Guggenheim UBS MAP

Guggenheim UBS MAP
Name	Guggenheim UBS MAP
Type	Art program
Founded	2008
Founder	Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; UBS
Headquarters	New York City
Region served	Global, with emphasis on Middle East, South Asia, Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia

Guggenheim UBS MAP is a global initiative established to expand museum collections and exhibition practices through acquisitions, commissions, exhibitions, and research partnerships. Launched by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in collaboration with UBS, the program targets underrepresented regions and artists across multiple continents, aiming to diversify institutional holdings and curatorial narratives. It operates through strategic alliances with museums, universities, and cultural organizations, facilitating loans, traveling exhibitions, and scholarly activity.

History and Development

The program was announced amid institutional reforms at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and philanthropic commitments from UBS during a period that included exhibitions alongside institutions like the Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, Stedelijk Museum, and Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Early development involved advisory input from curators associated with Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Walker Art Center, Baltimore Museum of Art, and Whitney Museum of American Art. Expansion phases connected the initiative with regional partners such as Sharjah Art Foundation, Museum of Islamic Art Doha, Museo Tamayo, Museo de Arte de Lima, Johannesburg Art Gallery, National Gallery Singapore, and Asia Society. Program milestones referenced dialogues and collaborations with figures linked to Venice Biennale, Documenta, São Paulo Art Biennial, Art Basel, and the Serpentine Galleries.

Program Structure and Objectives

The structure centers on collecting, commissioning, and facilitating traveling exhibitions through partnerships with museums like Brooklyn Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art Rio de Janeiro, Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo, Pinacoteca de São Paulo, National Museum of African Art, and academic units such as Harvard University Art Museums, Yale University Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York University, and University of Chicago. Objectives include broadening acquisition strategies influenced by curators from Tate Modern, Guggenheim Bilbao, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Kunstmuseum Basel, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, and Kunsthalle Zürich. Program architecture integrates advisory boards with members from Getty Research Institute, Smithsonian Institution, National Endowment for the Arts, European Cultural Foundation, and Prince Claus Fund.

Exhibitions and Collections Supported

Supported exhibitions have traveled to venues such as National Museum of Korea, Tokyo National Museum, MORI Art Museum, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Te Papa Tongarewa, Museo Tamayo, Museo de Arte de São Paulo, and Museo de Arte de Lima. Collections acquisitions were made in dialogue with curators from Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, KIASMA, Hamburger Bahnhof, Rijksmuseum, and National Gallery of Canada. Shows have intersected with thematic museum programs at Smithsonian American Art Museum, Royal Academy of Arts, Victoria and Albert Museum, National Portrait Gallery (London), and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Artists and Partnerships

The initiative has commissioned and acquired works by artists whose careers intersected with institutions such as Yayoi Kusama at Tate Modern, Ai Weiwei at Haus der Kunst, El Anatsui at Metropolitan Museum of Art, Shirin Neshat at Museum of Modern Art, Cindy Sherman at Whitney Museum, Kaws at Brooklyn Museum, Doris Salcedo at Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Wangechi Mutu at New Museum, and Zanele Muholi at Victoria and Albert Museum. Partnerships extend to artist residencies and collaborations with organizations like British Council, Pro Helvetia, Goethe-Institut, Institut Français, Asia Art Archive, Nigerian National Museum, Nairobi National Museum, Istanbul Modern, Kunstverein München, Fondazione Prada, Walker Art Center, Fondazione Querini Stampalia, and CIFO.

Funding and Governance

Funding sources combine corporate philanthropy from UBS with institutional allocations by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and grants from foundations including Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Arts Council England, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Iberê Camargo Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and governmental cultural agencies such as National Endowment for the Humanities and various ministries of culture in partner countries. Governance involves the Guggenheim board and advisory panels featuring trustees and curators affiliated with Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tate, V&A, Louvre, Princeton University, Yale University, Columbia University, Cambridge University, and Oxford University.

Impact and Reception

Critical reception has been recorded in major outlets and forums including The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, El País, Artforum, ArtReview, Frieze, ARTnews, Hyperallergic, and academic journals connected to Journal of Contemporary Art, Third Text, Art Bulletin, and Museum Management and Curatorship. Scholarly appraisal links the program to debates at conferences like College Art Association, International Council of Museums, Biennale de Lyon, and policy discussions within UNESCO cultural forums. Impact indicators include increased acquisitions from regions represented at the Venice Biennale, higher-profile loans to institutions such as MoMA, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, and expanded curator exchanges with Asia Society, Latin American Cultural Center, African Studies Association, and regional art schools.

Category:Art programs Category:Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation