NEW YORK – From his office on the top floor of the Met, Max Hollein looks out over the treetops of Central Park, the luxury buildings on Fifth Avenue and the rooftops of the various galleries of a museum that houses five thousand years of art history. A privileged view for the 55-year-old Austrian who previously worked at such prestigious institutions as the Guggenheim Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts and the Städel Museum in Frankfurt.
From that office where he spoke to El Diario on a recent summer morning, Hollein runs an institution that employs nearly 2,000 New Yorkers, 17% of whom identify as Hispanic. Last year, 5.5 million visitors passed through the Central Park museum and its second location, the Cloisters, in Upper Manhattan, of whom 4.6 million were Americans. Of those, 12% identified themselves as Hispanic.
But the importance of Latinos to the Met goes beyond its employees and visitors. Mexican architect Frida Escobedo was chosen to design the future wing of modern and contemporary art, one of the most ambitious expansions since the museum was founded in 1870.
In addition, the galleries dedicated to the “Ancient Americas,” focusing on the art of pre-Columbian cultures, will reopen in 2025, having been renovated.
Earlier, on September 12, the exhibition “Mexican Prints at the Vanguard” will open, on the rich tradition of printmaking in Mexico, showcasing works from the 18th to the mid-20th century. The museum, according to Hollein, houses the best collection of this art – more than 2,000 woodcuts, lithographs and silkscreens – that can be found outside of Mexico. The exhibition will show a selection of 130 pieces until January 5, 2025.
Frida Escobedo, a pioneer in the history of the Met
The conversation with the director of the MET took place after his return from a trip to Mexico, where he visited the National Museum of Anthropology, met with directors of other centers and was able to work with Escobedo in his studio.
Despite still being at the beginning of her career, this 45-year-old Mexican was chosen from among five architectural firms for her “deep perspective on museum buildings,” explains Hollein.
Escobedo’s project will involve tearing down the Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang wing that houses the 20th- and 21st-century art galleries and building a new space in its place that will not only be functional but also communal. The work will take six years, create 4,000 jobs, double the size of the current space and connect to the park—without taking up any extra space. The museum has already raised $550 million in private donations for its construction.
Escobedo will be the first woman to lead the redesign of a wing of the Met. “We want this project to be a manifesto for her,” Hollein says.
Renovation of the “Ancient Americas” galleries
The art of Mexico, Central America and South America will also have a new space with the renovation of the Michael C. Rockefeller wing, inaugurated in 1982, which also houses exhibits of cultures from Africa and Oceania.
These galleries will open in the spring of 2025, with brighter rooms, such as the current European painting rooms, which were recently renovated. This change reflects an effort to present these collections with the dignity and recognition they deserve, according to Hollein, fostering a deeper appreciation of the historical and cultural contexts of the works of art.
In conceptualizing the new galleries, Hollein highlights collaboration with Mexican scholars and institutions, such as the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City—“one of everyone’s favorites”—where a workshop was held that provided ideas for the Met.
The role of museums in an era of “nationalisms”
In the conversation, Hollein addressed how museums need to evolve in today’s world. The Met trustee contrasted the museum of the past, which served as a didactic institution, with the modern museum, which acts as a convener of communities and cultures. This shift underscores the importance of fostering dialogue and understanding through art at a time when nationalisms are gaining strength in many parts of the world.
In the face of this “alarming rise of nationalism,” Hollein sees the mission of museums like the Met as more crucial than ever.
“We are the opposite of nationalism,” he explains. “What we show is a convocation of cultures, our united cultural heritage, our way of understanding each other, of making sure that people understand that cultural and historical exchange is fluid and influences each other.”
“We have a very important role in society, and perhaps even in education, at a time when we are seeing more and more of a tendency towards a nationalist perspective,” he says.
Art should be appreciated for its aesthetic and artistic merit, says Hollein, but it is increasingly important that it helps us understand the complex social, political, economic and historical context that surrounds us.
In the future, Hollein envisions the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as a multi-center institution that will transcend its physical location thanks to digital technology. The museum’s resources and knowledge will be accessible worldwide, ensuring that the Met remains a vital cultural force regardless of geographic boundaries, explains its CEO.
Cultural repatriation of historical artifacts
In a museum with millions of objects, the sensitive debate over cultural repatriation is very much alive. Hollein reaffirmed the Met’s commitment to ethical practices, emphasizing that the museum does not house objects that have been illegally removed from another country.
But Hollein doesn’t believe all artworks should be in their country of origin, instead arguing for the importance of viewing cultural artifacts in a global context, where they can serve as ambassadors for their cultures and foster international understanding.
“Museums like the Met are very good places to house objects. We take care of them, we preserve them, we share them, we show them…”, she says. “And I think it’s very important that we see the different cultures of the world in dialogue with each other in certain places, and the Met is a very good place for that.”
“It is important for a country to have some of its cultural artefacts, but it is equally important for art to be an ambassador,” he adds.
Hollein cited the example of Escobedo’s project, and of the pride Mexicans should feel in having a fellow architect design a significant part of the Met. Similarly, she believes that the works of art from around the world displayed at the Met contribute to a shared global heritage.
More information on “Mexican prints at the forefront”