Arts & International Affairs: Volume 2, Issue 1 | Page 130

There is no authoritative typology of transnational actors (Jönsson ����:��).
Yet there are some standard categories in the IR literature. Risse (����:���)
distinguishes transnational actors along two dimensions: their internal
structure and their motivations. Internal structure captures whether the
actor is a formal organization or a looser network (Risse ����:���). In Risse’s
formulation, motivations can be instrumental, focused on the interests of
the organization itself, or geared toward the common good or principled
advocacy (����:���). This emphasis on motivation is echoed elsewhere in
the literature. “A distinction is commonly made between for-profit and
non-profit organizations, between firms and so-called non-governmental
organizations (NGOs)” (Jönsson ����:��; see also Higgott, Underhill and
Bieler ����:� and Downie ����). This dichotomy has been expanded and
rendered more complex. But, these basic categories provide a good starting
point for situating museums in the conversation about transnational actors.
For-profit transnational actors
There is no doubt that satellites have evoked for many the corporatization
or the commercialization of the museum in a way that invites comparisons
to the multinational corporation (MNC). For example, Guggenheim Bilbao
has been described as “the museum idea dreamed up by Krens to make the
Guggenheim an international corporation interested in questions of growth
and expansion, as well as stimulating business in the visual arts” (Guasch
and Zulaika ����:��). Krens has been both lauded and criticized for “his
appropriation of for-profit business models, aggressive globalizing through
an international network of branch museums, ties to corporations, deals with
foreign governments, and exhibitions featuring luxury consumer products”
(Fraser ����:��). Much of the terminology used to discuss the Guggenheim
evokes transnational business, including reference to the “Guggenheim
Consortium” (Guasch and Zulaika ����:��) and satellites as franchises.
In some instances, the Guggenheim itself makes the connection to MNCs.
Peter Lewis, the president of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation,
has called the Foundation “the parent corporation of the Guggenheim
Bilbao.” Much has been made of the fact that Krens has a master’s degree
in studio art and a master’s degree in business from the Yale School of
Management (Fraser ����:��; Haacke ����:���). And, of course, not only for
the Guggenheim, but for all of the museums involved, raising revenue is a
key objective.
More recently, the commercial dimensions of the Abu Dhabi initiative have
also been criticized, implicating not only Guggenheim, but also the Louvre.
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