Fully integrated with the system, today, the museum has also become a production center, a services agency and laboratory. Cristiana Collu, curator of the TERNA 02 PRIZE, suggests a managerial approach toward art to renew the museum’s image seen as not only an institution: the “artist’s career does not end with the museum, but that marks the beginning of a new adventure”.
The museum, together with the business world must take a bigger chance. Not only regarding the artists, but for the entire project. The art system is complex and diversified. What is a museum director’s role within this system and how does it relate to an event such as the Terna Prize?
A museum director’s role has greatly changed today. This is because the museum as an institution has been transformed and it is finally in constant evolution. For me, a director must be brave enough to be devoted to the museum, to be responsible for it and have it operate by discovering and promoting its extraordinary potential. His role may be that of curator, critic or art historian with regard to his training, but essentially he must move within the sphere of the cultural program and the financial management. The museum director manages a sort of services agency, a hub, an active center that receives, distributes and connects, an essential hub of the system; in order to become this he must be part of a network made of artworks, that which makes the difference, of artists, of gallery owners, curators and institutions (galleries, museums, companies). A managerial approach to art is essential. Today, the museum is increasingly integrated with the system and also becomes a production center. It takes a chance together with the artist and is not limited to only curating the exhibiting aspect. The artist’s career does not end with the museum, but that marks the beginning of a new adventure and the museum, together with the business world, must become more daring and invest not only on the artist, but on the entire project. Artists need growth opportunities and prizes represent an opportunity for exchange, the possibility of comparing, of aperture and contact with new situations. The Terna Prize stands out not only for its generous investments, but also for its capability to concentrate with rigorous attention and sensibility in the delicate selection phase based on an aware and respectful vision of the past, which is also concrete and propulsive toward the future. If the work carried out by the curators and Terna’s commitment are based on seriousness and professionalism, it will conquer an unquestionable and undeniable role in the art system and elsewhere: everyone recognizes quality.
Which type of strategy can a museum director adopt to manage financial difficulties?
Every since I read this definition by David Thorp it has become a sort of karma, it is so convincing that I must share it with you: “I expect an artistic institution of the 21st century to be flexible, sincere, democratic, multi-cultural, contradictory and daring. Splendid when it is wealthy, heroic when it has no money. It must have its head in the clouds, operate in an exemplary way, have team spirit, be grounded and have a very big heart. I expect it to love artists, to take care of the public, [...] and stay open till late”. It is difficult to add anything else. We can try to be all this, it means continuing to propose ideas with the help of artists within a logic of sharing, of joining resources to allow each one to build something that expresses an authentic identity. Some artists are extraordinarily generous, not of their work, but of their time and capabilities, of their passion and their ethics: they succeed in always inventing something that allows the institutions to continue proposing high quality events, even if often organized with very little funds and not advertised enough. Sometimes projects are organized with large financial investments that are however lacking from a communication point of view and in those cases these resources become useless. In order for a project to be successful, it must also be communicated well, something often requiring large resources, not only for advertising expenses. It is important that those communicating the event through the media have a certain level of sensibility. But this is not always easy. The idea of tomorrow, of the future that is created day by day, in the present, should help us obtain foresight and be more careful.
How do you think a museum’s image can be renewed?
By thinking that anything can be done in a museum. By considering it as a services agency for society. The museum can also be seen as a creative laboratory that supports and produces, or co-produces projects, that invests in creativity, that elaborates ideas that generate innovation. But it can also be a venue for a concert or a book presentation, while still continuing to carry out its more traditional functions. In order to support the museum’s transformation, to prevent it from suffering as it did in the past, it is necessary to have a flexible approach. It is necessary to invest on tomorrow’s visitors: children. If they begin coming to the museums more often, playing with what the museum has to offer, they will understand that the museum is a place where something new always happens, a special place where they will also feel comfortable as adults.
How can the female role be supported and encouraged within the art system? Do difficulties still exist for women who intend to work in this sector?
I don’t think women are still encountering difficulties in working in this sector. What happens is that they often forget their potential, their capabilities for creating connections. Their approach is softer than a man’s and I feel that this actually represents a plus (we could also ask men to use this approach). Women by nature are more interested in creating and being part of a system, they have an inclusive approach and are more sensitive to human aspects. Their attitude is more complex and rich and I believe this represents the outlook to the future.
2009-09-30
