The Museum was empty. I had decided to say goodbye to the
exhibition in solitude. I had accepted that in Lanzarote it is not
necessary to gather anyone in any specific place.Daniel Jordán
During the summer of 2019, the exhibition The Possibility of a Museum, curated by Daniel Jordán, was held at the MIAC, with the participation of several artists from Lanzarote such as Francho, Iván Vilella, Nicolás Laiz Placeres, Moneiba Lemes & José Otero, the Parto Cerebral collective, Pillimpo and Yuri Fontes, in addition to Jordán himself. It was a somewhat controversial exhibition based on the idea that a group of artists was occupying a Museum and, in addition to various events, there were interesting conferences by professors, art critics or cultural managers of the stature of Carlos Delgado Mayordomo, Natalia Álvarez Simó, Tania Pardo or Yolanda Peralta. The catalog of that exhibition has recently been published with texts by Daniel Jordán accompanied by micro-stories by Marianna Lopes, which has allowed us, two years later, to reflect on all the opportune questions raised in said exhibition.
But what were those questions? I will refer to some of them. In the first place, the most controversial would be the one that has to do with the figure of César Manrique and the permanent shadow that his legacy casts on the island (fortunately) and on current creators (perhaps not so fortunately). Surely many of you will agree with what Daniel Jordán points out in the catalog regarding the fact that some places in Lanzarote take us back to another era, specifically to the era in which César and his group of collaborators worked transforming unique spaces on the island that now make up the CACT. In the catalog, regarding this situation, Daniel Jordán asks himself: "Does anyone think that we are honoring the avant-garde spirit (of Manrique) by perpetually chaining ourselves to a specific time interval?" And this unsettling question seems to me to be a great starting point.
Let's say that any of the artists who are currently developing their work, approaching different projects in Lanzarote, were to come up with some intervention along the same lines as Manrique had in a certain element of the space, more or less protected on the island, such as, for example (although it sounds crazy) Los Charcones or the Tinamala quarries. In addition to all the bureaucratic and institutional problems that the artist would have, simply for his proposal to be seriously considered, no matter how good it was, it seems that it would be unthinkable to materialize it, unacceptable by the society of the time in which we live. But even if we were to consider more sensible proposals, and I would even dare to say necessary ones, such as converting the old Biosfera nightclub in Arrecife into a multi-purpose cultural center in the style of La Casa Encendida or El Matadero in Madrid (which Daniel Jordán does in his catalog), it would seem more like a utopia than a real possibility.
Why? The answer is not simple. But what is clear is that Manrique himself would never have been able to develop much of his work in any way in the present, nor in the past without the institutional support he achieved. One of the consequences that can be drawn from the above is that there is the impression that everything that is done or proposed today lacks any value in comparison with what was done then. What happens, therefore, with the artists of our island who are alive and full of ideas and talent and who could contribute a lot even with landscape interventions? Sometimes it gives the impression, from the institutions, that we live in a place where everything that could be done has already been done, where there is no room for imagination. It is a pity that all this waste of intelligence, preparation and brilliance of a generation is overlooked by the lack of vision of the politicians of our time.
And all this has to do with another of the great questions that is raised in the exhibition and in the catalog, as a result of the conference by Natalia Álvarez Simó, which is: Why in so many years in Lanzarote have we still not achieved the fundamental alliances between artists and institutions? It seems that the collaboration between the institutions and, consequently, of our public representatives with the world of art and culture, is very limited for several reasons. I dare say that some of them may have to do with the fact that their veneration for the figure of Manrique, in general, hides, in addition to a lack of knowledge of the artist's own work, a clear disinterest in current cultural issues, their lack of training in this matter and their lack of aptitude to attend to the requirements of the sector. But there would be many more possible answers.
In any case, all that is not insurmountable and it would be enough to ask (and listen) to those who know to propose new proposals in this regard. In this sense, the exhibition raised that search for new proposals through the works exhibited, the activities and the conferences carried out. Thus, new forms of expression in museums were debated, beyond paintings and sculptures, to adapt to the complexity of our time and, which would ultimately contribute to renewing the cultural panorama of the island to get out of the state of temporary "suspension" in which it finds itself, trying to translate reality through art into current codes, as Daniel Jordán affirms.
It is evident, therefore, the need for self-criticism within the sector, which is done with commendable sincerity in the exhibition catalog, as well as making an effort by the different artists and disciplines to work collectively on innovative proposals. Finally, it is also necessary to recognize and value other alternative and suggestive cultural manifestations such as that of Pillimpo and his Mara Mao museum.
All this leads us to the last question: Did The Possibility of a Museum mean that a new and interesting artistic stage was being gestated under the land of Lanzarote?
It is difficult to consider it yet, but the truth is that the exhibition encountered various difficulties such as the season in which it was held, which made it difficult for the public to attend,
the absence of a clear leader of the group of artists or the formation of an authentic artistic generation beyond having the majority of the participants in the exhibition a certain age range and a quality artistic work in development.
Was The Possibility of a Museum, therefore, a failure, or rather an isolated impulse to improve the cultural situation of Lanzarote? In my opinion, not at all. As the famous quote from Marco Aurelio says: "Starting is half the battle." And it was not a failure because it involved the brave proposal to unite several interdisciplinary artists, with all the difficulties that this implies, to address a practically unprecedented opportunity up to that moment for reflection and for the proposal of new ideas as was done before, in the time of Manrique (that so "perfect" era that has already passed) and as others will do in the future.
Today I remember, about two years ago, with gratitude a morning when I went to visit the MIAC with a group of my students at the time. Coincidentally, we met Daniel Jordán there. He received us while he was working on the assembly of the exhibition and was very kind, generous and sincere with the students who corresponded with much interest and several questions. After charging politicians and artists with responsibility for the current situation of culture in Lanzarote, finally, as a professor, I consider my own responsibility and that of my collective in the formation and interest of society in art, literature and culture in general, in the creation of an audience and, in general, of a society with a critical spirit that appreciates artistic manifestations in all their extension and in the possibility that new artists emerge from our land. And perhaps, of all, ours is the most important. We have, as always, an arduous task ahead of us.
