NEW YORK – From his office on the top floor of the Met, Max Hollin See the treetops of Central Park, the luxury buildings of Fifth Avenue and the roofs of the various galleries of a museum that contains five thousand years of Art History. A privileged perspective for this 55-year-old Austrian, who previously worked in prestigious institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts or the Städel Museum in Frankfurt.
From that office where he answered El Diario on a recent summer morning, Hollein leads an institution that employs nearly 2,000 New Yorkers, 17% of whom identify as Hispanic. Last year, 5.5 million visitors passed through the Central Park museum and its second headquarters Cloisters in Upper Manhattan, of which 4.6 million were Americans. Of those, 12% identified as Hispanic.
But the importance of Latinos to the Met goes beyond the staff and visitors. The Mexican architect Frida Escobedo was chosen to design the future modern and contemporary art wing, one of the most ambitious extensions since the museum was founded in 1870.
In addition, in 2025, the galleries dedicated to “Ancient America” will reopen, renovating, focusing on the art of pre-Columbian cultures.
Before, this September 12, the exhibition will open “Mexican Prints at the Vanguard” (“Mexican Prints at the avant-garde”) about the rich tradition of engraving art in Mexico, showing works from the 18th century to the mid-20th century. The museum, according to Hollein, has the best collection of this art – more than two thousand woodcuts, lithographs and silk screens – that can be found outside of Mexico. The exhibition will display a selection of 130 pieces until 5 January 2025.
Emiliano Zapata in an engraving by Diego Rivera from 1932.Credit: The Met | With permission
Frida Escobedo, a pioneer in the history of the Met
The conversation with the director of the MET took place when he returned from a trip to Mexico where he visited the National Museum of Anthropology, where he met with the directors of other institutions and in which he was able to work with Escobedo in his study.
Despite still being at the beginning of her career, this 45-year-old Mexican was chosen among five architecture firms for her “deep insight into museum buildings,” explained Hollein.
Escobedo’s project will involve tearing down the Oscar L. Tang and HM Agnes Hsu-Tang wing that houses the 20th and 21st century art galleries, and building a new space in its place that will not be – only functional, but also general. The work will last six years, create 4,000 jobs, double the size of the current area and communicate with the park – without acquiring additional space. The museum has already raised $550 million from private donations to execute it.
Escobedo is the first woman to direct the remodeling of a wing of the Met. “We want this project to be a manifesto for her,” said Hollein.
Aerial view of the Metropolitan Museum.Credit: Filip Wolak, The Met | With permission
Restoration of “Old America” galleries.
The art of Mexico, Central America and South America will also have a new place with the restoration of the Michael C. Rockefeller wing, established in 1982, which also contains samples of cultures from Africa and Oceania.
These galleries will open in the spring of 2025, with brighter rooms, like the current European painting rooms, which have been recently renovated. This change reflects an attempt to present these collections with the respect and recognition they deserve, according to Hollein, encouraging a deeper understanding of the historical and cultural contexts of the works of art.
In conceptualizing the new galleries, Hollein emphasizes the collaboration with Mexican academics and institutions, such as the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City – “one of the best in the world ” – where a workshop was held where they adopted ideas for the Met.
A digital image of what one of the American Antiquities galleries will look like.Credit: The Met | With permission
The role of museums in an era of “nationalism”
In the conversation, Hollein addressed how museums must evolve in today’s world. The Weather manager compared the museum of the past, which was a didactic center, with the modern museum, which works as a convener of communities and cultures. This change underlines the importance of promoting communication and understanding through art at a time when nationalism is taking hold in many parts of the world.
Despite this “alarming rise in nationalism,” Hollein believes the mission of museums like the Met is more important than ever.
“We are against nationalism,” he explained. “What we are showing is the calling of cultures, our united cultural heritage, our way of understanding each other, to make sure that people understand that cultural and historical exchange is fluid and that one influencing the other.”
“We have a very important place in society, and maybe even in education, at a time when we see more and more movement towards a nationalist perspective,” he says.
Max Hollein, CEO and director of MET.Credit: Eileen Travell, MET Museum | With permission
Art should be valued for its beauty and artistic merit, Hollein points out, but it is increasingly important that it helps to understand the complex social, political, economic and historical context. that surrounds us.
In the future, Hollein sees the Metropolitan Museum in New York as a multi-center center that will transcend its physical space thanks to digital technology. The museum’s resources and expertise will be accessible worldwide, ensuring that the Met remains a vital cultural force regardless of its geographic boundaries, its CEO explained.
Cultural recycling of historical materials
In a museum with millions of objects, the sensitive discussion of cultural recycling is very present. Hollein confirmed the Met’s commitment to ethical practices, stressing that the museum does not keep objects that have been taken from another country illegally.
But Hollein does not believe that all works of art should be in their country of origin, instead emphasizing the importance of viewing cultural artifacts in a global context, where for them to be ambassadors for their cultures and foster international understanding.
“Museums like the Met are great places to hold artifacts. We take care of them, we preserve them, we share them, we show them…”, he is sure. “And I think it’s very important that we see the different cultures of the world in contact with each other in certain places, and the Met is a great place for that. “
“It’s important for a country to have some of its cultural artifacts, but it’s just as important to have art as an ambassador,” he said.
Hollein cited the example of the Escobedo project, of the pride that Mexicans should feel that they have a fellow architect designing an important part of the Met. Likewise, he believes that works of art from around the world that are exhibited at the Met contribute to a shared global heritage.
2024-08-25 12:47:00
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