) and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) whose principal aim is the re-activation (and/or the diversification) of the economy of their territories, in addition to the obvious cultural aim. The effectiveness of a large heritage investment in developing a city depends on at least four variables. First, heritage investments become effective employment creators only to the extent that they become effective tourism magnets. Second, the impact of investments on cultural heritage could be negative if the heritage industry is a big portion of the whole economy. Third, the more the redevelopment zone's markets are integrated, the easier the absorption of price tensions caused by urban revitalization. Fourth, the greater the productivity of the city's economy, the greater the absorption of price tensions. The aim of this essay is to give empirical support to these hypotheses for the case of Bilbao and the Guggenheim Museum.The mission of a museum is essentially cultural, however this is not the case for all museums. There are a minority of universally famous museums, like the Tate Liverpool, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Tate Modern London, the new forthcoming Louvre-Lens (France), the Guggenheim-Hermitage in Vilnius (Lithuania) and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) whose principal aim is the re-activation (and/or the diversification) of the economy of their territories, in addition to the obvious cultural aim. The effectiveness of a large heritage investment in developing a city depends on at least four variables. First, heritage investments become effective employment creators only to the extent that they become effective tourism magnets. Second, the impact of investments on cultural heritage could be negative if the heritage industry is a big portion of the whole economy. Third, the more the redevelopment zone's markets are integrated, the easier the absorption of price tensions caused by urban revitalization. Fourth, the greater the productivity of the city's economy, the greater the absorption of price tensions. The aim of this essay is to give empirical support to these hypotheses for the case of Bilbao and the Guggenheim Museum.RésuméLa mission d’un musée est essentiellement culturelle, même si ce n’est pas toujours le cas. En effet, bien que de notoriété universelle, comme le Tate Liverpool, le musée Guggenheim Bilbao, le Tate Modern de Londres, le futur Louvres de Lens, le Guggenheim-Hermitage de Vilnius en Lituanie et le Guggenheim d’Abou Dhabi aux Émirats arabes unis, une minorité de musées a principalement pour but de raviver (et/ou de diversifier) l’économie de leur territoire, outre un but culturel manifeste. En termes de développement d’une ville, l’efficacité d’un gros investissement patrimonial dépend d’au moins quatre variables. D’abord, ce type d’investissement ne devient créateur d’emplois performant que dans la mesure où il réussit à devenir un pôle d’attraction touristique. Ensuite, l’impact de l’investissement sur le patrimoine culturel peut se révéler néfaste si la promotion du patrimoine occupe une grande part de l’économie. Troisièmement, plus les marchés de la zone en réaménagement sont intégrés, plus il est facile d’absorber les tensions sur les prix nées de la revitalisation urbaine. Quatrièmement, plus forte est la productivité de l’économie de la ville, plus importante est l’absorption des tensions sur les prix. Ce travail vise à apporter un soutien empirique à ces hypothèses dans le cas de Bilbao et du musée Guggenheim.La mission d’un musée est essentiellement culturelle, même si ce n’est pas toujours le cas. En effet, bien que de notoriété universelle, comme le Tate Liverpool, le musée Guggenheim Bilbao, le Tate Modern de Londres, le futur Louvres de Lens, le Guggenheim-Hermitage de Vilnius en Lituanie et le Guggenheim d’Abou Dhabi aux Émirats arabes unis, une minorité de musées a principalement pour but de raviver (et/ou de diversifier) l’économie de leur territoire, outre un but culturel manifeste. En termes de développement d’une ville, l’efficacité d’un gros investissement patrimonial dépend d’au moins quatre variables. D’abord, ce type d’investissement ne devient créateur d’emplois performant que dans la mesure où il réussit à devenir un pôle d’attraction touristique. Ensuite, l’impact de l’investissement sur le patrimoine culturel peut se révéler néfaste si la promotion du patrimoine occupe une grande part de l’économie. Troisièmement, plus les marchés de la zone en réaménagement sont intégrés, plus il est facile d’absorber les tensions sur les prix nées de la revitalisation urbaine. Quatrièmement, plus forte est la productivité de l’économie de la ville, plus importante est l’absorption des tensions sur les prix. Ce travail vise à apporter un soutien empirique à ces hypothèses dans le cas de Bilbao et du musée Guggenheim.
What's A Museum Good For? A Look at the Controversy and Consequences of the Guggenheim Bilbao
Few buildings have generated as much criticism on an international level as Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim in Bilbao. The architecture is either inspiring and transcendental, or chaotic and cacophonous; the building’s presence represents either oppressive American imperial dominance, or an economic catalyst bringing power to a nation absorbed by Spain. The confused dialogue and mixed reception beg the question: what is the measure of success for a newly built museum? A look at the context of this architecture project may unravel some of the complications surrounding this, Gehry’s most famous and controversial work.
Guggenheim in the Land of the Basques: Repercussions and Paradoxes
Espacio Tiempo y Forma. Serie VII, Historia del Arte
Se ha hablado en muchas ocasiones de la transformación de Bilbao y de la influencia del Museo Guggenheim en dicho cambio. Pero en contadas ocasiones se ha analizado el efecto –o los efectos paradójicos– que su aparición tuvo para el resto de los museos del País Vasco.Es lo que se pretende en este texto. La descripción y valoración del proceso, los logros obtenidos, las polémicas y críticas generadas, los debates políticos y parlamentarios y el efecto en el resto de los museos del País Vasco, son algunos de los temas planteados. Para ello se recurre a bibliografía especializada, documentación oficial y seguimiento periodístico de una aventura polémica, criticada e incluso denostada que, sin embargo, marca un antes y un después en el mundo de los museos y de la gestión patrimonial.
In the Shadow of the Guggenheim-Bilbao: legislation and museum policy in the Basque Country
Catalonian Journal of Ethnology/Revista d'Etnologia de Catalunya, 2017
The aim of this article is to analyze the evolution of the creation of museums in the Basque Country since the 1970s. Two criteria will be taken into account in this analysis. On the one hand, the criterion of identity and, on the other hand, the economic criterion. After the death of the dictator Franco in 1975, socio-cultural and political movements emerged with force in favor of an identity denied during the Dictatorship. In this context, the first contemporary museums emerged. Later, at the end of the 20th century, the causes for the creation of new institutions were mainly economic. Because of the Guggenheim effect, many Basque institutions supported the opening of new museums to the public. However, the economic crisis of 2008 significantly altered this evolution.
Learning from the Bilbao Guggenheim The Museum as a Cultural Tool
Learning from the Bilbao Guiggenheim, Center for Basque Studies, University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada)., 2005
That future is now. What can we learn from “The Guggenheim Effect”? The “miracle” referred of course to Gehry’s Bilbao masterpiece. Hailed as an “instant landmark,” it brought a new sense of relevance to architecture in the transformation of urban landscapes. It was the story of the architect as hero and, as Greeks believed, of architecture as the first art –arché. Bilbao was doing for the Basques what the Sidney Opera House had done for Australia. Gehry, while complaining of being “geniused to death,” became not only the master architect but the master artist. “Why all the hoopla?” Hal Foster wondered. Wasn’t Gehry’s museum risking the most problematic aspects of modernist monumentality and postmodernist faux populism? Thomas Krens’s media-driven transnational concept, with rumored satellites everywhere, has turned out to be, in the museum world, the historic novelty of the 1990s. They were initially derided as “McGuggenheims,” but the success of Bilbao provided respectability to Krens’s plans. The new museum’s “strong operational synergy” meant that Krens determined everything from New York: the works to purchase, the exhibits to organize, the artists to promote. Even if the post 9/11 world appears to have cut Krens down to his pre-Bilbao size—his SoHo and Las Vegas branches have already closed, his Internet museum evaporated, and the projected new Gehry East River Guggenheim in Lower Manhattan was definitely abandoned—there is a lot to be learnt from the “Guggenisation” of the museum in a period that has seen an unparalleled expansion of the number and diversity of museums. Beyond being repositories of works of art, exhibition sites, architectural landmarks, heritage narratives, museums embody as well various competing ideologies, historicities, practices of display and legitimation. The “Krensification” of the museum is one such historical structure that prompts questions as to what is its most proper public, what are its strategies of collecting, what discourse or spectacle has become hegemonic, what is really been displayed in Bilbao? Museums of contemporary art represent not only one of the most important architectural challenges in the public domain, but they also clearly reflect the ideas which underpin them. And although the museum is principally studied as regards its use, aesthetic demands, urban design and function, it can also be analyzed as an example of the institutional system of art. From this perspective one can speak both of the museum as a cultural instrument and about the museification of culture itself; and all this in a circular network where museums constantly reinvent their discursive strategies through their core functions: collection, conservation, exhibition and education.
Establishing New Museums - The Guggenheim Bilbao Experience
In the past, museums were long standing institutions underpinned by a substantial core collection of significant works acquired over a long period of time. Today, new museums that aspire to have a global profile lack the resources and expertise to achieve their objectives without external assistance. This essay considers the modern trend of established museums seeking to expand their global presence while contributing their resources to the success of new museums and draws on the successful experience of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. It will do this by looking at a number of elements between the association of the world famous Guggenheim Foundation and an aspirational regional Basque Administration, as well as looking at the importance of location, iconic architecture and the changing dynamics of the museum's collection to what has become a world renowned museum experience provided by the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. The case of Guggenheim Bilbao is an ideal example of new museums establishing an innovative and positive trend in museum thinking.
The role of the Guggenheim Museum in the development of urban entrepreneurial practices in Bilbao
International Journal of Iberian Studies, 2004
The Guggenheim Museum has had many 'effects' on the lives of local citizens and politicians in Bilbao as well as on wider communities such as architects, planners, cultural policy-makers or museologists. This article, however, deals with the effect that the museum has had on the urban governance practices in Bilbao. Urban policy literature has clearly identified that contemporary cities are adopting an entrepreneurial approach to deal with increasing pressures to compete with each other and attract investment in a globalized world. This approach is connected to neo-liberal state policies that threaten social inclusion and democracy. The Guggenheim Bilbao Museum has to be considered within this wider trend and has played an important role in the consolidation of urban entrepreneurialism in Bilbao. The danger is, as I will show, that these practices can be taken for granted without internal reflection, and can therefore be institutionalized in urban policy. 177 IJIS 16
The Return on Investment of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2006
The city of Bilbao has made use of a museum as one of the multiple means to restructure its former industrial base. However, the effectiveness of this costly formula is not always clear. Three major issues have arisen: the effects of Guggenheim Museum Bilbao on Bilbao’s image, the effects on overnight stays, and the effects on the local economy. There is little debate about the first issue, and room for more evidence on the second and third issues. The aim is to quantify the museum’s impact on tourism and employment and to calculate its yield (Return on Investment and Net Present Value). The approach adopted is the quantitative analysis of statistical data to try to isolate the economic contribution of the Guggenheim.