Patrimonialists against moderns

Very occasionally, Barcelona generates artistic discussions that go beyond mere journalistic whispers and idiocy. This has happened with the debate about the future of a facility like the Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHUB for friends, the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona for acquaintances, and that staple-shaped place in Glòries where they say they do expos for those they greet). As often happens, the entanglements begin with the very history of a museum of lavish space and budget that was born by killing off ancient ones – such as the Museu de les Arts Decoratives, the Téxtil or the Cerámica – all with the intention of constituting a great heritage core of European tradition (highlighting the legacy of beautiful nostrades collections such as those of Font i Gumà, Planidura or Rocamora), all to end up importing the museum reference of totems such as the Victoria and Albert in London or the MAK in Vienna.

For a few lustrums, the City Council decided to try to maintain the aspirations of the DHUB, but turning it into a museum oriented towards digital culture and creative industries, something that was consolidated with the election of a director like José Luis de Vicente, a highly accredited expert in the field. Without destroying the links with the past, De Vicente has wanted to give a more curatorial sense to the facility, partially exhibiting the old collection and deriving the DHUB towards contemporary creation. The news has generated a very common trend in our tribe, such as the somewhat artificial struggle between – if you allow me the caricature – our most recalcitrant patrimonialists (outraged by the fact that the museum only shows 2,000 pieces from a collection of 80,000 that will remain stored in its warehouses) and that of the hipsters who are only interested in the coolness of the internet world.

This is a somewhat simplistic polarization and does little to resolve the issue, because neither our patrimonialists are a group of romantic fuddy-duddies nor are the current DHUB officials naive people who are intent on burying Catalan ceramics in a warehouse. The reality is somewhat more complex. Firstly, it should be said that the DHUB's heritage will not be abandoned in a cave – like Indiana Jones' ark in Spielberg's movie – but rather De Vicente and his team will exhibit it in temporary shows to help contextualize it better with present-day design. In turn, and in this the City Council follows the lead of many cities around the world, it is logical that the paradigm of a museum purely focused on objects is gradually transforming into a center focused on design, an especially powerful industry in Barcelona.

It is logical that the paradigm of a museum purely focused on objects is gradually transforming into a center focused on design, an especially powerful industry in Barcelona

Be that as it may, the important thing is to emphasize that Barcelona could address both dimensions –foundational and contemporary– of its historical drive for design through a more ambitious project made up of two facilities. Thus, in addition to satisfying all needs, we would save ourselves this Byzantine struggle between heritage advocates and modernists that, apart from quixotizing the respective aesthetic positions, produces nothing more than watertight compartments. We will wait –with few pretensions, let's be clear– for the City Council to react to the debate and act thinking about the common good. To do high-level politics and have the necessary resources; this is, as usual, the magic formula of the equation.