Directed by Chillida Leku in the hands of the family, on news Mikel Chillida is the new director

“The Chillida family is confident that Mikel’s deep knowledge of Eduardo Chillida’s artistic legacy, along with his signature commitment to the museum’s mission, positions him to lead Chillida Leka in its next age,” Luis Chillida, a spokesperson for the Chillida family, said today when if he posted a new name.

The Chillida Leku Museum, the old house of Zabalaga, the home of the universe, was acquired by Chillida in 1982 with the intention of placing his work there. It was opened on September 16, 2000 as a museum. Brought to the public in 2011 due to a significant economic deficit, reopened in a new stage on April 17, 2019.

Chillida Leku moves around Los 80,000-85,000 visitors per year in the last few years with a short note connected with the centenary of Chillida. In 2024, the year of the centenary, the management of the museum expects more than 85,000 visits.

It was always a surprise that the museum was bought by Vasco’s government, but ended up remaining in the hands of the family of s hybrid public-private model, between subsidies, private sponsorship and tequila inputs a seed that he keeps in the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum and which probably rounds a million euros a year.

Desde 2017 Hauser & Wirth gallery exclusively represents the legacy of Eduardo Chillida around the world and work tail after tail with succession in its preservation and dissemination. An important international gallery acts as a representative of a strategic legacy and a museum operator.

As the director of the museum, Mireia Massagué visited it in 2018 and began expanding the artist’s exhibition program with dialogues with Tàpies or Louise bourgeois.

Mikel Chillida, the new director, became Chillida Leku’s director of development from October 2019; previously responsible for communication at the museum (2018-2019) and managed the “Eduardo Chillida 100 years” project, coordinating the centenary events.

He studied Public Relations and Public Relations at the European University (2003-2007), with an Erasmus stay at IULM University of Milan and studied the Directive Development Program (PDD) at IESE Business School (2021).