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  Krens' Museum for Global Contemporary Art: Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Will Be 'Pharaonic'

Krens' Museum for Global Contemporary Art Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Will Be 'Pharaonic'

Part 2: "Tourism Has a Lot to Do with Culture"

SPIEGEL: What exactly are you planning?

Krens: A museum for global contemporary art. That means the same emphasis for China, Central Asia, India, Africa, Russia, Eastern Europe, Europe and America. This is a completely new concept. In addition, the museum will have its own collection. The crown prince of Abu Dhabi is providing €500 million ($781 million) for the development of a collection of contemporary art. Does that sound hostile to art?

SPIEGEL: But who is expected to flood into this world art museum and the other cultural venues on the island?

Krens: Guess how many people travel to the Middle East? The airport in Dubai, which is only an hour from Abu Dhabi, will handle 35 million passengers this year. And an even bigger airport is under construction.

SPIEGEL: So you're not building a museum for Abu Dhabi, but for a tourist hub?

Krens: Only 5 percent of the visitors to our museum in Venice are Italian. What's wrong with tourism? Tourism also has a lot to do with culture.

SPIEGEL: But if you assume that people travel everywhere anyway, why Abu Dhabi, of all places?

Krens: Take a look at the map. Abu Dhabi is surrounded by interesting countries: Iran to the north, Iraq farther to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west and south.

SPIEGEL: Many of these countries aren't exactly friendly to the West. Doesn't that pose a major risk for the project?

Krens: Our world is filled with political conflicts. Allowing them to stop us is exactly what we don't want to do. When I went to Bilbao for the first time, it was truly dangerous there. Basque terrorist groups threatened me and told me to stay away. I had bodyguards and an armored car. It isn't a coincidence that we are now going to the Middle East.

SPIEGEL: But doesn't it irritate your many Jewish donors?

Krens: What do you think this really is? It's a cultural bridge. We are setting a clear example. We have a Jewish name. Solomon Guggenheim, the founder of the museum, was a Jew. Frank O. Gehry, our architect, is Jewish. And, of course, we talked with a lot of people, with Israeli politicians and with the Israeli ambassador to the United States.

SPIEGEL: Nevertheless, the project in Abu Dhabi could fail.

Krens: It's too important for the emirate, and for us.

SPIEGEL: But even in the past, you haven't always been able to turn your visions into reality.

Krens: Sadly, we don't always get everything we want in life. Take, for example, our plan for a museum in Rio de Janeiro. We had the architect, the plans, the signatures. But then a new mayor came along and from one moment to the next, everything was invalid. But was the vision as such wrong? North America doesn't take South American art seriously enough. We wanted to change that.

SPIEGEL: And Las Vegas? You wanted to connect casino culture with art there, which included flying in works from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. But it didn't really work. Your museum was ultimately derided as a McGuggenheim -- an allusion to the omnipresent fast-food chain McDonald's.

Krens: Those who call us that have no idea. Do we have the same façade, the same emblem, the same contents everywhere? No. We have established a local accent everywhere -- with exhibitions and with acquisitions for the respective collections -- with Italian art in Italy and with Basque art in Bilbao. It will work the same way in Abu Dhabi.

SPIEGEL: You established the Guggenheim brand, but also the Krens brand. Have you become too self-confident for the board of directors?

Krens: I'm sure that this played a role when I was the topic of discussion. But my top priority is the Guggenheim.

SPIEGEL: Peter Lewis was long the chairman of the museum's board of directors. But then he resigned because he felt that you were neglecting the original museum in New York.

Krens: Peter Lewis was my most important mentor early on, and he later came to the Guggenheim through me. He was the most generous donor in the history of the museum. I like him. That's all I can say about it.

SPIEGEL: You didn't take the criticism seriously?

Krens: Yes, I did, but I believe that the worldwide presence is a positive thing and that we should confront the challenges of a cosmopolitan world.

SPIEGEL: You enter into joint ventures with corporations and send art to exhibitions around the world as if it were a commodity. Doesn't this diminish respect for art, even change its essence, by making it more ordinary, a sort of flash in the pan?

Krens: Is that a bad thing, changing the essence of art? Besides, what is the essence of art in the first place?

SPIEGEL: Art, in the idealistic sense, is devoid of purpose and exclusive, but not something that is sold at a discount or exported like an industrial product.

Krens: But everyone does traveling exhibitions, all museums do, even those that own old masters. Are you criticizing this practice in the museum world? Besides, we show most of our exhibitions in only one museum. Only a small number travels to other museums.

SPIEGEL: You are planning more. Is that true?

Krens: Yes, it's true. Here's an example: Almost all of the art the Guggenheim owns is in storage, more than 99 percent of the collection, in fact. Years ago this gave me an idea for a very special museum in Manhattan. I call it the department store concept: inexpensive construction, a lot of space, and not just for the Guggenheim's art, but also for private collections. Now a lot of people are urging me to make it happen.

SPIEGEL: Will you also work for other institutions, perhaps as a consultant?

Krens: I don't like the word consultant. But yes, there are such plans. Asia, Russia -- I firmly believe that it's very important to go there.

SPIEGEL: And who is to pay for all this?

Krens: You cannot imagine how much money, what financial resources, are available when it comes to art.

SPIEGEL: Why has art become such a status symbol, such a fetish?

Krens: I'd like to say that it's because we are biologically predetermined to respect and even love art. Name a culture that manages without art.

SPIEGEL: Spending so much money for it isn't customary in every culture.

Krens: There are examples in history of people who have even died for their art, for their idea of the freedom of art. Art is an important thing, a great gift.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Krens, we thank you for this interview.

Interview conducted by Ulrike Knöfel and Ariane von Dewitz.