A museum is much more than a place that exhibits works of art.
This principle is part of the ideology of Max Hollein, director of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, one of the most powerful, rich and encyclopedic of those that exist on the planet.
Therefore, for Hollein, it makes total sense that US President Joe Biden held a reception at his premises last month for world leaders participating in the UN General Assembly. Over a hundred top international leaders enjoyed their stays. At times they could have the feeling of being at home. Because in its rooms there is everything, from the most remote to the closest.
“This is a place where countries come together and dialogue is encouraged. The Met is a home away from home for many cultures,” reflects its director in a meeting with foreign correspondents.
In a period of trade tensions, tariffs, political conflicts and wars, “cultural channels like the Met are vital,” he emphasizes.
“When we increasingly observe nationalist tendencies and borders grow, this institution is a convener of debates to understand culture throughout the world and this is a very relevant role, especially these days,” he says.
Hollein recognizes that these discussions must also give a voice to the countries that were silenced until recently, victims of colonialist predation and plunder, and open the door to considering the origin of the collections of the great museums, including the one he directs, at the point cultural and judicial perspective due to the origin of pieces that are exhibited or are part of their vast possessions. These accusations represent damage to his prestige.
It is the time of repentance. “We have a responsibility that must be reflected in our collecting practices and this means returning works that we have recognized were illegally exported or that we should not accept or maintain,” he explains.
“We are in the middle of the process. We have significantly increased efforts to review our objects and methods. It has also led us to collaborate with numerous countries,” he points out.
Around forty works have been seized since 2022 by the Manhattan prosecutor’s office, some sold by famous smugglers, which have been returned to their places of origin. And then there are those that the Met has been responsible for sending to other countries. This led to the institution announcing a scrutiny plan last spring and creating a team of researchers and experts like no other museum to examine the objects.
“We sometimes have more information to understand the origin of an object. More results of our research will be seen and heard,” she indicated. She made a prediction. “There will be more restitutions, more returns and more cooperation with sources from other countries. We do not want to have works in our collection that have entered illegally,” she insists. “There are works of which we are not the proper owners,” she reiterates.
The Met is a private museum that emerged almost a century and a half ago, from nothing. Part of its material comes from donations, but it is an institution that has always been a buyer. But its main expansion occurred between 1970 and 1990, a time when transactions were carried out with very few scruples, where anything went, and on which a good part of the investigation focuses. Hollein assures that that stage is already over.
The Met has an annual budget of more than 300 million, in addition to a capital fund of more than 4.7 billion thanks to philanthropy, according to its director. This allows it to enjoy an ability to purchase that very few other institutions enjoy.
Hollein emphasizes that the museum will continue with more additions in part because it has a budget each year for this investment and to diversify the collections, which cover a broad global spectrum. But he emphasizes that “the procurement policy is defined by transparency,” both in the purchasing activity and in the origin. “It’s not just about following UNESCO rules, but also about digging in depth to ensure that anything we acquire has the appropriate documentation and we also have knowledge of where it comes from,” he adds.
This rigor in transparency serves the same for the gifts they receive. “The same analyzes must be applied with regard to information on provenance and laws,” he confirms.
Aside from its collection (they organize 50 to 60 exhibitions a year), the expansive ambition of this gigantic stage, whose number of visitors recovers after the pandemic and stands at 80%, is also expressed in its building.
Since it cannot extend beyond its limits, because Central Park is there, what it does is renovate and update its facilities to encourage new exhibition experiences.
“No other museum in the world invests as much in the reconfiguration and reconceptualization of its galleries,” maintains Hollein. Over the next ten years it will spend $2 billion to improve infrastructure. In November the European painting area reopens. Other galleries currently being rehabilitated, the so-called Rockefeller area, the ancient art of the East or parts of the exhibition of contemporary pieces, will reopen next year or in 2025 and 2026. The projects consist of absolute revisions, in which the structures are demolished by complete and new ones emerge.
In addition, the entrance hall will be reconfigured with the incorporation of services (restaurant).
Another important part of the budget is dedicated to archeology, “the DNA of the Met,” Hollein remarks, in a string of countries. “We are one of the largest employers of archaeologists,” he insists.
The fruit of this new way of using a museum is that they have registered a drop in the average age of visitors since the last decade. “It’s not just about getting a young audience,” the director of the Met clarifies. “It actually consists of making the museum relevant to society and connecting with the values ??of the young audience, in the sense that we have to show what we do based on the sustainability of this building and in facing the challenges ecological aspects of the environment,” he clarifies.
Given the protests that have occurred, especially in the fight for the climate emergency, Hollein welcomes them: “The museum is not only the preservation of history, it is also a platform for engagement and confrontation of issues of our time”. Of course, respecting the works of art.
