Rosario Peiró: "Picasso's contradictions are what make him very current"

BarcelonaThe new director of the Picasso Museum of Barcelona, Rosario Peiró (Beniarjó, 1968), has arrived at the institution with an ambitious project. One of the cornerstones of the strategic lines she made public this Friday is the complete renovation of the permanent collection. A common place to justify the shortcomings of the collection is to say that the Picasso Museum of Barcelona is the best for understanding his formative period. Now Peiró wants to go beyond this period and represent the entirety of Picasso's relationship with the city.

"The museum's collection is, of course, the best in the world for Picasso's early years, and that's what distinguishes it —says Peiró—. But this collection and this museum were created to talk about Picasso's relationship with the city, which extends to his death, including the creation of the museum itself and the frieze on the facade of the COAC, and all the exhibitions he held in Spain, Catalonia, and Barcelona, among which are those of the years 1936, 1955, 1959, and 1960. "There is a lot of work to do. That is what I want to do. That is what Picasso wanted, and that is what needs to be developed."

The renewal of the collection is part of Peiró's determination to strengthen the museum's civic character, which is one of the most visited in Barcelona, but has little local audience. "The most important challenge is to return the museum to the citizens, and I don't just mean bringing audiences to the city —says the director—. I mean recovering that sense of belonging to society that the museum had in the years of its formation. In a time of lack of freedoms, Barcelona society worked together with great enthusiasm to achieve what seemed impossible in the midst of Francoism, to make the museum of the world's most important artist a reality in the city." And this does not mean favoring the local public over the tourist. "It's not about kicking anyone out so someone else can come in. I think everyone fits. I am more than happy that this museum is the Picasso Museum of Barcelona, but at the same time I want it to be even more so, with specific programs for the people of the city and especially with a transformation of the collection, to create again a relationship or a sense of belonging that I think has been lost over the years," she says. According to Peiró, it is necessary to "work on this sense of belonging, of pride, of enthusiasm". "And I believe that the collection, which is our heritage, which is our history, is the way to claim it," she emphasizes. Her intention is to present these changes between 2030 and 2031.

Picasso's current affairs

As the head of collections at the Reina Sofía Museum, Rosario Peiró was at the forefront of the Madrid institution's transformation into a global benchmark for leading museums. And she assures that the fact that the Picasso Museum in Barcelona is monographic is not a difficulty. "The most important thing is to apply research, imagination, creativity, and enthusiasm. And once that is done, I believe that everything can be changed, especially in the collections. I have a great deal of experience and I believe it can be done perfectly. From Picasso, one can talk about many other things, because Picasso was the most important artist of the 20th century. Through him, you explain the history of the entire 20th century." And she is not afraid of the Picasso myth: "On the contrary, I believe that Picasso's contradictions are what make him very current. We must confront them, work on them, answer them, and move forward. Because he is a very good artist with all the contradictions he has. We must continue to talk about them, reveal them, and bring them to the forefront," says Peiró.

Peiró plans to begin her programming in February 2028. She will open a line of small-format exhibitions and experimental devices —1 or 2 annually— in which current artists, predominantly women, will address concepts such as gender, the treatment of the body, and violence, presenting an "active and open" reading of Picasso and being able to respond to him artistically.

To do all this work, Peiró would like to have deposits, donations, and purchases. "We are not talking about the Picasso that was sold a few days ago in New York for 43 million, but about other things that may be considered secondary in a traditional conception of art, but which are very interesting in the new art history and new museography, such as graphics, artist's books, and even paintings," she explains.

Research, at the center

Peiró plans to collaborate with local, national, and international universities, research centers, and academic institutions. The project also plans to create and strengthen networks with Picasso museums and high-level art study centers. One of the priorities of the new phase will be to reactivate the Museum's Research Center, which will become the main core of the Museum's research.

Among the exhibition lines, Peiró wants to shift the focus beyond the first avant-garde and delve into the post-World War II period, “an era especially connected to the present where Picasso actively participates in debates such as abstraction and figuration, historical painting, or the relationship between art and exile”. This chronological shift also coincides with the globalization of the artist's work, with moments such as the exhibition of Guernica in Brazil during the II Biennial of São Paulo in 1953. He also wants to give centrality to the figure of Picasso's friend and secretary, Jaume Sabartés.