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Roundup: Krens on Guggenheim Abu Dhabi & Jewish Donors

March 31st, 2008 by Menachem Wecker

  • [CultureGrrl] CultureGrrl previews Athens’ New Acropolis Museum which displays some objects under the theme “Time for Prayer” and which might show “faithful copies of the missing Parthenon marbles.”
  • [Denver Post] Alvin Ailey, whose signature work is “Revelations,” set to “African-American religious music,” celebrates 50 years. Photo: DP.
  • [Orlando Sentinel] Instead of depicting saints, this artist is perhaps one herself. Lubniela Milev has returned to Orlando’s Women’s Residential and Counseling Center of the Coalition for the Homeless, where she once lived, to teach art to children, but she is also donating money ($1k so far).
  • [SPIEGEL] Thomas Krens on the Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi: “What I have planned in Abu Dhabi is so much bigger than what I’ve done so far. It’ll be the kind of thing we’ve never seen before. The only expression I can think of to describe it is pharaonic.” As Krens describes the theme park he has in mind, he is asked: “But it’s hard to imagine a museum for the sometimes drastic art of the modern age and the present side-by-side with strict Islamic culture, which permits only purely ornamental art.” Krens insists no one has raised censorship, even of the museum’s big Mapplethorpe collection. He adds, “Why should we challenge a local culture? Perhaps to provoke political confrontation? That’s unnecessary. And if an increasingly small portion of our collection is in fact not exhibited, this does not diminish the entire presentation.” And even more interesting:

    SPIEGEL: But doesn’t it irritate your many Jewish donors?

    Krens: What do you think this really is? It’s a cultural bridge. We are setting a clear example. We have a Jewish name. Solomon Guggenheim, the founder of the museum, was a Jew. Frank O. Gehry, our architect, is Jewish. And, of course, we talked with a lot of people, with Israeli politicians and with the Israeli ambassador to the United States.

    What a great interview.

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