Articulating a vision for a new museum of contemporary art
NuMu
Design concepts for NuMu, Nuevo Museo de Santiago by Valentina Miranda (VMrender). Architecture led by Cristián Fernández Arquitectos.
NuMu is a major new museum planned for Santiago, Chile, to house the Engel Collection of Latin American contemporary art.
We were commissioned by the Engel family to help clarify the vision and brand strategy for the project.
Businessman and philanthropist Claudio Engel had been cultivating plans for a public museum to display his collection for a number of years, but he had not crystalised his rationale and ambitions. Moreover, he was keen to engage his heirs in the process of shaping the vision for what he hoped would be a family endeavour.
We conducted a series of interviews with Claudio to understand his motivations, both as a collector and as a philanthropist. We also talked to his four children and his chief curator to capture their aspirations for the project. External inspiration was drawn from an analysis of the current landscape of contemporary art and private galleries, both within Latin America and internationally.
Design concepts for NuMu, Nuevo Museo de Santiago by Valentina Miranda (VMrender). Architecture led by Cristián Fernández Arquitectos. Interior view, design concept by by Claudio Araya.
Using insights gained from our many conversations, we developed a draft brand platform for NuMu. This included articulations of the mission behind the project, the vision for what it hoped to achieve – for Chile, for art, and for the public – and the values which underpinned it. These were then tested and refined with input from the family.
At the heart of it all was Claudio’s desire to open up the opportunity for many more people to be inspired by and learn from encounters with art, and a determination to give something back to the country that had welcomed his family many years previously.
We helped develop a shared understanding of the museum’s offer – its core content and the parameters of its programmes, ‘what it should, and shouldn’t do’ – and of the most important outcomes, and how success might be measured over time.
NuMu will showcase artworks from the Engel Collection, which includes: Enrique Ramírez, ‘Los Durmientes’, 2014, video; Juan Downey, ‘The Laughing Alligator’, 1977-1979, video; Iván Navarro, ‘Ipanema’, 2018, neon, wood, electricity, photo © Luca Senise; and Camila Ramírez, ‘Carretilla Comunitaria’, 2012, assemblies, cuts, metal welding and electrostatic painting.
We were subsequently contracted to provide additional high-level advice regarding the positioning of the project with donors, partners, artists and the media, and to develop key messages, calls to action and content plans for brochures about the project.
NuMu will be situated in the attractive Bicentenario Park in Santiago. Enabling works begin in 2025.