Relocation could “put in danger” Sixena artworks, say Catalan art museums

The directors of 16 art museums in Catalonia signed a joint manifesto criticizing the removal of 44 disputed artworks from the Museum of Lleida, ordered by a judge to take place on Monday next week. The pieces, which were legally bought by Catalonia in the nineties, will be brought back to their original location in Sixena, a town in the Spanish autonomous community of Aragon.

The relocation could “put in danger the physical integrity of some of the pieces, as technical reports show,” read the manifesto. Additionally, the text raised concerns over “the lack of guarantees regarding the conservation” of the artworks and the possibility of them not being open to the public.

The Sixena collection became the subject of a long-lasting legal dispute between administrations in Catalonia and Aragon. In recent weeks, while the Spanish government directly controls the Catalan administration, it ordered the transfer of the pieces. The move was later confirmed by a judge.