Contemporary Art Museums in Spain – An Brief Analysis of the Current State

According to the National Statistics Institute of Spain, there are 86 contemporary art museums in Spain, receiving approximately, 4. 5 Million visitors per year.  However, if you eliminate 3.4 Million visitors being received by the 4 major Spanish museums - Reina Sofia (1.6 Million visitors), Guggenheim (1 Million visitors), MACBA (430,000 visitors) and MUSAC (400,000 visitors), an average Spanish contemporary art museum receives dismal 13,400 visitors per year or approx 1,100 visitors per month, so the question appears – is an IVAM, an Artium or a ES Buard a failure and why are millions of Spanish tax payers paying tens of millions of Euros to entertain less than 50 visitors a day, at the other 82 museums.

Some are claiming that the mediocrity of these museums is at fault, exacerbated by poor copycat collections and worse temporary exhibitions, other claim that the fault rests with the poor marketing and management at the institutions.

The question remains, should we be shutting these museums down or can we do something to improve the situation at these sad places or we can even look at contemporary art in a totally different manner and make a difference?

Statistics at Leading Contemporary Art Museums: Coming Soon.

-    Allan Majotra, PicassoMio.com / PicassoMio Galleries