Features
Marko Daniel
Director of the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona
Understanding Miró as a whole
The new head of the Fundació Miró says he wants to “revitalise” the artist and show his work off the world
Marko Daniel (Germany, 1964) came to Barcelona for his two loves: his partner, who is from Girona, and Joan Miró. Daniel is the new director of the Fundació Miró, an institution he wants to breathe new life into and show off to the world.
You say it is vital to revitalize Miró’s figure. You mean we’ve killed him?
For me, Miró is alive, and I would like the public to feel it this way, too. How? By connecting Miró’s collections, temporary exhibitions and activities, which are not related very much at the moment. The range offered by the foundation is broad and rich, but we must understand it as a whole. We never get tired of saying that Miró is a great artist, but we don’t explain why. And this is the question. We need to provide visitors with the tools to approach Miró’s work. If you accompany people during the visit, we can all end up winning, specialists and non specialists. The questions asked by experts can be fascinating, but those asked by non experts can be even more so. Working with the questions Miró’s work inspires is my challenge.
Stimulating new questions to find new answers?
The fact of the question by itself is an invitation to look in order to see. If you look to see, you will find things you don’t understand in each of Miró’s works. Questions are not the first step, but they are the fundamental step to enjoy this dialogue with art. Doing this means we will have made a lot of progress, because it will mean letting ourselves be taken by surprise. Having the questions is much more important than finding answers. And what’s more, a question can lead us to an even better question.
You say that Miró’s importance is not explained well enough.
Miró had a global, universal vision, whose starting point was the fact that he was located in his own places, be it Barcelona, Mallorca, Mont-roig del Camp or Paris. When he was in these places he was totally focused there. With his feet well rooted in his land, as he used to put it, but looking out at the universe. His individual, unique experience takes on global dimensions, and this is the wonderful thing about it. His art, in this sense, is useful. It’s useful for our lives, because we can apply it to many daily situations.
Why did you leave the prestigious Tate in London for the modest Fundació Miró?
The Fundació Miró is a space of great serenity. You notice that as soon as you enter it. I’ve always loved it, even before coming here as a director, and even before working in art. My ambition is to turn it into an internationally and locally renowned foundation. And the way to do it is through working with museums from all over the world.
Is Miró more highly valued abroad?
He is very highly valued abroad. And I’ve realised, now that I’m just another citizen from Barcelona, that here many people don’t even know who he is. I’m surprised by the number of times I have to explain who Miró and the Fundació Miró are. Once you’ve explained that, people get interested and become new visitors.
Have you found a culturally rich Barcelona?
It’s not a mono-cultural city, I see it is interesting in many areas. But I still need to get to know it better to decide if it really meets all formal and informal cultural needs.
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