Teachers, professors, art historians, artists, curators or directors of international museums, among other professionals, have joined the rejection of the installation in Santa Cruz of Tenerife from a headquarters of the rodin museum of Paris, a center that will house replicas of works by the French artist, who never had any connection with the island, and that will be a cost of more than 16 million euros. The City Council of the capital of Tenerife ignored on Monday the professional voices critical of the project, as well as the opposition parties, and approved the disbursement to the Parisian entity based on a report that has been described as “fanciful”, since it shows numbers of visitors and income higher than even the Parisian museum, which does have the original works of the artist.
The City Council of Santa Cruz de Tenerife approves paying more than 16 million for Rodin’s replicas
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In addition to gathering signatures against this project (that already add up to more than 2,500), art professionals have published an open letter on Tuesday against the Rodin Museum in Tenerife, which we reproduce in full below:
“The people who signed this letter, cultural professionals and/or interested in it, want to express our alarm at the unjustifiable and costly decision to invest more than 16 million euros in what has been called a Rodin “museum”. in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. An operation that, in fact, hides nothing more than the purchase of a series of reproductions of the French sculptor authorized by the museum that bears his name in Paris.
just as i know has pointed out Repeatedly, this operation has been justified on the basis of an economic study that is not rigorous, which offers estimates of the museum’s economic return that are so exaggerated that they are fanciful. A more realistic estimate, attentive to the sector, will have to assume that it will be a non-refundable investment and that the resulting institution will require repeated investments to remain open. In addition, since there is no relationship between Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the figure of Rodin, said investment will not contribute to the construction of a coherent tourist attraction. Understanding that there are no economic arguments to justify this operation, we focus here on refuting its supposed cultural value.
– A museum is not a series of reproductions of sculptures. A museum requires a serious museum plan that determines its patrimonial, research, educational function and, above all, its social function in relation to the context in which it is registered. Not only has there been no attempt by the City Council to develop a museum project in this case, but no specialist would justify the relevance of this museum for the City.
– The extremely high budget that is intended to be allocated to the purchase of these sculptures is totally disproportionate in relation to the annual budgets that the City Council has allocated to culture historically. Undoubtedly, at a time of global economic crisis, this enormous expense will have a negative effect on the cultural fabric of the City, not only going to the detriment of cultural institutions much more deeply rooted in it, but also preventing the appearance of new initiatives with more sense. and social depth.
– The Rodin Museum in Paris has declared openly his intention to overcome the economic crisis caused by Covid by increasing the number of sculptures he puts up for sale and opening up to “emerging markets”. It goes without saying that the more reproductions and more “Rodin museums” circulate around the world, the less attractive and value they will be. Santa Cruz de Tenerife deserves something more than the provincial and ignorant gesture of trying to “buy” its cultural image with a franchise. With this gesture, the council demonstrates its lack of respect for local culture in particular and contemporary artistic production in general, denigrating the image of both to project us as a city incapable of producing its own culture.
– The Musée Rodin in Paris is currently embarked on a trial which could force him to return the 3-d scans of the sculptures he hosts in the public domain. In other words, it is possible that, if he loses the trial, some sculptures for which the Santa Cruz City Council intends to pay 16 million euros could be produced by anyone without having to pay a license.
In summary, Santa Cruz deserves better cultural infrastructures, but the supposed Rodin museum is not such a thing, but a very expensive political whim that will irreparably damage both the ability to support the cultural fabric of the City and its cultural image abroad. We believe that such an investment cannot be imposed by the sole will of a mayor when public opposition is so loud and the arguments in its favor so flimsy. We demand the immediate stoppage of this crazy project.”
SOME OUTSTANDING FIRMS (alphabetical order)
– Aimar Arriola, independent art curator, Bilbao.
– Juan Albarrán, Professor of Art History and Theory, Autonomous University of Madrid
– Adrián Alemán Bastarrica, Professor of Fine Arts, University of La Laguna
– Teresa Arozena, professor of Fine Arts, University of La Laguna
– Antonia Bacallado, Artist, Tenerife
– Selina Blasco, Professor of Art History, Faculty of Fine Arts, Complutense University of Madrid
– Manuel Borja-Villel, director of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
– Miguel Cereceda, professor of Aesthetics at the Autonomous University of Madrid
– Ramiro Carrillo, professor of Fine Arts, University of La Laguna
– Jesús Carrillo, Professor of Art History, Autonomous University of Madrid
– Rosa Castells, museologist and art historian
– Federico Castro Morales, Professor of Art History, Carlos III University of Madrid.
– Carmen Cólogan, artist, Tenerife
– Carlos Díaz Betrana, art historian (responsible for the art galleries of the Government of the Canary Islands)
– Rocío de la Villa, Professor of Aesthetics, Autonomous University of Madrid
– Concha de Lomba, Professor of Art History, University of Zaragoza
– José Díaz Cuyás, professor, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of La Laguna.
– Julián Díaz Sánchez, Professor of Art History at the University of Castilla La Mancha.
– Maribel Domènech, Professor of Sculpture at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and president of the Women in the Visual Arts Association (MAV)
– Elvira Dyangani Ose, director of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA)
– Aurora Fernández Polanco, Professor of Art History, Complutense University of Madrid.
– Olga Fernández López, professor of Art History, Autonomous University of Madrid
– Pedro Gallego de Lerma, gallery owner, Valladolid
– Daniel García Andújar, artist, Barcelona
– Semiramis González, art critic and curator, Madrid
– Javier González de Durana, curator and professor of Contemporary History, University of the Basque Country
– Yaiza Hernández Velázquez, Lecturer in the Department of Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths, University of London
– Ricardo Huerta, professor of Artistic Education, University of Valencia
– Javier Garcerá, Professor of Painting, University of Malaga
– Gonzalo González, artist, Tenerife
– Concha Jerez, Artist, Velázquez Award, 2017
– Jesús Pedro Lorente, Professor of Museology, University of Zaragoza.
– Rogelio López Cuenca, artist, National Prize for Plastic Arts 2022
– Eva Lootz, Artist, National Award for Plastic Arts, 1994
– Pablo Martínez, CSIC researcher, Madrid
– José Miguel Martínez Carrión, Professor of History and Economic Institutions, Department of Applied Economics, University of Murcia.
– Maite Méndez Baigues, Professor of Art History, University of Malaga
– Antoni Miralda, artist, Velázquez Prize 2018
– Mau Monleón, professor of sculpture, Polytechnic University of Valencia.
– Ángel Mollá Román, retired professor of Aesthetics, University of La Laguna.
– Ana Navarrete, artist and professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Cuenca.
– Pere Reig, programmer and cultural manager
– Sofía Rodríguez Bernis, Spanish historian and cultural manager [directora del Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas en Madrid]
– María Ruido, artist and professor of Fine Arts, University of Barcelona.
– Francisco José Sánchez Montalbán, full professor and dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Granada.
– Manuel Segade, curator [director del CA2M, Móstoles, Madrid]
–Lucy Steeds, Senior Lecturer in Art, Edinburgh College of Art.
– Isabel Tejeda, Professor of Fine Arts, University of Murcia
– Vicente Todolí, art curator and former director of the Tate Modern, London.
– Carmelo Vega, Professor of Art History, University of La Laguna
– Juan Pablo Wert, professor of Art History, University of Castilla La Mancha.
– Claudia Záldivar, director of the Salvador Allende Solidarity Museum, Chile
