The Pablo Gargallo Museum breaks visitor record and continues its silent revolution

Since we returned to normality after the pandemic, something has changed in the Plaza San Felipe in Zaragoza. The Pablo Gargallo Museum has become the nerve centre of sculpture in the Aragonese capital , but also a cultural and social driving force with avant-garde projects. It has always been the hidden gem of the city. Although next year it will celebrate its 40th anniversary (July 8, 1985), few people went to it beyond the “captive public” of educational school visits and some French tourists who knew the work and impact of the Aragonese sculptor.

However, this jewel is shining more and more and, of course, it has become known and has positioned itself as the figure of the sculptor deserves. Last year it broke its record of visitors, 45,063 people , placing it as the fifth most visited museum in the city. The Japanese art exhibition ‘Kawaii’ undoubtedly helped this, but also the increasingly varied programming that is proposed, with a great diversification of the public. Thus, to the historical program of “To the museum with the family,” dramatized visits “At home with … Magali and Pablo” have been added, guided tours every Sunday, the program “+60” with volunteers to be a meeting place for older people or “Museums and women” with a gender perspective to learn about the life of her family and other contemporary artists, as well as “Enigma Gargallo” for young people in the form of an escape room.

But the Enigma is not the only opportunity to see young people in museums. Thanks to a young team called Rompepuertas, up to 25 young people receive training and schedule activities in municipal museums. And, as an end-of-year project, they present the Rompepuertas Festival, which coincides with the Noche en Blanco and which, thanks to the letters ‘Gi’, this museum has been the undisputed protagonist for two years. In 2023, they starred in a fashion show with a DJ under the brand ‘La Gigi’ and, this year, with ‘Gi Dance’, a dance contest and battle, fortune tellers or musical bingo that livened up the square during one of the most special nights of the year for culture.

REVALUATION OF GARGALLO

As if this were not enough, last year the inauguration of the Sala Entre Luces took place, the tactile room where it is forbidden not to touch, a reference space in universal accessibility and educational innovation. It consists mainly of ten replicas of emblematic works by Pablo Gargallo not present in the museum made by the students of the Professional Degree in Welding at the San Valero Center, who have adapted the material of their educational program for this specific project. With the advice of social entities representing different disabilities (ONCE, Atades, DFA and La Purísima), resources have been provided that allow the enjoyment of art regardless of the capacities of each person. And there are specific guided tours for people or centers with functional diversity.

Furthermore, interest in Pablo Gargallo has not only grown in our city, but has also come to play in the “big leagues” of museums. The institutions that request works by the sculptor from Maella on loan for their temporary exhibitions are of greater relevance and impact: in 2023, the work ‘La Pareja’ was available for the exhibition ‘After Impressionism; Inventing Modern Art’ at the National Gallery in London. And currently, the loan of ‘En la artesa’ and ‘Los humildes’ is underway for the exhibition ‘Art and Social Transformations in Spain (1885 – 1910)’ at the Prado Museum. In addition, at the end of November, the departure of two works for the Picasso Museum in Barcelona is planned.

Similarly, this year the museum has managed to increase its collection with new works, something that has not happened since 2014, thanks to the addition of ‘Petra Catalán (1896)’, a small plaster relief of his mother. It is a significant work as it dates from the artist’s youth and is the second earliest work by the sculptor available at the museum. In 2022, a new donation was received from the family, this time of a documentary nature, relating to the personal letters that Gargallo had with both his family and the main artists of 20th-century Paris, which is in the process of being catalogued and digitised, and which will undoubtedly provide invaluable information for understanding our protagonist.

BET ON DIGITAL PRESENCE

In addition to its traditional presence on social media (Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube), the Pablo Gargallo Museum has been present in each of the 4 editions of the young art competition on Instagram #cambiaelmuseo. It has participated by allowing the following works to be covered: Aguadoras, Faunesa con pendientes, Homenaje a Chagall and David.

The museum has also updated its website to include new references to spaces and programmes that have been launched in recent years, as well as inaugurating its profile on the Google Arts and Culture platform, where 195 photographs, 31 videos and 3 digital reports (the Consecration of Pablo Gargallo, Gargallo Monumental in Barcelona and the ‘Entre Luces’ Room) are available for the enjoyment of art lovers from all over the world. A project that will be completed with the taking of photographs of each of the rooms at the beginning of September, so that you can navigate through the museum in the same way you do on the street with Street View.

BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR

All this activity and its diversity has led the Pablo Gargallo Museum to host, next Saturday, October 26, a visit by various museum professionals as part of the cycle of visits organized by the Spanish delegation of ICOM (International Council of Museums). During the visit, they will be given an explanation of the entire program, with an emphasis on the Entre Luces room, museums +60 and Rompepuertas (which has already received a visit from Cultural Heritage in Action with professionals from various museums in Europe).

Before that, in September, two programmes will be presented: a new edition of L’air des temps, a cycle of contemporary culture dedicated to the cultural framework of Pablo Gargallo, in which fashion, poetry and art, among others, will be discussed; and the programme of visits Activos de salud, thanks to which users will understand museums as a resource that enhances the capacity of individuals, communities and populations to maintain their well-being.

In September, an exhibition dedicated to the sculptor Francisco Rallo will be inaugurated. He is the author of numerous public monuments in our city, many of them in the Plaza del Pilar or its surroundings, such as the Niños con peces, Caballito (located behind La Lonja) or the Leones del Puente de Piedra. And, on November 29, the first anniversary of the Sala Entre Luces will be celebrated, among which the premiere of a documentary of about 90 minutes is planned, describing the entire work process prior to the inauguration of the room.