Storage as a System: Collection Management at the Museo Nacional del Prado

Abstract

In the information age, storage has become an essential element of managing museum collections. The complexity and variety of functions now encompassed by storage have moved it beyond its traditional conception to be regarded as a system of interconnected and organised elements that work as a whole and fosters knowledge through complex flows of information . Having recently celebrated its 200th anniversary, with three million visitors a year and an online audience that exceeds 10 million, the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid, Spain, has accumulated extensive experience in the management of its collections. Highlighting the importance of information generated by storage systems is key to our proposal for more efficient museum management. It also allows us to address the continuous challenges of a changing society, which has emerging values related to participation, sustainability and new forms of accessing heritage.

Keywords:

• storage of cultural property
• systems theory
• collections management
• big data
• Registrar department
• sustainability
• Museo Nacional del Prado

Notes

1 Most relevant data surrounding the collections and the spaces currently used for storage at the Museo del Prado are available as online supplementary materials (see Appendix 1).

2 Details about type of works and related movements are available as online supplementary materials (see Appendix 2).

3 The list of the 15 institutions the Museo has collaborated with most frequently by lending works for temporary exhibitions are available as online supplementary materials (see Appendix 3).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Patricia Lucas Murillo de la Cueva

Patricia Lucas Murillo de la Cueva is an art historian, curator and paintings restoration specialist. She holds a Master’s degree in Museography and Exhibitions from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She was awarded a scholarship by the Spanish Academy in Rome for a placement at the Collections Department of ICCROM and at the Istituto per il Restauro in Rome. She has also taught at the National Museum of the Philippines in Manila. As a civil servant at the Museum Assistants Corps of the Ministry of Culture, she has worked since 2010 at the Registrar Department, first at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and from 2016 at the Museo Nacional del Prado. She collaborated on Issue 3 of the Revista ICOM CE Digital on museum storage, published by ICOM Spain.

Isabel Bennasar Cabrera

Art Historian Isabel Bennasar Cabrera was awarded the Museology Scholarship at the Museo Nacional del Prado. She participated in Spain’s National Chalcography School Workshop, completed a course in Museology at CEU San Pablo de Madrid, and holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Management from the Universitat de Barcelona. A management specialist since 2006, she has worked at the Registrar Department at the Museo Nacional del Prado since 1999. She has taught as guest lecturer for the Master’s degree programme in Advanced Museum and Heritage Studies at UCM, and authored numerous specialised articles.