Arts & International Affairs: Volume 2, Issue 1 | Page 122

services. It also rebranded the city and the region from the seat of Basque
terrorism and a deindustrialized economy to a must-see global cultural center.
“Although interpretations of the numbers differ, the museum reportedly
generated economic activity that added ��% to the gross regional product
in its first year of operation, contributing to the maintenance of ���� jobs,
mostly through tourism” (Fraser ����:��). Of course, the Bilbao experience
has not been free of controversy. It has been criticized for promoting the
Frank Gehry-designed building housing the art over the art itself. Also,
while the Guggenheim museum gave Bilbao a foothold in the international
art scene, it has arguably only stimulated the local arts community in limited
ways. Some new arts institutions have grown up around the Guggenheim in
its wake. However, the charge of “cultural imperialism” is enduring.
Few other Guggenheim satellites have taken hold like Bilbao. Helsinki and
Abu Dhabi are in the relatively early stages, both plagued by controversy in
different ways. The Berlin and Las Vegas ventures have long since closed
their doors. � The Berlin Guggenheim dates to ���� and a joint venture
with Deutsche Bank. Krens had reportedly approached the bank a year
earlier. He struck a deal with Hilmar Kopper, then president of the bank and
chair of its supervisory board. The museum would be located in the bank’s
regional headquarters on the Unter den Linden in Berlin. The franchise
would be called Deutsche Guggenheim. The terms of the Berlin deal remain
a closely guarded secret (Haacke ����:���). Kopper expressed the bank’s
rationale thusly: “Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin is an advertisement for
Deutsche Bank’s global expertise, quality, and innovative potential” (quoted
in Haacke ����:���). The space featured exhibitions from the Guggenheim
and Deutsche bank collections, as well as commissioned works and works
from international museums. The Deutsche Guggenheim officially closed
in ����. In its place is the Deutsche Bank KunstHalle, which continues to
mount exhibitions that seem still to have a Guggenheim connection of some
sort. �
�.
The Venice Guggenheim is the bequest of Peggy Guggenheim, opened in ����. The collection is
housed in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, where Peggy Guggenheim lived from ���� until her death
in ����. Therefore, although the Venice satellite is a key location in the Guggenheim network, its
existence did not come about as a result of the Krens satellite strategy.
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