Speech by President of the Government at inauguration of re-opening of National Archaeology Museum

Mr President of the Region of Madrid, Mr Minister for Education, Culture and Sport, Mr State Secretary for Culture, Madam Government Delegate, Museum Trustees, officials, ladies and gentlemen,

The re-opening of the National Archaeology Museum that brings us here today is the culmination of a State project that has been developed with commitments from governments of different political colours. The reform and refurbishment of the museum headquarters, the updated museum display and the new permanent exhibition installations represent the most ambitious project in terms of our recent commitments to museums.

The National Archaeology Museum (Spanish acronym: MAN), an institution dating back close on 150 years, opens its doors once again following six years of extensive architectural and museographic reform to once again take its corresponding pre-eminent place as a benchmark institution that heads up the Spanish network of museums and as a depository of our shared legacy.

This process that started back in the year 2000 - when I had the privilege to participate as Minister for Education and Culture - now allows us to offer society an avant-garde public space, a dialogue between the past and the present that combines both tradition and modernity. The MAN gathers together the most important pieces of our historical heritage, an exceptional display of a shared legacy that identifies us as a diverse yet united people and that enables us to delve further into the knowledge of our past and of our identity.

This museum has organised its exhibition design, its museography and its display to communicate in the clearest possible manner the importance and singular nature of the cultural assets on display here. All types of audio-visual displays, illustrations and a multitude of resources have been used so that visitors go away with a comprehensive idea of the various facets of the peoples that to a certain extent have made us what we are today.

The Spanish people have the good fortune to be a people with numerous influences, and whose lands have been inhabited by different civilizations. This diverse inheritance has allowed us to build a plural identity in which co-existence, integration and our ability to become a bridge for communication predominate, whether between north and south or between different continents. The importance of this re-opening lies in the opportunity these assets offer us to understand the scope and wealth of our common history.

Dear friends,

The protection, conservation, study and dissemination of the historical-cultural heritage of our country constitute essential State duties performed through the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. For this reason, guaranteeing access by our citizens to culture and cultural assets and State heritage forms part of a constitutional mandate and the re-opening of the National Archaeology Museum is in line with these aims. Furthermore, as an urban milestone, the MAN is a further addition to help enrich this golden mile of museums in Madrid: the great cultural focus comprising the Prado Museum, the Reina Sofía National Art Centre Museum and the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum.

The National Archaeology Museum has become the museum that best represents the history of Spain; a public institution aiming to offer society an in-depth, attractive and critical interpretation of the past, an interpretation of the meaning of the material culture that belonged to the different peoples that make up modern Spain and the Mediterranean region from ancient to more recent times, in a complex, yet dynamic overview of our history.

The archaeological assets of the different sites and monuments that have marked our territory gradually build the story of our past to make up a fascinating narrative of what we were and what we are, and serve as an example of what we can achieve together.

This museum is home to Iberia, Hispania, Spain, its myths, its rituals and its beliefs. Its collections represent a common place where we can find our past; a museum where we can all see ourselves reflected in the mirror of our shared history.

The refurbishment carried out has brought the museum from the 19th Century into the 21st Century, since, despite the extensive history of reforms, this one has undoubtedly been a truly comprehensive overhaul in which the values of this historical building have been enhanced in balance with contemporary requirements. This reform has ensured that the museum's spaces have been more rationally distributed, that they are more accessible and are equipped with the necessary technology; but, above all, it is the public that benefits from these improvements. The majority of the new spaces and services are designed for this public.

The MAN embarks on a new era marked by its vocation to public service through the offer of fully renovated installations for the uses and functions required by the different types of public that use this institution. I mustn't forget to mention at this point the accessibility plan made with the support of the Orange Foundation and the collaboration from the ONCE Foundation and the Foundation for the Removal of Communication Barriers aimed to facilitate the integration of people with special needs, a task on which particular effort has been placed.

The extension of the public areas allows visitors to be offered a generous welcome area, new collections to be displayed, simultaneously offering a wide variety of activities and making new basic services available that any modern cultural institution should have on offer. To that end, the surface area has been increased from 7,000 to 9,000 square metres, with more than 13,000 historical and artistic archaeological objects on display, backed up by all the technical and communication resources to help enhance the appreciation of the collections and facilitate the understanding of our history. The exhibition is organised around 40 halls on four floors and three main areas, with contrasting dimensions and content.

The main hall, serving as backbone of the exhibition is significantly entitled "Spain, a cultural crossroads" which describes the evolution of our history from pre-historic times to the reign of Isabella II, during which time this museum was founded.

The new presentation of the collections has included an ambitious conservation programme, headed up by the Directorate General of Fine Arts, Cultural Assets, Archives and Libraries, which have restored the majority of the pieces in the collection. The whole collection is now in a perfect state of restoration, ready to be enjoyed by the public.

Dear friends,

An extraordinary project in which the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport has invested more than 65 million euros, and which is now completed following years of hard work and dedication; the hard work of a large and complex technical team, both from the State Secretariat of Culture, and from the numerous companies and professionals who over these years have offered the best of their experience and specialist knowledge in bringing this project to fruition.

In short, today we inaugurate a new National Archaeology Museum; a modern museum, open to society, capable of researching, restoring, documenting and disseminating all those elements tied to the symbolic heritage of this ancient nation that is Spain.

This re-opening is undoubtedly an exceptional reason for all people of Spain to celebrate, as from today they can enjoy a history of Spain full of shared experiences and a museum in which we can encounter our past and our own selves.

I will finish now, ladies and gentlemen, by thanking all of you for coming here today. And all those people, who are a great many, and I cannot mention all of them - I can see here a former minister and State secretary for Culture - many people who have worked very long and hard during all this time, companies, sponsors and all those employees of this museum, I want to thank them all for the effort without which it would not have been possible for us to attend this formal inauguration today.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much.