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Edinburgh bids for a Guggenheim

The great trajectory of the Solomon R Guggenheim Galleries continues
apace. This is a great vindication of the concept of the transferable
museum brand, and has confounded the sceptics. Bilbao Guggenheim
has been a phenomenal success. What are the criteria to get a Guggenheim?
Vienna failed. Las Vegas won (a small version), Gehry and Guggenheim
are prospecting for sites, it is true. But…Edinburgh? With
the festival itself having removed the visual arts from the agenda,
which for so long included famous blockbuster shows? The city that
finally broke Richard Demarco’s heart? Which rebuffed Joseph
Beuys? Guggenheim Director Thomas Krens may have a strong commercial
acumen but he also knows the battles fought and won for the contemporary
art world, long ago.

Forget it, Edinburgh. There are 60 other cities writing in. Let’s
hope one of these is Glasgow. Now that would be quite something
— dockside sites galore, and a living, breathing soul. Guggenheim
Glasgow: Give It a Go

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