(26 Aug 1997) Span/Eng/Nat
Another Guggenheim Museum is to open its doors next month – this time in the Basque town of Bilbao.
But a controversy is raging between museologists in Bilbao and those in Madrid.
The controversy surrounds the "Guernica" – a painting by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso which depicts the atrocities committed by the Franco fascist government against the Basque people.
Bilbao wants to hang the painting in the new Guggenheim Museum but Madrid says the "Guernica" is too damaged to travel.
The northern Basque town of Bilbao is undergoing a face lift – a new landmark rising on its derelict dock land in the heart of the city.
This dramatic building – designed by Canadian born architect Frank G. Gehry – is set to put the industrial Spanish city on the cultural map of Europe much in the same way as the opera house did for Sydney.
Workers are putting the finishing touches on the new building – itself, a work of art.
It will house the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum collection – displaying works by some of the most influential American and European artists of this century and the century to come.
This is the third Guggenheim Museum to open its doors – the two others are in New York and in the Italian city of Venice.
Bilbao was chosen to host this influential collection ahead of many important European cities.
The museum is part of a redevelopment scheme implemented by the Basque regional authorities to rejuvenate this once run down industrial city.
The project also includes an underground railway designed by the British architect Norman Foster and a new airport designed by the Spaniard Santiago Calatrava.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
" We understood that if Bilbao, which is not a large city, wanted to play a role in the scene of European culture, it will be by assuming scale in the content of the museum and scale in the quality of the architecture which would put it on the map, so as to speak, and we have tried to do that with the building"
SUPER CAPTION: Juan Ignacio Vidarte, Director Guggenheim Bilbao Museum
The museum cost 100 million (m) dollars to build and boasts 10,500 square metres (110,000 square feet) of exhibition space.
The project also includes 2,500 square metres (25,900 square feet) of open public space – allowing the museum to play a key role in the city’s cultural life.
It will host works by many famous artists, including the Germans Joseph Beuys and Anselm Kiefer alongside works of Kandinsky and Miro.
But for the Gala opening in October this year, one artwork will be missing.
Picasso’s Guernica – a personal tribute to the Basque people.
It was painted 60 years ago in protest against the destruction of Bilbao by aerial bombardment during the Spanish Civil War and the atrocities committed against the Basque people.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"So for us this painting has a very important political, social and even sensitive meaning and we felt it was to correct to have it. This painting has travelled a lot, has been to over 35, over 30 cities all over the world so we want the painting to be here at least for a period of time."
SUPER CAPTION: Juan Ignacio Vidarte, Director Guggenheim Bilbao Museum
The "Guernica" will not be lent to the new Museum – due to its fragile condition.
The painting hangs in the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid, where it has been since it was moved from the Prado museum in 1992.
Picasso wanted the painting to go to Spain only after the demise of fascism in that country.
Six years after Franco’s death in 1975, the "Guernica" finally arrived in Spain.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
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