Mori Art Museum Special Symposium Report - 9 February, 2007 “Where to for the Big Museums? - A New Strategy for Survival” Eight top museum directors - leaders of the art world - enthralled a 500 - member audience with an ardent discussion of their “strategies for survival” The Special Symposium held on 9 February, 2007 at Roppongi Academy Hills was a fantastic success. Taking the theme of "Where to for the Big Museums? - A New Strategy for Survival," it included presentations from three art museum directors, discussion between those and other directors, and questions from the floor. Extending for an exciting three hours, the Symposium brought together many different ideas and visions, pointing out the direction that art museums need to go in and approaches that they should take. Mori Art Museum's International Advisory Committee (IAC) was formed in September 1999. Seven members of the IAC participated in the Symposium as panelists—Glenn D. Lowry (Director, The Museum of Modern Art, New York), Alfred Pacquement (Director, Musee National d’Art Moderne, Centre national d’art et de culture Georges Pompidou) Nicholas Serota (Director, Tate Gallery), Wenzel Jacob (Director, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland), Norman Rosenthal (Exhibitions Secretary, The Royal Academy of Arts), Takashina Shuji (Director, Ohara Museum of Art), David Elliott (Director, Istanbul Modern; Former Director, Mori Art Museum). The session was started by Nanjo Fumio (Director, Mori Art Museum), who acted as moderator. Opening address Nanjo Fumio (Director, Mori Art Museum) In October 2006, the Mori Art Museum celebrated its third anniversary after putting on more than 20 shows and gaining a high reputation worldwide. The Museum's International Advisory Committee was set up back in September 1999, well before the Museum opened, with the aim of encouraging networking and program collaboration at the international level. Its members are directors of some of the world's top art museums. It is a great pleasure to be able to welcome nearly all the members here to this Symposium. Booming interest in art has resulted in expansion programs at art museums around the world. Many museums, particularly those in major cities, have been reconstructing, building annexes, or expanding into new locations. MoMA completed its new building, designed by Taniguchi Yoshio, in 2004, and is planning further expansion. Likewise, the Pompidou Center is constructing a satellite in the northeastern French town of Metz to a design by Ban Shigeru, and the Tate Modern is planning to construct an annex adjacent to its current venue. The Louvre is also working on a Sejima Kazuyo-designed project for a new museum in Lenz, northern France. It's very interesting that Japanese architects were selected for so many of these projects. Meanwhile, in Japan, when the bubble economy collapsed, budgets were cut, and art museums suddenly had to face a hostile environment. As the poor economy impacted on communities around Japan, many art museums found it difficult to keep operating as before. In some cases public museums have even started to wonder about whether the community really wants them, while in the private sector the situation is little better, with venues like the Mori Art Museum unable to even benefit from tax breaks. Elsewhere in Asia, the art museum construction rush has run its course in Taiwan, Korea, and Hong Kong, and it is now China where building projects are booming. We hear talk of as many as 3,000 new art museums being built there over the next 10 years. This wave is bound to eventually reach South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, too. Given these circumstances, the big museums have to think about the "Where to?" question, and think about the reasons for building satellites in new locations or widening the scope of their activities. What are the principles they are working from, and who benefits from the fruits of their labors? We hope that this Symposium will provide some answers to these questions. Presentations (Digests of the three presentations made at the Symposium) Presentation 1: New Problems of Art Museums in the Global Age Glenn D. Lowry—Director, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA) Glenn Lowry identified an art museum’s collection as vital in ensuring its survival. Also of importance are the space in which to exhibit the collection and the museum’s site. Lowry emphasized that the art museum should embrace the city and be a vibrant place that residents feel connected to. As MoMA is a privately operated art museum and therefore receives no funding from the government, fundraising in the form of sponsorship and financial support is vital in the development and realization of quality programs. MoMA provides 30,000 square meters of gallery space for its exhibits, and runs operating and maintenance costs of $700 million. Since opening in 1932, it has been through eight large and small scale renovations. The new museum building on the 53rd Street site, designed by Yoshio Taniguchi in 2004, gained instant fame for its unique design and the way it utilizes glass. According to Lowry, the physical transparency has the effect of opening the museum up to the city as well as allowing the city to enter the art museum. Also, by exhibiting large works in this vast new space, MoMA is offering the visitor new perspectives through which to view the works. For Lowry, it is important that the art museum utilizes its exterior to convey what lies inside; that the modern art museum physically conveys and communicates what modern and contemporary art represents. The key concepts for MoMA’s future are increased floor space and relocation. In keeping with this orientation, MoMA has purchased the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City across the East River, enabling the exhibition of more experimental works. MoMA’s aim, under Lowry’s directorship, is to establish P.S.1’s profile as an art museum where cutting edge art can always be viewed. Lowry commented also that the people visiting P.S.1 are primarily young and with different backgrounds from those who visit 53rd Street, and in this sense, MoMA is providing them an alternate venue of discovery. He finished by saying that while MoMA grows through expansion, there is a constant need to maintain quality, and to continue to provide a venue where new experiments can take place. Presentation 2: The New Role of Branch Museums Alfred Pacquement—Director, Musee National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou The Pompidou Center marks its 30th anniversary this year. Unlike the privately operated MoMA, Pompidou is a public art museum, covering all contemporary art including architecture and film as well as visual art, and incorporating a library, music center, and theater. Alfred Pacquement identified the dual role of the Pompidou Center as a national institution: to collect the works of important artists, and to collect outstanding contemporary art. According to Pacquement, over the last 30 years, the Pompidou’s collection has grown from 12,000 to 60,000 works, which makes space a constant issue. He said that even if they were to cut the collection down to the best works of each period, there still wouldn’t be enough space. And still, the collection must continue to be developed. For this reason, a satellite museum is currently being constructed in Metz, 300 kilometers from Paris, to address the problem of space limitations. A vast site behind the Metz train station - where the TGV express from Paris stops - will incorporate not only an art museum but also a large plaza and a public library. Ban Shigeru’s dynamic design featuring high ceilings and cavernous spaces will enable large-scale video installations to be exhibited - only a limited number of such works can currently be exhibited at the Pompidou Center. The new Pompidou Center in Metz will also enable other enormous works to be exhibited, such as Picasso’s large stage sets of 1937. However, according to Pacquement, Metz will in no way be an outpost from Paris, explaining that his aim was to exhibit the Pompidou’s collection in a way most worthy of the works, and also to value original projects from Centre Pompidou Metz. As a national agency, the Pompidou Center is involved in the regional diffusion of the arts in France and provides ongoing support to regional art museums. Furthermore, Pompidou - as a national art museum - continues to place importance on the international reputation of France’s arts. A new project is currently underway in Shanghai, reflecting Pacquement’s statement that the Pompidou s looking at the world and at Asia. He added that collaboration with art museums in Asia and other regions is vital to building a collection of international works, as is assisting other museums and planning projects together - as opposed to simply lending works. Presentation 3: Transforming Tate Modern Nicholas Serota—Director, Tate Gallery London has undergone a dramatic change over the last eight years, and Tate Modern has played a central role in the massive transformation of contemporary art and its context. According to Nicholas Serota, Director of the Tate Gallery, London didn’t have an art museum specializing in modern and contemporary art until Tate Modern filled this role. Last year, we recorded 4.9 million visitors, and an astounding 30 million people have visited the Tate Modern over the last six years. He also said that one can argue that the success of Tate Modern translated directly into London’s success in bidding for the 2012 Olympics. Tate Modern emerged from a London power station that had been abandoned since the 1980s after operating since the 1960s. This rebirth precipitated an eastward shift of the perceived center of London, with Tate Modern representing the nucleus of the new city center. Tate Modern brought about a demographic shift in the City and had a major economic impact on the area. As conveyed by Serota's presentation title "Transforming Tate Modern," the development continues, and a new project is currently under negotiation for a southern extension to Tate Modern that will increase its total floor space by 60%. The additional 23,000 square meters will provide a further 7000 square meters dedicated to exhibition space and 2,500 square meters to education. Other additions include a performance space, a terrace with a view over London, a bookshop, and a café. The district is also the focus for construction of other cultural facilities such as a design museum and galleries, and, according to Serota, this new development in an abandoned section of the city - an area that used to have no greenery - has completely transformed the district. Serota also referred to Roppongi, pointing out that in addition to the National Art Center, Tokyo, which opened two weeks ago, the new Suntory Museum of Art and 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT will be opening soon near Mori Art Museum, and the concentration of facilities will transform the Roppongi area into a cutting edge center of art. In the past, visitors to art museums were usually of a similar background, but Tate Modern’s exhibitions and events are aimed at a wide range of people. Its focus is to be an art museum that not only exhibits art but also leverages its exhibitions as a source of information. In recent years Tate Modern has been actively developing programs with this aim, one of which is to produce content for sale to TV networks. Noting that people’s attitudes towards art have changed over the last 10 or 20 years, Serota wants to make the Tate brand known throughout the world. Tate Modern is providing new stimuli to its surroundings and to art museum visitors as it continues to transform. Discussion Starting from the question of "How does getting an art museum affect a region?" the eight directors soon became involved in a lively debate that went on to encompass funding, collection quality, and the role of the art museum. (The extracts below are digests from comments by the four panelists who did not give full presentations.) David Elliott - Director, Istanbul Modern; Former Director, Mori Art Museum There is an organic relationship between a city and its art museums. Museums have an important role in the community that goes beyond art, said Elliott, adding that the first input, the first encounter with art at an art museum is also important. Elliott considers that the art museum's approach, rather than teaching about the good and bad aspects of the art being exhibited, should be to generate dialogue between the people who gather there. He added that an art museum also has a moral obligation. Takashina Shuji - Director, Ohara Museum of Art The Ohara Museum of Art is located in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, away from large urban centers, but before becoming Director of the Ohara, Takashina Shuji was Director-General of the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo. Based on his experience of running both a major urban art museum and a medium-sized regional art museum, Takashina commented that in the 21st Century, the connection between art museums and the community is becoming increasingly important. A small town like Kurashiki has few cultural facilities in the vicinity, so the art museum takes on a central role for art in the region. The ties naturally become stronger, and contact with local people becomes more multifaceted as the museum becomes involved in areas such as holding music festivals and local festival planning. Large cities like Paris and London naturally attract visitors from around the world, but they are also enhancing their relationships with local people in the same way. Kurashiki has had an artist-in-residence program for some time, and is using the program to encourage young talent by having the artists live in a neighborhood and exhibit their works there before adding them to the Museum's collection. Norman Rosenthal - Exhibitions Secretary, The Royal Academy of Arts Rosenthal pointed out that thirty to 40 years ago, the world of art was a very small affair. It really only involved a number of national capitals in Western Europe and places like New York, L.A, and Tokyo, but now, art has become a big industry. He commented on the problem of sustaining museums and their operations. It is easy enough to create an art museum, but there are vast ongoing costs involved with caring for works, ensuring upkeep of the facilities, and simply meeting general expenses and labor costs. To demonstrate the interaction between a museum and the city where it is located, Rosenthal gave the example of the Bilbao Guggenheim in the Basque area of Spain. Ten years ago the city was virtually unknown to outsiders, but the museum has given Bilbao international recognition. Rosenthal's comment that an art museum can put the city on the world map left a deep impression. Wenzel Jacob - Director, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland In Wenzel Jacob's view, the role of museums is to have a big impact on people, and to provide a basis for people to think about things from a broader perspective. Museums exist as places where we can think about the issues that affect our future and about what we should be doing. He noted that while it is certainly useful for the directors of art museums in different countries to get together to look at new approaches to communication, to discuss what sort of form new museums should take, and to make ties and collaboration, it is also important to actually implement different approaches toward museum visitors. If you target people who have never been to an art museum before by providing with tour guides and instigating a lively dialog, you can make new visitors feel involved, and that can result in them coming back two or three times, bringing their families and friends. Summarizing and concluding, Mori Art Museum Director Nanjo Fumio touched on a point emerging from the discussion - that art museums, and indeed art, are becoming internationalized. It used to be that Western art held the most esteemed position, but different cultures are now perceived as equals, and we urgently need to establish guiding principles for an age defined by this sort of cultural polycentrism. The key to survival seems to be for an art museum to retain its own individual identity while being fully aware of the world's art, contributing to its local community, and continuing to present a face that attracts visitors.