Dispute over a travertine slab from the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion

The travertine slab from the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, which was part of the exhibition La Prenyada by artist Stella Rahola Matutes and architect Roger Paez at the Fuga gallery in Barcelona, has become the center of a conflict after the authors tried to sell it for 28,000 euros and the Fundació Mies demanded its return, claiming that it is public heritage.

The installation La Prenyada is part of an academic project by Rahola Matutes i Paez entitled Inviting Life, carried out within the framework of the Master in Ephemeral Architecture and Temporary Spaces (MEATS) at Elisava in 2023. As Rahola Matutes explained, the project arose from a broken slab that the artists collected and brought to the university. Initially, they did not reveal to the students where the piece came from and their intervention at the Mies Pavilion aimed to explore the relationship between travertine and water, through ephemeral actions that sought to reveal the life that was generated in this emblematic space. The Foundation lent the slab with the aim of facilitating this research and being able to show it in workshops, always under the condition that the piece remained at the disposal of the Foundation as the owner of the material. The Fundació Mies made it clear that the slab was not the property of the artists, nor could it be commercialized without their authorization. This situation, however, was not communicated to the Fuga gallery until the moment of the inauguration, last January 22nd.

Installation La Prenyada at the FUGA Gallery.

At that time, the gallery owner Maria Costafreda was informed by Rahola Matutes that the piece could not be sold, which caused her bewilderment, since it was not considered that the piece would be owned by a public institution. The same day, the Fundació Mies intervened, requesting the withdrawal of the piece from the sale and its immediate return. Later, however, the Fundació Mies agreed that the piece would remain on display for the time stipulated by the gallery, making it clear that no transaction could be made with it. From there, talks began between the gallery, the artists and the Foundation to try to resolve the situation, but no satisfactory agreement was reached.

Costafreda regrets the lack of prior communication and criticizes the management of the situation by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe. In this sense, she highlights that, as an emerging gallery, it does not have the capacity or power to negotiate with institutions as other more established galleries would, and has felt in a situation of vulnerability in the face of the actions of artists and institutions. She also highlights that the gallery has always worked to support artists, and that this type of confusion should not have occurred if the ownership of the piece had been clarified from the beginning. The Fuga gallery wants to make these facts visible to prevent possible abuses in the sector and defend a more equitable and respectful management between all the agents involved. As for the artists, Rahola Matutes has been discreet about the situation, expressing that she feels “vulnerable”, but avoiding commenting on the reasons for putting the pavilion slab up for sale or her relationship with the Foundation.