Claudia Hakim: Putting the modern back into Bogotá’s MamBo

0
2211

Contemporary art museums are as much commercial ventures as they are creative homes to showcase of the innovative works of established and emerging artists. Without introducing new names and cutting-edge proposals, museums run the risk of becoming obsolete and — sadly — divorced from the very artists whose livelihoods depend on exhibitions.

Despite immense efforts by Gloria Zea, the grand dame of Colombian culture, to keep the Museum of Modern Art of Bogota? (MamBo) with the times, the museum had witnessed better days. Audiences were growing weary of a program that seemed to endear rather than dazzle.

Started in the early 1960s by Marta Traba to be a contemporary arts space for Bogota?, it wasn’t until Zea became the museum’s director in 1969 that this ambitious project required an official home. After almost two decades of raising the funds and lobbying the mayor’s office, a quasi-industrial building designed by architect Rogelio Salmona was inaugurated in 1985 on a grassy knoll above the Carrera 7 with Calle 24.

The MamBo was highly regarded as “Gloria’s museum,” and a large exhibition by the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (TBA21), titled Atopia- Migracio?n, legado y ausencia de lugar marked the beginning of the end of Zea’s 46-year tenure at museum. After a saturnalia of world-class exhibitions for almost a half-century, word got out that Zea was planning her exit and willing to relinquish her role at the MamBo. This cultural transition sent shock waves through the artistic community, with many wondering “who could replace don?a Gloria?”

Claudia Hakim is no stranger to art, and as the founder of the Bogota? NC-Arte gallery, she seemed the right candidate to lead the MamBo into a new era of creative proposals. Hakim could give a much-needed facelift to the landmark building and bring back audiences.

The handoff of the baton was marathonic. Zea hosted a dinner with former president Belisario Betancur, Hakim, and her husband Nayib Neme to seal the arrangement, ending weeks of speculation in the art world. With Hakim at the helm, this iconic museum would return to its original mission: Becoming the contemporary art museum for all Colombians.

Claudia Hakim came to art via textile design. She was one of a select number of students to enrol at the Universidad de los Andes’ experimental textile workshop, Taller Libre Experimental de Textiles, and when she completed her two-year course, having learned the craft from the artisanal to the industrial, she began designing textiles for leading fashion retail companies in Colombia. A sabbatical in 1995 in Oxford, England, opened up new horizons for her future plans to create large-scale works with malleable and recycled materials. “It was hard to show my work, as everything I did was large, taking over walls of gallery space,” said Hakim.

As the daughter of Lebanese immigrants, textiles were already part of her ancestry. Passionate about the possibilities of weaving, she began to experiment with metal and natural dyes, giving the tactile experience of woven works more volume. One gallery in Bogota?, Galería Mundo, owned by painter Carlos Salas, invited Hakim to exhibit on several occasions, always welcoming her installations in his space.

Envisioning the need for galleries capable of showcasing works that take over large spaces, Hakim’s future venture began to take shape. In 1995, in Bogotá’s bohemian La Macarena neighborhood, Hakim opened the doors to NC-Arte, a gallery that could adapt to the needs of artists working with three-dimensions, intricate designs, architecture, and the transformation of space.

One of the last exhibitions at NC-Arte before Hakim took over as director of the nearby MamBo was an individual showing of the monumental Korean sculptor and installation artist Do Ho Suh.

Even though five years is a short time in the art world to establish a gallery, Hakim’s capacity to think beyond the confines of limited spaces put her front and center in the minds of those who decide the artistic course of the nation.

“It caught me totally by surprise,” recalls Hakim of the day Gloria Zea asked her to become the future director of MamBo. “Gloria did it for the general public and now the real challenge is to make it viable.”

In order to better show off the valuable works by national and international artists housed in an edifice designed by one of Colombia’s most revered architects, she quickly realized that MamBo needed more than a quick makeover. “The museum was flat-lining,” said Hakim. “It no longer made noise on the art circuit. It was just there.”

Hakim decided to close the museum for a month to begin much-needed renovations, including improvements to the dark exhibition floors, “buried” screening room in the basement, and the building’s limited access to the Independence Park and terraced gardens designed by the eco-architect Giancarlo Mazzanti.

To re-inaugurate her tenure after the changes were complete, an important launch was needed, so Hakim turned to three of this country’s most respected artists, Olga de Amaral, Jim Amaral, and Ricardo Cárdenas. Taking over the three floors of the MamBo, and with a new entrance with access to the Calle 26 and Calle 24, the exhibition “De la li?nea al espacio” opened last month.

From Cárdenas’ hedges of yellow pipes that lead visitors through a tubular maze, to Jim Amaral’s mechanical atelier of metal objects, and Olga de Amaral’s gilded tapestries, the exhibition marks a point of departure for the museum. Given the expressions on the faces of the onlookers, the collective outburst of refined talent and craftsmanship was a perfect way to introduce the revamped MamBo.

Even though museumgoers will revel in “De la linea al espacio,” for Hakim, the immediate challenge is to balance the museum’s budget, motivate staff about the changes, and consolidate MamBo’s status as a serious player in the competitive field of modern and contemporary art. Most museums in country face financial pressure. Given the lack of state or municipal funding, revenue to cover operational costs must be raised in the private sector.

But in this regard, Hakim’s administrative experience with NC-Arte, as well as her trajectory as an artist, gives this museum an upper hand with its invited curators and planned exhibitions. “One of my objectives is to ‘conquer’ Doris Salcedo and invite her to exhibit at the MamBo,” said Hakim about the Colombian artist who recently draped the city’s central Plaza de Bolívar in white cloth as a poignant gesture to the victims to the nation’s conflict. Best known for cracking the floor of the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern with her installation “Shibboleth,” Salcedo is regarded as one of the most important artists of contemporary art.

And last summer, the New York-based photographer of mass public nudity, Spencer Tunick, decided that the “vanilla sky” of Bogotá would an ideal light to illuminate thousands of participants. Even though Hakim was not behind this art/media happening, one of the prerequisites for the celebrated photographer to come to the capital was that a museum put its name to ongoing project. Hakim, just months into her new post, obliged and a two-day long shoot drew out some 6,000 participants.

The MamBo/Tunick partnership revealed the commitment of the museum’s director to get her institution’s name out there with an audience that was willing to strip down for art but who maybe hadn’t stepped inside a museum. To thank Bogotanos for their willingness to participate in his naked installation, Tunick gave all participants a signed 8×10 photograph. “It was impressive to see how many people turned up at the museum to get their print,” said Hakim.

Having completed her first year at MamBo, the director talks candidly about the involvement of the museum in the celebrations of 2017 as Colombia-France Year, other upcoming exhibitions, and a second version of an electronic music festival paired with art installations, in the spirit of the Brooklyn Moma’s Warm Up.

The director knows it will take several years to bring back this iconic building from the brink. She is still working to improve the overall services for visitors, such as accessibility for the disabled, better food choices, a revamped book and gift shop.

“The museum has been reborn,” states Hakim, and with the success of the recent launch of De la línea al espacio. “We are once again the talk of the town.” Friends of the museum can also join Red-MamBo that offers free entry to more than 200 prominent contemporary art museums around the world.

Even though Hakim has a back-to-back schedule with the momentous task ahead, the artist remains committed to all artistic projects that are transformative and can connect marginalized communities with art. As this country embarks on a post-conflict, the director believes museums must break out of comfort zones of catering to a select few. “Once you reach out to people, they return for the experience,” believes Hakim.

But while the artist remains committed to her own personal projects, a theme visitors over the next several months will take away with them after admiring Olga de Amaral’s work is that weaving is not just relegated to a wall. In a post-conflict scenario, holding the social fabric together is as important as hosting the next art happening. This philosophy, at the heart of Hakim’s new administration, proves that the time has arrived to put the modern back into MamBo.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here