10th anniversary
To celebrate the of Judith Benhamou Reports, I asked five leading figures in the art world to speak to us in public: Hans Ulrich Obrist, Maja Hoffmann, Glenn Lowry, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Lina Ghotmeh.
Luma arts complex in Arles
Here is the interview with Maja Hoffmann, the driving force behind the creation of the Luma arts complex in Arles. It tells the story of how she managed, through sheer determination, after ten years of struggle, to bring to life a colossal architectural project by Frank Gehry — she mentions, for instance, that the American architect had spent his honeymoon in Arles — paired with an international-caliber arts center that has put a small town on the global contemporary art map alongside London, Berlin, or New York.
Camargue
Here, Maja looks back on her childhood: her grandmother, a collector in Basel; her father, an expert in bird observation; and her constant urge to take action. “Arles was the town where I went to school every morning. It was far away. I lived in a nature reserve in Camargue. It took 45 minutes to get there from home. The Camarguais would come in on market day. It was the moment when everyone would meet at the café and have an apéritif.”
The Clock
Maja has played a key role in producing major works of contemporary art such as “Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait” by Philippe Parreno and Douglas Gordon, or The Clock by Christian Marclay.
Chaotic organizations
She explains how she introduces “chaotic organizations,” those very structures that allow for greater creativity once we step away from our comfort zones: “Ideas emerge when we bring together subjects that are usually categorized in completely different fields. That is how a vision slowly comes into being — through architecture, through the garden…”
Today, Maja Hoffmann is one of the most renowned art collectors in the world.
Enjoy listening!
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