New SpaceSeptember 20, 2019
Hauser & Wirth to build Art Center in Menorca
Hauser & Wirth will open an arts center on Isla del Rey, located in the port of Mahon in Menorca in 2020. The center’s program will span new commissions by gallery artists across all media and exhibitions of 20th-century modern masters, underpinned by a series of educational activities. The annual series of changing exhibitions will be presented from April to October and, to contextualize works on view, some will include major loans from museums.
Isla del Rey, one of three islands in Mahon port, is home to an architecturally imposing decommissioned naval hospital and a group of disused outbuildings built in the 18th-century. La Fundación Hospital de la Isla del Rey has spearheaded the ongoing restoration of the hospital buildings and creation of a museum celebrating their illustrious history. Working closely with La Fundación Hospital de la Isla del Rey, the President of its board Luis Alejandre, and the Town Hall of Mahon, Hauser & Wirth will conduct a major conservation project to repurpose the hospital’s Langara outbuildings into the arts center.
It will comprise an exhibition space, education program, gardens, a gallery shop, and ‘cantina’ restaurant. The 1,500 square meter space will be restored by the Paris-based, Argentinean architect Luis Laplace. The landscape designer, Piet Oudolf, will create gardens in and around the arts center incorporating native species and planting suited to the Menorcan climate. Laplace and Oudolf both developed Hauser & Wirth Somerset and will collaborate for this project with a group of local architects, Miquel Sintes, Minerva Sánchez and Bià Garriga, and with a landscape architect from the region, Álvaro de la Rosa.
‘We look forward to joining [the Menorcan community and local government] as custodians of this precious land and working hand-in-hand to transform Isla del Rey into the cultural hub of Menorca.’—Iwan Wirth
The art center will be also be dedicated to an education program offering a varied education initiatives aimed at engaging the community and international visitors with contemporary art. Partnering with local charities, makers and organizations it will develop a range of learning activities that underpin each exhibition, for and in conjunction with the community’s schools, for families and adults as well as tourists, and will include screenings, talks, and interactive workshops.
The Director of Hauser & Wirth Menorca is Mar Rescalvo who hails from Menorca with ample experience in delivering cultural and educational projects in the Balearic Islands, Barcelona and Amsterdam. A series of local partnerships and cultural collaborations are underway with the Museu de Menorca, Escola d’Art de Menorca, The Fundació Menorquina de l’Opera and the IME (Institut of Menorquin Studies).
For more information visit: https://www.hauserwirth.com/stories/25041-announcing-hauser-wirth-menorca
Isla del Rey, one of three islands in Mahon port, is home to an architecturally imposing decommissioned naval hospital and a group of disused outbuildings built in the 18th-century. La Fundación Hospital de la Isla del Rey has spearheaded the ongoing restoration of the hospital buildings and creation of a museum celebrating their illustrious history. Working closely with La Fundación Hospital de la Isla del Rey, the President of its board Luis Alejandre, and the Town Hall of Mahon, Hauser & Wirth will conduct a major conservation project to repurpose the hospital’s Langara outbuildings into the arts center.
It will comprise an exhibition space, education program, gardens, a gallery shop, and ‘cantina’ restaurant. The 1,500 square meter space will be restored by the Paris-based, Argentinean architect Luis Laplace. The landscape designer, Piet Oudolf, will create gardens in and around the arts center incorporating native species and planting suited to the Menorcan climate. Laplace and Oudolf both developed Hauser & Wirth Somerset and will collaborate for this project with a group of local architects, Miquel Sintes, Minerva Sánchez and Bià Garriga, and with a landscape architect from the region, Álvaro de la Rosa.
‘We look forward to joining [the Menorcan community and local government] as custodians of this precious land and working hand-in-hand to transform Isla del Rey into the cultural hub of Menorca.’—Iwan Wirth
The art center will be also be dedicated to an education program offering a varied education initiatives aimed at engaging the community and international visitors with contemporary art. Partnering with local charities, makers and organizations it will develop a range of learning activities that underpin each exhibition, for and in conjunction with the community’s schools, for families and adults as well as tourists, and will include screenings, talks, and interactive workshops.
The Director of Hauser & Wirth Menorca is Mar Rescalvo who hails from Menorca with ample experience in delivering cultural and educational projects in the Balearic Islands, Barcelona and Amsterdam. A series of local partnerships and cultural collaborations are underway with the Museu de Menorca, Escola d’Art de Menorca, The Fundació Menorquina de l’Opera and the IME (Institut of Menorquin Studies).
For more information visit: https://www.hauserwirth.com/stories/25041-announcing-hauser-wirth-menorca
