The César Manrique House-Museum in Haría will open its doors in August to show the "most personal and intimate side of the artist." This project, on which the César Manrique Foundation (FCM) has been working for several years, will allow Lanzarote residents and visitors to "feel César Manrique with much greater force, in his own home." "With this project, César Manrique returns to Haría, where he could not return on September 25, 1992, because he was prevented by an unfortunate accident of which he was a victim," said the director of the FCM, Fernando Gómez Aguilera, who has been accompanied at a press conference by the president, José Juan Ramírez.
With this initiative, the FCM aspires to alleviate "in some way" the absence of César Manrique. For the moment, it is only known that the House-Museum will open in August, but not on what exact day. Of course, the FCM will only have to undertake a "basic conditioning focused on museography" because the house is preserved in a good state. The opening also coincides with the 25th anniversary of this house, which consists of a farm of 12,000 square meters, a useful area of 900 square meters and an annex where the workshop of 200 square meters is located.
The content of the House-Museum is organized in five main axes. Visitors can enjoy the house where Manrique lived and its architecture and can also enter the artist's bedroom, the guest room, the living room, the kitchen, two living rooms, four bathrooms and two patios. They will also enjoy the furniture and belongings of the Lanzarote artist and around 1,500 objects of great variety, as well as their own designs.
Visitors will also have access to the pool, the porch and the objects that Manrique planned to include in these spaces. The workshop where he worked will become "the jewel in the crown." "It will be shown as it was on September 25, 1992, with incomplete paintings and sketches," explained Gómez Aguilera. The farm full of sandblasting will also be included in the visit to the House-Museum.
With this project, the FCM does not want to "recreate, but faithfully show" what the house where César Manrique spent the last years of his life was like. "We try to maintain the traces of life, the warmth and domestic naturalness. Therefore, the museographic intervention is soft and will be complemented with audiovisual resources of César Manrique in his environment," said the president and director of this institution.
Visiting system and prices
To be able to access the César Manrique House-Museum, in Haría, there will be visiting shifts. "We will start with a reduced schedule of four hours a day. The initial shifts will be between 20 and 25 people every 20 minutes. The visit will last about 45 minutes or an hour," explained Gómez Aguilera.
At the moment, the FCM is still assessing the price per ticket, although it is clear that "it should be the most expensive ticket of any Tourist Center in Lanzarote." "It is the place of highest symbolic value," they consider from this institution. Therefore, there will be no price distinctions for residents of Lanzarote.
However, the FCM has thought of a special gift for the residents of Lanzarote. "There will be a policy of free access to the people of Lanzarote in a time slot and for a period of no less than six months. During this time, interested people will be able to access for free through arranged visits," they explained.
The opening of this House-Museum also lays the foundations for the FCM "for the next 20 or 30 years." "We hope that the project will contribute to developing our activities," said José Juan Ramírez, who also pointed out that the House-Museum project has been faced with own resources of the institution. "We want to contribute to quality tourism, to further enhance the island. We have the small illusion of helping to boost the economy in the municipality of Haría," he defended.
