The directors of the Reina Sofía and the Prado criticize the “politicization” of Guernica after the PNV request

(ID) The journalist and poet Antonio Lucas; the director of the Reina Sofía National Museum, Manuel Segade, and the director of the Prado Museum, Miguel Falomir, participate in a conversation about the role of museums in today’s society, at the Museum

The directors of the Reina Sofía and Prado museums, Manuel Segade, and Miguel Falomir, respectively, have criticized this Monday the “politicization” of Pablo Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ following the request made by the PNV to transfer it to the Basque Country during a conversation held at the Reina Sofía between the two responsible coinciding with the celebration of Museum Day.

Specifically, Segade has disfigured this “politicization” of the painting which, in his opinion, is an “absolutely crazy” story and which prevents other issues from being “discussed” such as “which museum in the Basque Country, if it could be moved and did not cause a conservation problem” the ‘Guernica’ could be taken.

“We could really discuss other types of absolutely fascinating issues regarding the representation of Guernica and the way in which Guernica, for example, could be translated in the Basque Country. Thinking about which museum in the Basque Country, in the event that it could be moved and did not cause a conservation problem, which museum in the Basque Country should it go to? Because there have also been many critical voices and, frankly, I think so too. Why the Guggenheim?”, he added.

Segade has settled the issue by ensuring that there is “no space for debate” that is not “contaminated” by politicization.”

Along the same lines, Falomir has referred to “political interference” to wonder what is the reason behind the request for the work to go to the Basque Country.

“What is the reason? That is, is there really an interest in art or is it an instrumentalization for very short-term purposes? What worries me most, above all, is the prosaic reading that is made of ‘Guernica’, as if it were little less than a photograph taken from a Condor Legion plane, that is, it is such a pedestrian view of a work of art of this magnitude that it is to make you look at it,” he reflected.

On the other hand, Segade has stressed that no “official request” has been made to the art gallery for ‘Guernica’ to be moved to the Basque Country, while the director of the National Prado Museum, Miguel Falomir, has stated that the painting is where “it should be” and that they are not going to ask for it.

“The Guggenheim has not made any gesture to request the work, we have not received any official request. For me the saddest thing is that, in the almost 30 years that we have had it, what it tells us is that there is an impoverishment precisely in those technical conditions. I remember at one point, Basque politicians accused the museum of being politicized for simply disseminating a technical report,” explained Segade.

This is how both directors have spoken when asked about the request of the president of the PNV, Aitor Esteban, who demanded the transfer of ‘Guernica’ to the Basque Country. Segade has assured that he does not want to “minimize” the problem of the “political reading” behind the painting, but has pointed out that his museum “has not been requested” for the work now, only in 1997 and in 2007, when the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao requested it for different exhibitions.

“I don’t want to minimize the problem of political reading, but precisely I never made statements about this, not because no one has asked us, because everyone has asked the museum. But precisely for a very basic reason: this museum has not been asked for Guernica,” explained Segade.

Furthermore, he has specified that when the Guggenheim requested it for the first time, in 1997, it did so “through conventional and technical channels” that allow it to be decided whether to lend it or not.

“The channels that give the board precisely the authority to decide whether a painting, a work from the museum, is legitimately loaned or not. That is the law, I mean, in principle it cannot be loaned by a president, beyond the president of the museum board,” added Segade.

For his part, Falomir has assured that the Prado “is not going to ask” for the Picasso painting. “How can we not get along,” Segade jokingly interrupted. “The ‘Guernica’ is wonderfully good at the Reina Sofía and I won’t move from there. That is to say, it seems to me that it is the place where it should be,” Falomir continued.

Both Falomir and Segade participated in a talk this Monday, May 18, on the occasion of the celebration of International Museum Day, when they came together at the Reina Sofía to address various topics such as the ties that unite both institutions and the “rivalry”, their financial situations or the visitors to each art gallery.