Artigo do Kuntshistorisches Museum

OTS on April 30, 2003

Austria/Germany/Switzerland/Spain/Italy


A new Guggenheim Museum in Rio de Janeiro in collaboration with the Kunsthistorisches Museum

Signing of the contract

Today - with the unanimous support of the Board of Directors of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation - the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Cesar Maia, and Thomas Krens, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, signed the contract for the errection of a new Guggenheim Museum in Rio de Janeiro. This project will be realised in collaboration with the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petrsburg. The museum, designed by the famous French architect, Jean Nouvel, will be errected on the Mau-Pier in Guanabara Bay. Construction will begin in late Spring.

This contract - an extension of the collaboration between the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York that was agreed in 2001 - makes provisions for access to the world-renowned collections of Old Masters, and of Modern and Contemporary Art held by the signatories. The partners´ names and expertise will help to realize superlative exhibitions as well as communication and education programmes.

As Wilfried Seipel, Director General of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, commented: "To build cultural bridges that unite Europe and South America is a valuable task the Kunsthistorisches Museum is very pleased to undertake. In collaboration with the Hermitage and the Guggenheim Museum Rio we will make available to the Guggenheim Museum Rio our rich holdings and our expertise in hosting and organising exhibitions."

The errection of the Guggenheim Museum in Rio de Janeiro means the realisation of the Guggenheim Foundation´s long-cherished plan to establish an important museum in Latin America. "The Guggenheim Museum in Rio is the logical next step in the development of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation", said Peter B. Lewis, the Foundation´s chairman. "It fulfills the requirements of our mission to establish the idea of international museums in Latin America too. The Guggenheim Museum Rio will become the cultural link between South and North America. I support the project whole-heartedly."
"South America combines rich cultural traditions with a particularly lively contemporary art scene", said Thomas Krens, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. "By increasing the number of exhibitions, the Guggenheim Foundation will support the cultural exchange between South America and the rest of the world."

The architect, Jean Nouvel, started to work independently in 1970 and has since then received numerous international honours. Among his best-known works are the Institute du Monde Arabe in Paris, the opera house in Lyon, the cultural- and conference-centre in Lucerne, the Quai Branly Museum of Primal Arts in Paris, and the Museo Reina Sophia in Madrid.

The Mau-Pier, on which the Guggenheim Museum will be built, extends 400 m long into Guanabara Bay and is located close to the city centre. The museum forms part of an urban revitalisation project or the area. Visitors will pass through a monumental gate and along a long ramp into an entrance-foyer with a roof constructed of a pool of water. The exhibition buildings and pavillions will be connected by tropical gardens laid out below sea-level. In addition to the normal infrastructure of a museum, the complex will also include rooms for various events and a theatre.