A Long Journey: Hórreo

A Long Journey

An acquisition links agricultural traditions

VISITORS TO THE ALBUQUERQUE MUSEUM WEST SCULPTURE GARDEN will find a new structure next to Charles Strong’s Cervantes, perhaps a fitting neighbor to an 18th century stone hórreo (granary in Spanish). The hórreo came to its permanent home at the Albuquerque Museum from a small town on the border between Galicia, Spain and Portugal by way of the Design District in Miami, where it was center stage in a high-end clothing and leather-goods retail store and played an annual role in Art Basel Miami.

The stone structure was installed in the Sculpture Garden in July and opened to the public in August. It is 36 feet long and supported by 20 vertical stone pillars. Hórreos are elevated to protect stored grain and other crops from rodents and the damp environment, and are held together only by the grace of gravity. Wooden slats contain the materials but also allow air to circulate around the grain or other crops that are stored within. They are still in use in northwestern Spain and Portugal.

The Spanish luxury fashion company Loewe installed the hórreo in its flagship U.S. store in Miami’s Design District in 2015. During Art Basel Miami, a global art fair that connects collectors, galleries, and artists, the hórreo was a centerpiece in the Loewe Foundation’s Chance Encounters exhibition curated by Loewe Creative Director Jonathan Anderson. “This structure, which represents the rural, the artisanal, the slow and thoughtful work, becomes during Art Basel Miami a ‘temple’ of art that represents the idea that tradition and craftsmanship, innovation and contemporary, are far [from] being antagonistic: they are rather complementary,” Sheila Loewe, president of the Loewe Foundacion in Madrid told Arteinformado in a February 2020 interview.

The hórreo’s journey to Albuquerque began with an entirely different exhibition. Cynthia Garcia, Museum administrator, has spent a lot of time in Spain, and she developed great

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connections with the staff of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library in New York while the Museum hosted the exhibition, Visions of the Hispanic World in 2019. Garcia says working on that exhibition led to a friendship with the Director of Public Relations, Programs, and Special Events, Mencia Figueroa from Madrid. In fall 2021, Loewe decided to move the hórreo out of its store and find a permanent home for it, but wanted a place where it would fit in, Garcia says, so they approached the Hispanic Society. However, installing a stone building in the Society’s already crowded Manhattan campus wasn’t an option. Mencia Figueroa suggested that perhaps the Albuquerque Museum was an option, given the deep historical link between Albuquerque and Spain, and the shared traditions of agriculture. “[Figueroa] is the catalyst and first to think that maybe New Mexico would offer a welcoming new home to the hórreo,” Garcia says.

When Museum Director Andrew Connors heard about the possibility, he says he got excited about it, but would not have gone forward without the full support of the curatorial team, given the logistical challenges of moving an 18th century stone building across the country.

Curator of Exhibitions Stephen Hutchins planned the structure’s location and delivery. Garcia says originally, she thought of Casa San Ysidro as a potential location given its strong agricultural connection, but the West Sculpture Garden was a safer option. Hutchins used Google maps, imposing an image of the hórreo on an image of the area in the sculpture garden to create a digital rendering of how it would look when installed. Once the site was planned and the paperwork completed, the hórreo was shipped in two semi trucks from Miami and took a week to assemble in Albuquerque.

The Loewe Foundation generously gave the Museum two gifts—one of the hórreo itself, and the other the cost of the shipping and installation. The Albuquerque Museum Foundation supervised the financial transactions with the Loewe Foundation and the shipping and installation companies, while the City of Albuquerque’s legal team worked with Loewe’s legal team to iron out the complex and unique Deed of Gift.

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The stone and wood building underscores how connections made through exhibitions benefit both the narratives the Museum brings to its visitors, and deepens modern and historical connections between the two countries. Connors, who was thrilled that the Museum staff was on board the project, says, “It’s exciting to have a history object in the sculpture garden that hints at the complex story of agriculture and the shared histories between the Iberian Peninsula and New Mexico.”

The hórreo will be dedicated at the Museum during the October 20 Third Thursday event.