Following Roman de la Calle's principled resignation as director of the MUVIM Museum, we re-print this interview with him.      

I have to admit that I was at first a bit nervous about meeting Roman de la Calle, director of the MUVIM, Valencia’s most ambitious and unconventional museum. Having read his curriculum I was expecting somebody erudite and scholarly who would sneer at my standard “and what’s your favourite colour?” type of questions.

         What I wasn’t expecting was Romeo and Juliet; and yet his story, or rather his parents’ story, would have had Shakespeare (or Cervantes) rushing for the quill. And that is appropriate, for Roman is a man with a passion for books and ideas. His parents also had a passion, one that their parents didn’t approve of, perhaps because, like such an eminent person as Johann Sebastian Bach, they were cousins who fell in love. Roman’s parents decided to elope and took a train to Alicante, leaving behind their parents, who they would have no further contact with, and leaving behind a relatively peaceful existence in Avila; for no sooner had they arrived than the Spanish Civil war broke out.

         They moved to Alcoy, where Roman was born in 1942, and where while his father worked as a toll gate inspector, Roman spent his youth developing a lifelong obsession with the idea of his roots.

         Alcoy was a Valencian speaking town and Roman decided that he should speak the language, teaching himself through a correspondence course. During this time two great passions developed; books and the theatre, in which he performed as an amateur actor. These twin passions later developed into an interest in the cinema, to such an extent that he became the first University professor to teach courses in Cinema in Valencia University.

         This interest brought him under a lot of pressure from the powers that be as most of the films he wanted to examine were frowned upon by Franco’s censors; these were the days when any film with the word “red” in it would be automatically banned, whether it be “the Red Badge of Courage” or a documentary about ‘red’ wine.

         His initiatives at the MUVIM, which stands for the ‘Valencian Museum of Enlightenment and Modernity’, have also brought political and religious pressures to bear, as the powers that be considered this live representation of the historical development of ideas, rights and freedoms and of the forces that held them back, to be bordering on the seditious.

         And yet it was a conservative Valencian politician, the late Manuel Tarancon who was the driving force behind the museum; a conservative politician and ex-Councillor for Education of the Valencian government, who had studied philosophy at Roman’s faculty in the University of Valencia, and who was considered ‘a bit of a red’ by his co-religionists.

         Between them they ensured that what began as an empty space had in a few years become an exemplary library with 32,000 books and documents about art, philosophy and related subjects that experts and researchers could consult. The books, valued objects that they are, are kept in a vault and brought to researchers in the reading room on request.

         As I said, books are Roman’s passion and as we spoke he gave me some, fondled others and referred to many with fondness, as if they were young children. Our conversation darted around among different subjects and as I tried to bring in some British names we discovered a mutual liking for William Morris, a man who lived in my own neighbourhood in East London and who was a prototype of an artisan-artist, one who dabbled in all fields and who wanted art to belong to the people.

         Roman shares this philosophy and tries through the museum to bring art to the people through ideas. Furthermore, across the square where the MUVIM stands is a centre for artisanship, with which the museum collaborates.

         The MUVIM is an impressive building of glass, concrete and steel which won a prize for its architect, Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra; its permanent exhibition is in the British style of museums where visitors are taken on a 50 minute audio-visual journey accompanied by mime artists in different period costumes as the history and development of basic ideas, and the resistance to them, unfolds.

The visits are for groups of about 20 people and must be contracted in advance, although they are free. Four languages are available including English, although again this must be booked in advance.

         Roman was exactly the opposite of what I had been expecting from a philosophy professor and art critic; this is a man who exudes enthusiasm and who clearly does his job with a sense of commitment to the society in which he lives; in fact he battles daily against an unholy conspiracy of politicians, bureaucrats, bankers, taxi-drivers, bus companies and architects to be allowed to organise events that will encourage the surrounding neighbours to participate more fully in the activities of the museum.

            It is set on a historical site near Valencia’s central railway station in what used to be the grounds of a 16th century hospital until the mid-20th century, and which is now shared with the Public Library.

         As I said, Roman’s CV is long, as long as most people’s lifetime list of things they regret not having done. Among other things he is President of the Valencian Association of Art Critics, a member of the board of Valencia’s IVAM Museum, and of Alicante University’s Museum. He’s a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid and Vice- President of Valencia’s own academy. He has also published various volumes of poetry in the Valencian language and books, newspaper articles and essays of art criticism.

         Despite all that, what stands out is his down to earth simplicity, undoubtedly due to his humble origins, and he confessed that when not taking on the artistic heritage of Western Civilization he likes nothing more than to retire to the country and to take on an overgrown rosebush with a pair of garden shears.

         Bringing culture to the people is not an easy task and Roman is daily devising strategies to bring people to the museum, including workshops for children with the ulterior motive of getting their parents to bring them and visit the museum themselves while they are there.

For information about visiting the museum call 96-3883730 or visit their web-site at www.xarxamuseus.com/muvim. Also, watch out for the painting by the British artist Turner which symbolises an important moment in history; I’ll say no more!

I never did find out what his favourite colour was!