8th of March 2010

The work of extending the Museum is now progressing at a good pace

After several months of intense archaeological work occasioned by the discovery of remains of mediaeval and Roman Barcelona just as excavation of the site was getting under way, the construction firm has finally been able to bring in the machines and start work.

At present it seems as if all there is to see is a big hole, but a closer look reveals the structural elements of the building - the pillars, the bearing walls and the entire perimeter. Read more »

2nd of February 2010

Best practices in the management of a museum

The management of cultural institutions, which is talked about a lot nowadays, goes back a long, long time.  Who doesn’t know the Greek or Roman theatres?  They didn’t function by themselves.  For sure, behind the stages, there were people, the majority often anonymous, who made sure that everything functioned correctly.

And what can be said about museums? Throughout the world there have been teams of people, sometimes more numerous, often rather reduced, often referred to as administration, and now linked to resources, who have carried out the ‘functional’ work.

At the Museu Picasso of Barcelona there are a number of us that work in the administration of the centre.  We could call ourselves the back-office.  Everything from the area of production, maintenance, security, management of the public, management of the services and obviously the economic administration.  Without each of these functions, it would be difficult for the museum to open its doors every day and offer the visitors exhibitions, talks, concerts, and all types of activities linked, in our case, to the life and work of Pablo Picasso, or the neighbourhood in which we are located,  La Ribera.

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29th of December 2009

Happy 2010!

Thank you to the readers of this blog, to our fans on Facebook and to our followers on Twitter. Our best wishes for 2010!

23rd of December 2009

A crane in Museu Picasso

The buildings that make up the Museu Picasso require constant maintenance, be it building works, installations or painting.

This autumn has been the turn for modifying the air conditioning system on the ground floor. It has been necessary to insulate the circuit and install a new air conditioner. The project was relatively easy to do, but to carry it out, we came up against major logistical problems.

The air conditioner had to go on the roof of one of the buildings; it was just one piece of equipment but considerable in size and weight. Transporting this machine up to the roof was the most complicated part.

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23rd of November 2009

Protecting Picassos and people

It is well-known that, for the public, security is an unknown and restricted topic. However, as part of the major aim of the Picasso Museum to get close to you, of integrating an online community, we would like to give you the chance of taking a look at everything that is not accessible to the public in general, and therefore to show you how we combine the protection of both art and people in the museum.

A different conception: in search of proximity. Firstly, it should be said that in recent years a change has taken place in terms of the behaviour of the figure of the security guard, in the sense that he or she doesn’t have the exclusive role of carrying out surveillance, but also that of attending the various needs of the public, be it for information or to receive help.

Adapting ourselves to the latest technology: watching from the heart of the museum. Thanks to the commitment of the director and management around 5 months ago, we started up the new Coordination Centre (CECOR), both for security as well as for emergencies. It currently represents one of the most modern centres from among the cultural centres of the country, thanks to the incorporation of the latest technologies of the market. A migration has been undertaken of all the old systems to an IP system (Internet Protocol), and as such everything is now digitalised.

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1st of September 2009

The Art of Shopping at the Museu Picasso’s Shop

We are all more or less familiar with the French terms marchand and marché de l’art, used to refer to the dealer and his or her relationship with an artist for the promotion and sale of their work, but thanks to the influence of the English word ‘merchandising‘ the term has taken on a new meaning. Our colleagues in the Museu Picasso shop a are good example of this.

More than 330 m2 devoted to art, to Picasso and to the city of Barcelona make up this particular Picassian universe. There is a wide variety of items on sale here, with something for all tastes and all budgets. Marta, Raquel and Manel, who run the Museum shop, and welcome us inside, are real specialists: they visit trade fairs, they explore the shops at other leading museums around the world and, above all, they are experts in the art of merchandising.

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