31st January 2012

Farewell to Pepe Serra: assessment of a phase

When our director Pepe Serra said goodbye to the team at the Museu Picasso he told us: ‘We have done ten years’ work in five years.’ What follows is a brief summary of some of the projects carried out during his time as director.

· Research and development of exhibitions that contribute knowledge and added value.

“Feasting on Paris. Picasso 1900-1907” (2011). Self-Portrait with Palette, Picasso, Paris, 1906 |  “Picasso Looks at Degas” (2010). Read more »

30th December 2011

The Museu Picasso’s 2011 in images

The task of choosing the most representative images of this year that is coming to an end was far from easy. Between us, we have worked on a lot of projects! Exhibitions, activities, research and restoration, education, registrar, library, publications, communications, administration, visitor services… it’s a long list. Here, then, is just a taste of what the museum has done in 2011.

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26th September 2011

Digital challenges (for heritage, for the cultural sector)

Are we, the organisations, adapting ourselves well to the digital environment? Undoubtedly, a lot of progress has been made and there are successful initiatives and notable efforts have been made towards knowing how to live, or survive (?), in the new setting. But are we doing enough? And are we doing it well enough?

Digital users. New York. Photo: Conxa Rodà Read more »

19th September 2011

Today’s museums seen by postgraduate students / 2

Here is the continuation of the selection of ideas put forward by students from the Postgraduate Course in Museum Management. As you can see, the new waves of museum people have plenty of critical force. Let’s listen carefully to what they have to say.

Intelligent interactive museography: not to trivialization

‘Currently, we can still find museums that belong in the nineteenth century, and others that have exaggerated the formula and become theme parks for family fun.’
Núria C. Read more »

7th September 2011

Today’s museums seen by postgraduate students / 1

What role should museums have today? What are they like? What should they be like? We asked the students on the Postgraduate Course in Museum Management to reflect on these questions when they were still in the first term. The result was a first-rate collection of ideas, criticisms, questions and suggestions. What we offer you here is a selection — hard to make, I can assure you! — grouped by sub-theme. As you will see, in some of their formulations they have really put into practice what we asked them to do in applying a critical eye. You will also see that there are conflicting opinions. That is the strength and the beauty of collective participation — a participation that we in the museums are still learning to encourage and integrate.

So as not breach any blogger laws about the length of articles, this post will be in two parts.

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15th July 2011

Our Postgraduate Course in Museum Management under Exam: Assessments and Improvements

The first edition of the new Postgraduate Diploma in Museum Management, run jointly by the Museu Picasso and IDEC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, has just come to an end and it’s time to take stock. We are doing an internal evaluation at the Museum, we have asked the students for their assessments, and we want to share them with you, the readers of our blog, and with potential future students of the course.

First of all, a figure: 76.2% of the students who took the Postgraduate course would recommend it. Of all the various indicators, this one is especially significant for us. This is not to say that we haven’t identified areas for improvement, which is of course to be expected of a project that has just started, and normal for a venture involving a large staff and a number of different partner institutions.

Postgraduate students in the IDEC classroom. On the right: In the classroom with Pepe Serra director of the Museu Picasso

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24th March 2011

Museums and Wikipedia: towards a necessary cooperation

“It is not logical for the museums and Wikipedia to look at each other with mistrust as if they were enemies, because in reality they do a very similar job and are aimed at the same people, it’s just that they work in different ways.  The best thing for both communities is to work together so as to construct a proactive relationship that generates mutual benefits without detracting from their principles”. These words of Liam Wyatt reflect very well the spirit of the first meeting between the Catalan museums and Wikipedia representatives. The overall balance of the day was very positive: more than 100 professionals from museums and documentation centres from all over Catalonia actively participated in the different talks and discussions that were held throughout the day.  There was a feeling of great interest to know how this popular digital encyclopedia works and to explore ways that could help to spread the task being carried out by museums and cultural institutions.

The conference hall of the Picasso Museum full to the brim with professionals of museums from all over Catalonia

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8th March 2011

Picasso 2.0 Under the Microscope: Findings of a Master’s Project

It is with great pleasure that we publish the article and the project on Picasso 2.0, the research subject we proposed to Jacqueline for her final thesis for her Master’s. Our proposal was in two parts: the first was a kind of ‘audit’ o the museum’s presence on the social networks and the second was to suggest ways of improving it. The results went far beyond our expectations. And, quite rightly, the committee awarded the thesis its highest mark.
Thanks, Jacqueline, for the great work — and congratulations!

Conxa Rodà

A few months ago I did the practice placement of my Master’s in Cultural Heritage Management at the Museu Picasso in Barcelona, combining my time there with the preparation of my final project, ‘A Museum without Walls. Towards a more dynamic Museu Picasso Barcelona through the web 2.0 .’ Read more »

3rd March 2011

Opening the doors of the new building

On Saturday, the 19th March, the new Centre of Knowledge and Research of the Museu Picasso will offer an open doors day, within the framework of the “We open the Born neighbourhood to culture and commerce” event.  The building has been constructed with the idea of it becoming a space of local and international reference in the study and research about Picasso and his artistic and social context.  The centre has been conceived as a dynamic space for promoting research, reflection and critical debate, and therefore, to generate new knowledge.

Exterior and interior of the building. Photo: Josep M Llobet

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28th January 2011

Checking out the route of lost objects

Museums are used to being highly visited spaces (or at least it would be good that they were).  Through their galleries and corridors pass tens, hundreds or even thousands of people every day.  This continual traffic can lead to the fact of personal belongings being lost or left behind is very common in museums, and the Museu Picasso is no exception.  Would you like to know how the lost objects are dealt with in our museum?  What do the visitors leave behind? Read more »