‘Patrimoni nacional. Nova exposició temporal al MNAC’ (National Heritage. New Temporary Exhibit at the MNAC), performative talk by Núria Güel

The artist presented her extensive research into the little-known function of museums as repositories of artwork involved in legal disputes. Research conducted at the museum and beyond, through many conversations with art management, security and archiving professionals at heritage centres.

Núria Güell’s proposal was in the form of a conference covering this whole process, evocative of an exhibition curated not just by art specialists but also by the courts.

Núria Güell sees her art as “a social and politically necessary practice in which established cultural facts are in play.” Her work method is based on researching and analysing data, then asking questions and, finally, proposing real action.

In her research at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, she focused on a little-known but common function of museums: taking custody of pieces involved in lawsuits, meaning assets (artwork) whose ownership is disputed after being seized or confiscated.

Núria Güell delved deeper into this role as custodians, which is clearly one of the functions of a museum (as defined by the UNESCO: “institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage”) but also reveals another side of the concept of heritage associated with humanistic values, of knowledge, beauty and goodness. Precisely for their value, artwork can also be plundered, forged or acquired illegally.