Miren Arzalluz, daughter of Xabier Arzalluz and expert on Balenciaga, is the new director of the Guggenheim Bilbao

The Board of Trustees of the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum today approved the appointment of renowned art historian and curator Miren Arzalluz as the Museum's new Director General, following the conclusion of an international selection process conducted over the past few months.

The selection of the patronage responds to Miren Arzalluz's experience and international recognition in the field of cultural institutions, his long-term commitment to the project, and his vision to serve as a key element of the museum's transformation strategy. Sensitivity for different cultural contexts related to the opera museum to be integrated locally and globally.

Miren Arzalluz Loroño (Bilbao, 1978), currently director of the Museo de la Moda de París-Palais Galliera, joins the Guggenheim with a contrasting trajectory in front of internationally renowned organizations in the field of culture, offering a deep knowledge of history. del arte, los muzeum y la la investigation, most gestion institute y internacionales with combined extensive experience.

Miren Arzalluz, PhD in History from the Universidad de Deusto, MA in Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, and MA in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics in London, has directed the Palais Galliera for the past six years. A new phase through an ambitious renovation and expansion project and a deep and innovative redefinition of the museum. In collaboration with the Paris Musées and Paris City institutions, Miren Arzalluz promoted a new interdisciplinary approach, established dialogues and collaborations with other art and international environmental design museums of the Palais Galliera, and produced exhibitions that achieved great public and critical success. .

Miren Arzalluz's international recognition is also supported by proximo hits, such as her nomination as a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture in 2024; He is Jurado en los premios nacionales de Diseño de Estados National, Los 2025 National Design Awards del Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in Nueva York.

Miren Arzalluz, who is also a great connoisseur of the current Basque cultural environment, is a member of the Artistic Advisory Committee of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, and during his time in Paris he directed the Etxepare Euskal Institutua, a public institution dependent on the Basque Government. works to increase the international visibility of Basque culture and modern Basque culture. His experience as an independent curator gave him the opportunity to curate exhibitions in different countries around the world, and for five years he was the chief curator of the Fundación and the Balenciaga Museum, responsible for exhibitions and the collection.

Miren Arzalluz will be appointed as the CEO of Electa from March 1, 2025. For four weeks, he will carry out the process of immersion in the Guggenheim museums in Bilbao and New York, conviviendo responsibility with the director general of the Museum, Juan Ignacio Vidarte, until April 1, when Miren Arzalluz will act as director general with the plenas.

Selection process

Since on May 20 Juan Ignacio Vidarte announced in front of the Museum in Patronage his decision to end his position as CEO to ensure a generational change, he has launched an international selection process through a company with extensive experience. Antonia Josten, director of the arts and culture sector in Berlin.

The spread of the selection process propició is that between June 3 and 30, the period when applications are open on the museum's website, 1,160 visits were recorded in the relevant section, of which 739 were in Spanish. , 327 in English, 50 in French and 44 in Basque.

I was looking for a profile with extensive knowledge of art and museum operations, international management and planning skills in this field, leadership skills and experience in fundraising and audience development, communicative competence in various languages, highly trained. and, inter alia, specialization in materials related to the museum world and knowledge of the museum's institutional reality and socio-cultural context.

A total of 79 professionals from different geographical origins (32% international, 23% from the Basque Country and 45% from the rest of the country) were considered in the process. After the analysis of the profiles and the relevant interviews, the company Antonia Josten recommended the selection of candidates evaluated by the Selection Committee based on the expectations and requirements of the position and among them the most qualified person was chosen the best answer and los retos a los que se emfrenta el mundo del arte.