The Museum of Prohibited Art closes

The Museu de l'Art Prohibit closes its doors indefinitely this Friday. A year and a half after Tatxo Benet inaugurated the facility that houses his collection of works rescued from the clutches of censorship, the businessman and journalist is ending his stay at the Casa Garriga Nogués (Diputación, 250). “With a heavy heart, we cannot continue like this for a minute longer,” he announces. The reason? The “escrache” (public protests) to which both he and the museum itself have been subjected for the past four months by a group of workers from the SUT (Solidarity and Unity of Workers) union. “The pickets are at the door every day, insulting and abusing them. Visitors see them, feel intimidated, and don't enter... 120 days later, the losses are already unsustainable,” says Benet, who estimates the drop in revenue at 75% compared to the previous year and 95% below his projections.

It's not easy to understand how this situation has come about, and the story is so bizarre that, without pointing fingers at anyone, Benet asks himself: "Is there a secret plot behind all this, one who doesn't want this museum to exist, in this place, in Barcelona? Someone who has a grudge against me and wants to screw me over?" "I haven't the slightest idea, but it's clear this is a direct attack on the museum and me as a person. This isn't the struggle of workers," he believes. In any case, he assures, abandoning the project at the Casa Garriga Nogués—which previously housed the Godia Foundation and Mapfre—doesn't mean the disappearance of the museum, which from now on will be nomadic and will be presented in the cities to which it is invited. For now, presentations are already planned in Bologna, Sicily, Lyon, Montreal, and so on.

"Is there a hidden agenda behind all this? Someone who doesn't want this museum to exist, on this site, in Barcelona?"

The nightmare began after the museum decided on January 22nd to terminate its contract with Magma Cultura, its subcontractor, which affected seven workers. The workers appealed to the SUT union and, along with two other subcontractors involved in security, Silicia Serveis Auxiliars SL and the store, Palacios y Museos, called an indefinite strike on February 11th. Although the Magma Cultura workers were relocated by the company to other facilities in the city, the strike continues to this day at the request of the union and five workers who cover two positions: an assistant security guard in the gallery and another in the store.

In their list of demands, the workers requested improvements such as adequate air conditioning for the different seasons, complaining that they lacked "appropriate warm clothing in the winter" and had to wear "jacket jackets in the summer," also enduring standing for hours without ergonomic chairs to rest. They also sought to become part of the museum's staff. The center was closed to the public between February 27 and March 11 (in the first seven days after reopening, it sold a total of 39 tickets). And the rental of its spaces, on which a large part of its income depends, was reduced to zero.

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The museum has passed three labor inspections, attended two days of mediation, and a judge ruled in its favor, making it clear that they had not violated the right to strike. “But the problem isn't the strike,” the collector opines. “I understand why a security worker is on strike and doesn't come to work. The issue here is that, using the strike as a pretext, they demand permission to demonstrate at the museum's doors and keep renewing it month after month. And that's a full-blown escrache. It's not even the striking workers who are at the doors, but professionals or people the union recruits to be there all day. How do they put up with it? Who pays for it?” asks Benet, whose journalistic streak comes out in the form of a headline: “The Museum of Art Prohibit is Prohibited.”

“It's all so belligerent, so aggressive, so demagogic... that it's hard to understand that it's just a labor dispute. They're projecting an image of me as an exploiter, a son of a bitch; they've put my face on an image of Franco; they're saying outrageous things on social media... How do I deal with it? I can't do anything, except say that this happened, that we haven't been able to fix it, and that it's now impossible to start over from scratch. This is a unique project, and from now on, we'll show it around the world. You can't be forever trapped in a conflict that has no solution.”