They get themselves into a right old tangle in Mallorca with their "altos cargos" - senior officials appointed through a political process. These officials can be, variously and as examples, director-generals of departments within regional government ministries, directors of companies that are owned by government authorities or directors of foundations that have as their trustees and governing bodies representation from political parties.
During the period of the current administration - since late June last year, therefore - controversy surrounding senior officials has rarely been far away. The greatest controversy concerned the appointment of Juli Fuster. He is the director-general of the IB-Salut health service. His wife, it just so happens, is the health minister. The Fuster affair has now been put to bed, but other appointments keep surfacing and keep causing problems.
Early in February, the selection committee for the Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation approved the appointment of Francisco Copado as the foundation's new director. The selection committee has its experts in such matters. It also has its political representatives. The trustees and governing committee for the foundation have as their president the mayor of Palma. The vice-president is Palma's councillor for culture. There are other town hall representatives, some from other parties, as well as members away from the town hall, such as the grandson of Joan Miró.
Ever since the appointment was made, questions have been asked about Copado's qualifications for the post. He himself was interviewed by the press and sought to downplay his absence of management experience of running a museum or similar. This is meant to be a requirement for the job. Copado has a relevant degree and masters and knowledge of the arts and cultural worlds and also several languages. It was seemingly the latter which swayed the selection committee in his favour, but the Partido Popular's Javier Bonet, a member of the governing committee, has questioned not just the appointment but also its legality. He has suggested it might be a case of "prevaricación", that difficult word in Spanish which, in legal terms, can be interpreted as, for instance, abuse of power in public office.
A special meeting of the trustees' board is to be held to consider the affair. One feels that Bonet is overstating things. He had earlier challenged the appointment by reminding the councillor for culture, Miquel Perelló, that he (Perelló) had told the media that none of the candidates for the advertised position met all its requirements. Rather than some political motives, it would seem that Copado was felt to have been the best available. As such, one has some sympathy for him, as he's hardly been out of the media glare since he was appointed.
This may have been a tricky appointment but at least it was one made via what seems to have been a normal recruitment process. The same cannot be said of the new director-general of the Balearic Tourism Agency (ATB). Copado isn't a political appointee (or doesn't appear to be). Pere Muñoz, however, is.
The ATB is the tourism ministry's marketing and promotion department. Last September, Miquel Àngel Roig was made director-general of the agency. He resigned last month, having spent roughly the same length of time in his post as the now former director of the Palacio de Congresos company had. (That company is run by the regional government and the town hall.) Both departed citing personal reasons. Josep Sintes has since gone on record in identifying major disagreements he had with the Palacio board, especially its president, the town hall's tourism councillor, Joana Maria Adrover. Roig has said nothing. Apparently he was made a good offer to return to Hotelbeds, for whom he had worked before being appointed ATB director-general.
Roig was, therefore, someone with a tourism background. Muñoz's background, on the other hand, is more questionable in this regard. One particularly disparaging review of his experience suggests that it is limited to having managed the accommodation and car park at Lluc Monastery. He is currently disentangling his business interests in order to take up the appointment, and one of these interests is with a Catalonian company involved in tourism operations. But crucially, he is an old associate of Biel Barceló, the tourism minister. They were in fact at one point rivals within the PSM (Mallorcan socialists). He hasn't had frontline political experience for some years but he has now returned to the frontline, because his appointment is political.
It is said that Barceló had considered him for the position before appointing Roig but decided not to because of the fuss with other political appointments. Now, though, Barceló seems to believe it's safe to appoint him. Sources other than Barceló in Més and close to the government are understood not to have much faith in Muñoz. One fancies that there may be another parliamentary row over a senior official appointment brewing.
Showing posts with label Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 01, 2016
Sunday, May 18, 2014
The Day Of The Museum
Today is International Museum Day. It was established in 1977 by the International Council of Museums, and its president says that "museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, co-operation and peace among peoples", which as a statement of principle sounds rather like the one which used to be offered to explain the virtues of tourism. It's a principle which does still apply, though you would be forgiven for thinking that it no longer does. As resorts, if we are to believe the most doom-laden predictions, will some time in the near future become their own museum pieces, there will be even less cultural exchange and enrichment by those enjoying no more than the hotel branded culture of an all-inclusive. Though even resorts, abandoned by the masses and turned into museum pieces, would still have life. As the vice-president of the Council of Mallorca said in launching Mallorca's contribution to International Museum Day, "museums are living institutions".
There are a lot of museums in Mallorca, some of them good or excellent, others less good. The good and excellent adhere to the concept of being a living institution, while others betray the occasional failing of museums, which is to attempt to drain all life from themselves. But this is the lot of museums the world over. Some are vibrant, others are moribund. In Mallorca, there is the odd example of museum which shows little sign of life (one thinks, unfortunately, of Inca's rather less than successful footwear museum), but let's not dwell on the negatives when there is much that is positive.
In fact, Inca's museum has been given some life since the appointment of a new director last September, and it is one of a number of museums which is engaged in the exchange of pieces as part of today's celebrations. Others include the Pollensa Museum and the fine Manacor History Museum. The big museum guns are also participating in International Museum Day, such as the Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation, Can Prunera in Sóller and the Es Baluard Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. And another, the History Museum at Bellver Castle, has truly embraced the modern era by making available a mobile app through which can be heard explanations of items in the museum.
Technology has been a boon to museums. It has breathed new life into many by providing interactivity, through which it can be confirmed that they are indeed living. It has also been a necessity. Wandering around some vast hall with no one breaking into more than a whisper, staring at bits of old rock, is, let's be honest, a bit passé. But it doesn't have to all be technological bells and whistles. The old and the new can combine, so long as what's on display is good, and Es Baluard is pretty damn good. It has, on the one hand, the extraordinary "Sound Resonances" of Hayden Chisholm and, on the other, artistic links to the not so distant past courtesy of artists involved with the early twentieth century Mallorcan movement, such as Santiago Rusiñol and Tito Cittadini. There are also a couple of painted works by Aligi Sassu, who was normally associated with sculptures (he did the weird "horse" on the roundabout in Alcúdia). One is "The Church of Alcúdia".
The good news is that most of Mallorca's museums aren't austere, dull places. They also make a valuable contribution to tourism. To give an indication of numbers, it was estimated that there were 735,000 museum visitors in 2009, which represented a rise of almost 5% over the previous year. This figure will almost certainly have risen more since then. Es Baluard, for example, experienced an increase of over 5% last year. And the museums can benefit in more ways than just through the numbers coming through the door. The Miró Foundation, for instance, raises around 100,000 euros a year through sales of merchandising and other products at its shop.
But these are the big museums. The numbers are, naturally enough, very much lower for smaller ones. The Yannick and Ben Jakober Foundation in Alcúdia registered 5,394 visitors in 2009, but then it isn't in the centre of Palma and it isn't an operation which is only interested in making money.
The commercial aspect isn't, though, the focus of International Museum Day. It is a celebration of museums' contribution to the island's culture. There are thirty taking part. The weather's good, but then so are the museums.
There are a lot of museums in Mallorca, some of them good or excellent, others less good. The good and excellent adhere to the concept of being a living institution, while others betray the occasional failing of museums, which is to attempt to drain all life from themselves. But this is the lot of museums the world over. Some are vibrant, others are moribund. In Mallorca, there is the odd example of museum which shows little sign of life (one thinks, unfortunately, of Inca's rather less than successful footwear museum), but let's not dwell on the negatives when there is much that is positive.
In fact, Inca's museum has been given some life since the appointment of a new director last September, and it is one of a number of museums which is engaged in the exchange of pieces as part of today's celebrations. Others include the Pollensa Museum and the fine Manacor History Museum. The big museum guns are also participating in International Museum Day, such as the Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation, Can Prunera in Sóller and the Es Baluard Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. And another, the History Museum at Bellver Castle, has truly embraced the modern era by making available a mobile app through which can be heard explanations of items in the museum.
Technology has been a boon to museums. It has breathed new life into many by providing interactivity, through which it can be confirmed that they are indeed living. It has also been a necessity. Wandering around some vast hall with no one breaking into more than a whisper, staring at bits of old rock, is, let's be honest, a bit passé. But it doesn't have to all be technological bells and whistles. The old and the new can combine, so long as what's on display is good, and Es Baluard is pretty damn good. It has, on the one hand, the extraordinary "Sound Resonances" of Hayden Chisholm and, on the other, artistic links to the not so distant past courtesy of artists involved with the early twentieth century Mallorcan movement, such as Santiago Rusiñol and Tito Cittadini. There are also a couple of painted works by Aligi Sassu, who was normally associated with sculptures (he did the weird "horse" on the roundabout in Alcúdia). One is "The Church of Alcúdia".
The good news is that most of Mallorca's museums aren't austere, dull places. They also make a valuable contribution to tourism. To give an indication of numbers, it was estimated that there were 735,000 museum visitors in 2009, which represented a rise of almost 5% over the previous year. This figure will almost certainly have risen more since then. Es Baluard, for example, experienced an increase of over 5% last year. And the museums can benefit in more ways than just through the numbers coming through the door. The Miró Foundation, for instance, raises around 100,000 euros a year through sales of merchandising and other products at its shop.
But these are the big museums. The numbers are, naturally enough, very much lower for smaller ones. The Yannick and Ben Jakober Foundation in Alcúdia registered 5,394 visitors in 2009, but then it isn't in the centre of Palma and it isn't an operation which is only interested in making money.
The commercial aspect isn't, though, the focus of International Museum Day. It is a celebration of museums' contribution to the island's culture. There are thirty taking part. The weather's good, but then so are the museums.
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