KBr Fundación Mapfre | Barcelona Photo Center

The MAPFRE Foundation has always boasted vast experience in the realm of exhibition and cultural events in Spain. In 2015, it decided to set up a venue in a new city, Barcelona. It turned the Casa Garriga-Nogués, in the heart of the Eixample neighbourhood, into its exhibition centre, where it presented the beginnings of pictorial modernism and the great masters of photography. In 2020, in keeping with Barcelona’s rich photography tradition, it moved to the Port Olímpic area to establish a new venue, the KBr Barcelona Photo Center, with a clear mission: to educate society in the language of photography and to showcase this artistic, social and documentary medium.

CHALLENGE

The KBr space is an ambitious undertaking that lends continuity to the MAPFRE Foundation’s exhibition activity but which also embarks on a new stage in which the Foundation has the opportunity to present its Photography Collection to the public, to create new itineraries linked to the Catalan scene in its programming and to forge links with schools and emerging artists. Understanding the key characteristics of local audiences is therefore imperative.

GOALS

To contribute to launching the MAPFRE Foundation’s new cultural initiative in a realm in which its previous presence was limited.

To support the Foundation in the process of applying its approach to exhibitions and dissemination.

To support the expansion of its exhibition circuit, ensuring integrated management of quality visitor services.

TASK

We began our cultural consultancy work by developing KBr’s corporate identity, bearing in mind that it is a locally established centre but with an international scope.

Subsequently, as a cultural management company, we devised and implemented the integrated management model for visitor services. We therefore ensure the quality of the cultural visitor’s experience by carrying out the following tasks:

• Visitor information and help desk and telephone service.
• Development of an innovative monitoring system of admissions to avoid crowds and queues.
• In addition, we have designed guided tours and we develop the centre’s educational services.

RESULTS

The KBr space is becoming a reference point on Barcelona’s cultural scene. Its more than 1,400 square metres in the MAPFRE Tower, in the Port Olímpic area, host exhibitions by contemporary artists who are fundamental to understanding Catalan and international photography today.

In addition, its approach to dissemination has made it a pioneering centre in the teaching of the language of photography.

KEY PROJECT FEATURES

• Supporting projects in the launch phase.
• Knowledge and vision of the Catalan and international cultural and photography scene.
• Consolidated model for the integrated management of visitors.