Collab Gallery Moves to Main Building
Rosemarie Fabien interviews Lisa Roberts about the relocation of the new Collab Gallery.
If you caught the Dieter Rams exhibition in the Perelman Building in 2018, you witnessed the end of an era.
Design exhibitions have been mounted in Perelman’s Collab Gallery since the building’s historic renovation was completed in 2006. Endowed by Museum Trustees Lisa Roberts and David Seltzer, the Gallery featured the work of Frank Gehry, Paula Scher, Alessi, Zaha Hadid, Marcel Wanders and other luminaries, while Design Excellence Award lectures and celebrations toggled between Perelman and the Main Building.
The Museum expansion will change that.
Lisa Roberts, also a long-time Collab Board member, explains.
The Museum decided to rethink the use of exhibition galleries in the Perelman Building. A lot of people came to opening exhibitions, but afterwards there were rarely more than a few people in each of the galleries at any one time. Perelman had one-fifth of the overall visitors of the Main Building. So it was decided to close Perelman for permanent galleries and regular exhibitions.
What will happen to design exhibitions?
There will be a new Collab Gallery in the Main Building. It’s a great location in the American Wing, adjacent to the Special Exhibitions Gallery. It was really important to David and me when we were negotiating with the Museum that we have a dedicated space. Originally, without this gallery, Collab would have been itinerant. We would have been floating from one space to the next every year just for our Design Excellence Award. We would not have a place to show our permanent collections the rest of the year. Who would leave objects to the Museum when there is no opportunity to ever see them? That’s why we felt it was essential that we have a guaranteed home for design.
What will be the first exhibition in the new Collab Gallery?
The work of the Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec will be the first exhibition, in November 2021, and they will be honored with the Design Excellence Award. It was going to be this year, but the pandemic curtailed that. They are very well-known in Europe, immensely successful, and have designed a wide-range of products. We will be able to show a large number of their pieces in the new space. Their most recognizable product is called Algues. It’s a three-dimensional wall-covering or screen that resembles algae. It comes in different colors and is made by Vitra, as is their Vegetal Chair that resembles tree branches. Vitra has wide distribution in the US. It’s all about who has access to design. Strangely enough, Americans don’t have as much access as Europeans.
What is the shape of the new space?
It’s rectangular with a very high-ceiling. The ceiling dips at one end, which gives us some interesting architectural opportunities for exhibits. One of the things I like about it, aside from being right next to the Special Exhibition Galleries, is that you must pass it on the way to the café. Of course, people might be hungry on their way there and not notice it, but on their way back they will. I can’t think of a better location.
How will the new gallery benefit Philadelphia?
People who are interested in the arts will now have an opportunity to see design juxtaposed alongside the arts. There are so many design schools in Philadelphia whose students are inspired by seeing design exhibitions, and now they will have that opportunity all year long. It validates their profession. The Museum has an incredible collection, one of the largest collections of modern and contemporary design in the country, even larger than the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. Dedicating a gallery specifically for design, next to Van Goghs, Monets and Picassos, recognizes its essential value.
