The two artists have been collecting for more than 50 years
LAS ESTELAS DEL SOL, Ben Jakober & Yannick Vu, 2007; Ellipse: 27.5 x 20.5 m., formed by 13 stones 3 m high. Natural calcareous stones from Mallorca. Photo: Ngoc Minh Ngo
Artists Yannick and Ben Jakober have been collecting art for the last 50 years, following in the footsteps of their parents who were collectors on one side and artists on the other. The pair’s endeavours mostly reside with the foundation in Mallorca (that bears their name), along with a selection of their collection of Moroccan artists, in their home in Marrakesch.
Yannick & Ben Jakober have over the years assembled a somewhat eclectic but nevertheless coherent collection, housed and opened to the public, at Museo Sa Bassa Blanca, on the beautiful island of Mallorca. The museum is not about the founders but rather what their eyes and hearts have selected. Starting with the collection of portraits of children from the 16th to early 19th centuries called NINS, now numbering approximately 165 paintings occupying a previous underground water reservoir, the focus moved to the creation of a sculpture park harbouring approximately 50 monumental animals rendered in granite or bronze, then to a new cryptlike space called Sokrates, where in front of the backdrop of the immense Swarovski crystal curtain, there unfolds a sort of Wunderkammer with works and objects offering a dialogue between civilizations and continents – Nepal, Africa, Papua New Guinea all in juxtaposition with modern masters: Miquel Barcelo, Rebecca Horn and Louise Bourgeois. The cherry on the cake is the room with “Juke Blue”, James Terrell’s enigmatic 1968 installation. Lastly, the house built for the Jakobers, by the legendary Hassan Fathy in 1978/80 has been converted into exhibition spaces dedicated to a mix of perspectives ranging from Moroccan and other African art to Aborigine in association with contemporary African and western art such as Brice Marden, Domenico Gnoli, Henri Michaux, Vu Cao Dam etc. To top this there is the 15th century polychrome wooden ceiling from Tarragona, Spain. The collection is not intended to impart art-historical information, nor show off the latest trends but to create a visual and sensual experience to personally enrich the visitor.