Whether that’s a model for other museums is hard to say ,simply because many institutions aren’t necessarily free to explore it. Most U.S. museums have strong connections to government funding ,and that ,in itself ,is fundamentally problematic ,If the SRGF received ,like the Detroit Art Institute ,50 percent of our funding from the city ,it would be difficult for us to think globally .There would be greater political sensitivity to sharing collections ,for example .As far as Europe is concerned. The Tate has expanded throughout Britain(In Liverpool and Cornwell)But the Tate’s not copying us ,they’re doing it because it ,make sense.
KB: What kind of cultural impact do you expect the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to have on a local ,European and International level?
TK: It’s hard to anticipate .Having said that , I believe that If you do something of extreme quality-in Bilbao’s case, you have the added advantage of this extraordinary building-and you do world-class programming ,It’s going to have a big impact both locally and regionally .Are them models for this elsewhere? The Kunsthallo Tubingon In Germany organizes Cezanne exhibitions that draw 800,0000 visitors Tubingen is not exactly on the main line.
KB: What about the future?
TK: The museum is an evolving institution sensitive to political and cultural altitudes. I don’t know how to predict a cultural attitude in, say, 20 years time, I can’t say what my successor will do , but I do know that the direction we’ve taken-to continue collecting and do the programming we do in New York City and around the world-was almost inevitable for the Guggenheim .
KB: The GMB’s design seems wonderfully functional . Is that a result of your input?
TK: This is the sixth museum I’ve been involved in during the planning process .In this case, we were able to design the GMB almost from scratch ,and thus incorporate certain “themes” of mine .I saw the museum as an opportunity to do what no other museum had done. First of all ,I thought that a successful museum for contemporary art didn’t exist, and that scale was one of the issue .