Rendering of the planned new museums on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi:
Gehry’s Gargantuan Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (left) dwarfs the rest.
People tend to be more controversially candid in interviews published abroad than in those that they do for domestic consumption. This was true of Philippe de Montebello in Le Monde, blasting the Louvre Abu Dhabi (and, by implication, the Guggenheim’s deal there).
Now along comes this astonishing interview by Tom Krens with Der Spiegel, in which he describes the planned Guggenheim Abu Dhabi as “pharaonic” (calling to mind another immodest cultural figure who two years ago declared, “I am Pharaoh!”). And his fevered imagination hasn’t stopped envisioning new schemes, including unspecified “plans” in Asia and Russia, as well as yet another in his series of attempts at a new museum facility in New York: This one would be a “department store concept” with “inexpensive construction, a lot of space, and
not just for the Guggenheim’s art, but also for private collections.
Now a lot of people are urging me to make it happen.”
Those people probably do not include members of the Guggenheim’s board of trustees. Of them, Krens had this to say:
KRENS: The Guggenheim is not going through an easy time at the moment.
Years ago, we chose a strategy geared toward achieving a worldwide
presence—in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. There
is a document to this effect, which everyone enthusiastically agreed to
at one point. The Guggenheim consists of our museums in New York,
Venice, perhaps Bilbao and two smaller museums in Las Vegas and Berlin…SPIEGEL:…and that’s enough for many within the museum?
KRENS: For some, perhaps. But I believe that we must further
strengthen our presence and that Abu Dhabi, in particular, is
tremendously important for the Guggenheim.
Addressing the question about how “strict Islamic culture” would jibe with contemporary art, he said:
Why should we challenge a local culture? Perhaps to
provoke political confrontation? That’s unnecessary. And if an
increasingly small portion of our collection is in fact not exhibited,
this does not diminish the entire presentation.
He noted that the desert Guggenheim would have a $781 million budget to acquire contemporary work. And in true Krensian fashion, he appeared to take some credit for the concept behind the popular Tate Modern in London:
After Bilbao, everyone recognized that we need museums that are
architecturally unique—but that also offer content that appeals to
people. London, for example, followed suit with the Tate Modern Museum.
“Followed suit”? By repurposing an old power station rather than commissioning something “architecturally unique”?
James Russell of Bloomberg had more on Krens’ vision for a new Manhattan facility a couple of weeks ago, where Krens indicated interest in participating in the development of the West Side railyards. But now that sprawling piece of real estate has just been awarded to a development team led by Tishman Speyer. No word about any cultural facility in Nicolai Ouroussoff‘s NY Times article critiquing the developers’ plans yesterday.
And since Jerry Speyer is chairman of both the developers and of the Museum of Modern Art, what are the chances that the Guggenheim’s Krens will get his shot?