Chillida-Leku sculpture park to close down after 10 years

Two months after celebrating its 10th anniversary, one of the Basque region's most emblematic museums is about to close. Museo Chillida-Leku, the personal utopia of the artist Eduardo Chillida - famous for his large steel and concrete sculptures, which include The Wind Comb by San Sebasti¨¢n's beach - announced that on January 1 it will no longer admit visitors. Its 23-member staff faces a redundancy plan.

The decision to close down one of the region's best-known museums, which has had 810,000 visitors in the course of a decade, is triggered by "a recurring deficit aggravated by the economic crisis," said the artist's family in a press release. Chillida's heirs have run the art center since September 2000, and they noted that their situation is similar to that of "the near totality of art museums" due to an economic situation that "has pushed deficits up to unmanageable levels from the viewpoint of a private initiative."

"Carrying our father's project forward has been a very pleasant piece of madness"

Luis Chillida, one of the late sculptor's eight children, has for some time been requesting assistance from Basque institutions to guarantee the museum's survival. "Carrying our father's project forward has been a very pleasant piece of madness, but we are worried about how to keep it up," he said.

Risky business

Chillida-Leku was a risky proposition from the start. The museum is housed in a 16th-century stone house that was in ruins when Eduardo Chillida bought the land in 1983. The building, located in Hernani, was completely renovated, and the 12 hectares of land around it primed to hold around 40 large sculptures. From the beginning, the museum rejected temporary exhibitions.

Now, the family says it wishes to reach an agreement with authorities to enable the museum to keep Chillida's legacy alive. The mayor of San Sebasti¨¢n, Od¨®n Elorza, has already called for an immediate meeting of all relevant institutional heads to prevent the closure "on the basis of a new management model." Luis Chillida has suggested that the center might start hosting temporary shows by major artists, although this would require erecting a new building on the premises. In any event, Chillida-Leku plans to maintain its other activities, such as preserving Chillida's artistic heritage and putting together international exhibitions.

The announcement comes at a time when several cultural initiatives in Guip¨²zcoa - Tabakalera in San Sebasti¨¢n, Photomuseum in Zarautz and Topic in Tolosa - are finding themselves forced to adjust their business plans.