Last Sunday, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Salvador Illa, visited with representatives of around a hundred museums in the region the building which should host, by 2030, the future Catalan National Reserve in San Fruitós de Bages, around sixty kilometers from Barcelona. 122 museums, public and private, will be able to transfer part of their collections there, or around 140,000 objects according to current estimates.
Fully funded by the Generalitat (the regional government), the 73 million euro project aims to meet the structural needs of museums in terms of reserves, with a common space of 38,000 m2 planned to store part of their collections. The development of the building, located in an industrial zone, represents a budget of 23.5 million euros, while the purchase of the land and the building is estimated at around 41 million. The remaining 8 million euros must cover the rent for the spaces due to the company P3, specializing in logistics real estate, during the first three years.
With this project, the Culture Department of the Generalitat presents a solution to a concrete problem affecting a large part of Catalan museums, having been brought to its attention by a study commissioned by the Girona museum network. According to the Catalan information site 3CatInfothe results of the survey showed that 80% of museums have insufficient reserves, 60% of reserve spaces present unsuitable conditions and that only a quarter of them had reserve space guaranteed for the next 10 years.
To ensure the security of the place, in a context where museum collections seem increasingly vulnerable to theft, the building will be placed under surveillance by the “Mossos d’Esquadra”, the security forces of the autonomous government of Catalonia.
Among the museums that will be able to benefit from this space, we include the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC), the National Museum of Archeology of Tarragona and the Darder Museum of Banyoles. The site also plans to host works from national collections, as well as police seizures and court filings. The establishments concerned should be able to benefit from this storage service free of charge or at a symbolic price, subject to conditions applying in particular to the documentation of the works.
Designed from a study of European museum reserves, the Catalan model is inspired by some of the most advanced shared collection sites on an international scale. Like the Collectie Centrum in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, the Reserve plans to go beyond the storage function by developing conservation, study and dissemination activities, and possibly by organizing guided tours for the public. If the San Fruitós de Bages space plans to accommodate a much smaller volume of works than its Dutch counterpart – which preserves around 500,000 – the project stands out for the number of establishments it brings together, whereas devices of this type generally bring together three to four museums.
