Chillida-Leku

The Chillida-Leku Museum is a large area of gardens and woods and a remodeled farmhouse (Zabalaga), where the sculptor Eduardo Chillida Juantegui distributed a large sample of his work. It is located in the vicinity of Hernani, province of Guipúzcoa. Inaugurated on September 16, 2000, after 10 years of activity, on December 31, 2010 it closed its doors due to the economic crisis.

On November 30, 2017, it was announced that Chillida-Leku would reopen in 2018, with the Swiss gallery Hauser & Wirth the exclusive representative of the work of Eduardo Chillida. However, the reopening was postponed until April 17, 2019.

On August 23, 2019, the museum was selected by the American magazine Time in its World's Greatest Places 2019 list as one of the best places in the world to visit, being the only Spanish representation.

Outside

The museum is distributed along a 13-hectare plot. Outside, 40 sculptures of very different sizes are displayed. The largest are Buscando la luz weighing 27 tons and 9 meters high and Lotura XXXII weighing 60 tons, and others such as Estela V do not measure more than a meter The materials for the exterior sculptures are steel and stone, predominantly pink granite. The sculptures in the gardens can be touched, so the visitor feels the strength of the materials.

Interior

Inside the farmhouse, the artist's most delicate works are displayed. Many of them are made of materials that could not withstand inclement weather, such as wood, alabaster or wool. In addition, there is an exhibition of studies of the human body in painting and sculpture. Lastly, there is a small exhibition of photographs of the Comb of the Winds, a famous work by Chillida that can be found at one end of La Concha in San Sebastián.

The farmhouse dates from the 16th century and has the name Zabalaga. Chillida was looking for a building in which to show his work, and when he discovered it he found this farmhouse from 1543 in a state of ruins. With the help of the architect Joaquín Montero, he developed a restoration project and created a large interior space, divided into two floors. The ground floor covers the entire surface, while the upper one covers only a part of it.

Closure and reopening

Chillida.

The museum closed its doors on December 31, 2010 due to the crisis.

On December 23, 2014, the Basque Vice Minister of Culture, Joxean Muñoz, declared that he was confident that in 2016, the year in which San Sebastián was to be the European Capital of Culture, Chillida Leku could reopen. Unfortunately this could not be achieved.

On July 19, 2016, Muñoz assured that the negotiations to reopen the museum with a formula of public intervention were in the "final sprint", at a time "as has never been so close", although days Later, the possibility of reopening ended when the Guipúzcoa Provincial Council announced by surprise that it was not participating in the purchase of the museum with the 50 million euros that would have corresponded to it.

On November 30, 2017, it was announced that Chillida-Leku would reopen its doors in the second half of 2018 thanks to the agreement reached between the sculptor's family and the Swiss gallery Hauser & Wirth. However, the appointment was postponed to April 17, 2019.

Miscellaneous

This old farmhouse was used as a background to record the video clip Cuéntame al oído by the famous San Sebastian group La Oreja de Van Gogh, included on their album Our house to the left of time of greatest hits sung by Leire Martínez, the current vocalist, accompanied by the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra.

Gallery

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  Arc de la Libertad (1993)

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  Besarkada XIV (1997)

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  Homenaje a Braque (1990)

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  Iru Burni III (1990)

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  Esertoki III (1990)

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  Homenaje a Balenciaga (1990)

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  Harri I (1991)

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  Basoa V (1997)