There is no doubt: it is one of the five essential classical art museums in the world. Miguel Falomir (Valencia, 1966) has been in charge of the Prado since March 2017. He has had to captain the bicentennial events of the art gallery. And that anniversary has been the push to recognize the museum with the Princess of Asturias Award for Humanities 2019.

In its own way it is a mirror of this country: avatars, misadventures, achievements and defeats. A refuge for the future and an intact memory of an increasingly shaken reality.

Is running a museum like the Prado today more complex than 10 years ago? Today it is more complex than 30 years ago. Then it was a smaller museum, with fewer visitors, with less activity and with services that did not exist or were in a very embryonic state. That Prado was very different. I have been here for 22 years and I have witnessed evolution. Social and technological changes have also changed the sense of museums. Until not long ago, museums were museums: a place where works of art were to be contemplated. For a decade they are not only cultural centers, but also educational. And destinations of mass tourism and even architectural showcases. The expectations generated around the museums are overwhelming. How has the Prado focused those changes? 25 years ago we were not on the crest of the wave. We had too many press appearances because of criticisms that were mostly deserved. That reached such a situation that forced a certain consensus on the part of the political class and civil society to end that gray destiny. What was done? A very ambitious process began. In the political field a pact of State was reached. Then the change of legal status was also essential when granting an autonomy to the museum, not only in the development of the scientific program but also in the sense of financial autonomy. And finally, the chronic problems of space with the enlargement were ended. These actions removed Prado from isolation. An isolation that lasted the entire Franco regime and, unlike other institutions, extended somewhat further. Today we are a perfectly integrated museum within the international circuit. How do you face from the Prado such a startled and technological time? The ideal would be to respond with long-term planning, but we are aware that we live in a time of contingencies where everything happens in a dizzying way. The mission of any cultural manager is to balance the strategic lines with the immediate reality and its demands. What does the Prado have left to do? At the moment, culminate the final phase of the expansion with the Kingdom Hall. That will allow to expose more works of the collection. And on the financing, what is pending? Another pact of State not to be at the expense of the economic fluctuations. The museum's position has always been clear in this regard: a 50/50 financing model must be achieved. Half the State and half the private initiative, but now it is not like that ... It is not. We are in 30-35% public financing and 65-70% private financing. We are the second Spanish cultural institution that most self-finances. In Spain it is not easy to generate income. And, in addition, there is no favorable legal framework for this. The Patronage Law is non-existent, although we have a good soil in micromanagement. Together with Italy we are a country where the main contributions in the cultural field come from companies instead of individuals. It is an anomaly. 50% of self-financing in Spain has more merit than in the US. Has the responsibility of different governments been relaxed? Let's say that good management is punished more than what is rewarded. Is the Prado punished? From that perspective, yes . These levels of self-financing are excessive and precarious. If the crisis that seems to be coming down, for example, the number of tourists (50% of our income comes from makeup), we will have a problem. A sharp decline in visitors likewise prevents the museum from opening. What does this distinctive museum have? Our history. The Prado, paradoxically, is a museum not illustrated of origin. Result of a collector's passion. Mannerist in the sense of satisfying a series of curiosities without an encyclopedic spirit. Something that connects very well with contemporary sensibility. He sees the light at the same time as other museums, under the light of the Enlightenment, but the DNA of his collections was made before. We have gaps, although we seek experiences that are not offered by other art galleries. Is there an action program for contemporary art in the Prado? There is no program as such. Punctual actions, yes. Next year we will make an exhibition with the drawings Fernando Zóbel made during his visits to museums. In addition, he was a great collector of ancient drawing and part of that collection he donated to Prado. With artists under 40 we work in the Education area of ​​the museum. And in a few months we will also present a dialogue between drawings by Goya and El Roto.

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