“I am an art specialist. I have decades of experience. And I had the beautiful idea of accepting the direction of a museum to, in some way, give back something of what I know,” says a man with a worried expression and a slight traditional accent. Seriously, he lowers his head with a frown and finishes: “What a mistake. Where did I go?” To make it clear that his situation will not be easy, they announce that the Minister of Culture called him three times, that she insists on seeing him “from the union” and that an audit is pending, among other urgent issues that sound like complaints. The scene ends with a rapid succession of images that put into context what it is about: you see the famous crucified Christ by León Ferrari and the attack of an environmentalist who throws red paint on a painting. While the title appears on the screen Fine artsthe protagonist says: “Bad arts”.
Antonio Dumasthe character he plays Oscar Martinez in the new creation by Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, whose first season premieres on April 11 on the Star+ platform, has just won the public competition to direct an important contemporary art museum in Madrid. Almost everything reflected in the six-episode series, written “one hundred percent” by Andrés Duprat, is “based on real events.” This is confirmed in dialogue with LA NACION by the screenwriter, who was inspired by his own experience in public management, no less than the direction of the National Museum of Fine Artsamong other institutions.
Although the idea of the script predates his decision to re-enter the contest for director of the most important public museum in the country, what Duprat imagined as a starting point for the development of the plot and the character (who, not by chance, bears his same initials) is quite similar to what he experienced in the last months of 2023, when the process of selecting candidates for the position extended longer than expected and all kinds of theories and speculations arose.
In the fiction, AD is grateful for the position, but ironically acknowledges that he should not have won. He explains: “I’m white, straight, big, and I have a European last name.” His “opponents” in the final stretch were a black woman and a non-binary person. Yes, once again, as they already did with The illustrious citizen y The artist, among other productions, Cohn, Duprat and Duprat once again laugh at the world of culture. Now, more specifically, about the current art environment and its relationship with power and politics.
“I’m not going to tell you that it is totally autobiographical, but it is true that I took many situations that I experienced in public management and in dealing with artists from all over the world,” says Duprat at the Fundación Proa cafe shortly after the presentation. of the collective exhibition What the night tells the day, which opens this Saturday to the public at the La Boca art center. Before the pandemic, Duprat had been summoned by Diego Sileo, art historian and chief curator of the Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea (PAC), in Milan, to jointly curate this exhibition made up of emblematic works from the last fifty years by Argentine artists. consecrated persons such as Ferrari, Lucio Fontana, Ana Gallardo, Alberto Greco, Jorge Macchi, Liliana Maresca, Marta Minujín, Leandro Erlich, Liliana Porter, Graciela Sacco, Juan Sorrentino and Adrián Villar Rojas, among others.
The selection of pieces (sculptures, photographs, installations, videos and performances) is crossed by the representation of different forms of violence. Upon entering the first room, the Ferrari Christ draws your attention, which was exhibited in Milan in 2023 and which, shortly before, welcomed visitors to the Fine Arts. It is the same sculpture that appears in the series. It’s not a coincidence either.
–In addition to being in charge of the most important national museum, with all that it implies, you agreed to curate an international exhibition of contemporary art in a private institution. Did you need more challenges?
–They are two very different tasks. As a curator, I did not have to deal with solving administrative problems, insurance, transporters, customs. I had to decide which pieces to show. It was pure pleasure, nothing to do with managing a museum. The problem, in Argentina, is that it is not enough to be an independent curator. Anyway, I love getting into the mud of management.
–Are the complaints heard in fiction the same ones you have to face?
–They are the problems of management, of leaving the academic world, of research, to real life. Museums cover a very wide spectrum because it ranges from the most eccentric artist with the most radical work that exists to the simplest issue of union problems and salary claims. This coexistence of radical art with everyday problems makes for satire. The series is called Fine arts with all irony. The formats of contemporary art are increasingly radical: there are works that rot, immaterial pieces. And that lends itself more to criticism and irony. Anyway, it’s not at all exaggerated. The things that happen in the series are real; many have happened to me or that have been told to me. For several years, I directed the Bahía Blanca Museum of Contemporary Art and the Fundación Telefónica art space. The series has a very important anchorage with reality; It’s not a fantasy.
–It takes place in Spain, but it could be set here.
–These problems exist in all museums in the world. For example, the director is never satisfied with the budget he has or with how things should be. One aspires to be better and better and to conquer new audiences. The bad relationship with the Minister of Culture of Spain is invented, but that character is not ridiculed. A minister has different concerns than a museum director; The minister has political pressures, government line declines, he has to be on good terms with different sectors that sometimes have opposing interests. There is a hierarchical power relationship between a minister and a museum director, which can be a very prestigious position, but it has to have a waist.
–In this critical context, what are the problems of Fine Arts? Lack of budget, staff cuts?
–We are in a difficult situation: the Museum depends on the Nation, it is one of the ones with the largest audience, we had a record number of visits last year. It is an institution with history that has prestige and recognition. It works like a violin. We are 130 employees; It’s the perfect number for our space. This year we have to manage the same budget as in 2023, but in this context we could say that we are privileged. It is true that each change of government is always a little traumatic, especially in countries like ours where everything can always get worse. This alert exists in public institutions.
–Does winning the contest in 2023 ensure stability in your position? This month eight directors of national museums were appointed without competition.
–Under normal conditions, I have a mandate for five years. That gives you a leg up when negotiating. You are not a political official appointed by the Executive but a professional with a lot of experience who has won a competition. It is the appropriate method to appoint directors. Ensures suitability.
–Do you agree with charging admission to national museums?
–All over the world, museums charge admission. I think it’s good that there is a charging system for non-residents. It would be good for us; We could use that income to, for example, replace an air conditioner and also to improve the visitor experience. We are studying a system that can be channeled through the Association of Friends, with whom we have an excellent relationship. We work side by side. I have been in management for eight years and it is impeccable. There was never a conflict.
–Is the property in the Congreso neighborhood donated by the previous administration secured to carry out the delayed expansion of the museum?
–That land was transferred by the State Property Administration Agency (AABE) to the Ministry of Culture for the use of the Fine Arts. We are studying alternatives to see if we can begin to finalize the project of a conservation center and open reserves.
–You participated in the hug to the National Endowment for the Arts when it was announced that they were going to close it. What do you think of the situation of culture under this government?
–In general terms, I think that there are institutions that could work better, but I don’t think they should be closed. I notice a certain Manichean intention when they say that an organization like the National Endowment for the Arts cannot be sustained because there are hungry kids. Culture is not at odds with basic needs: going to a museum, to the cinema, to the theater, to a concert is part of the time that each person dedicates in their private life to leisure, to entertainment, to training.
To schedule
What the night tells the day It opens this Saturday at noon at Fundación Proa (Av. Pedro de Mendoza 1929). From Wednesday to Sunday, from 12 to 7 p.m. Guided tours at 3 and 5 p.m. Admission: $1000; students and retirees, $500; children under 12, free.
Themes
Other Art and Culture news
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/lanacionar/J6ETNUCMVZGMHP2SS7XTJPRG4I.jpg)
On the Women’s Bridge. Marta Minujín closed the Performance Biennial with perfume and a shower of petals
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/lanacionar/4HRRMRD2LVAQDAWA7O65MUZ56I.JPG)
A hidden gem in the Decorative Museum. Josefina de Alvear’s bedroom in the Errázuriz Palace
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/lanacionar/QAKXXRGTQRGY5G3M5NURIESQOM.jpg)