Loire Gestamp and Tecnalia collaborate in the exhibition of the sculpture “Meeting place IV”

The Chillida Leku Museum in Hernani, Gipuzkoa, has hosted the monumental sculpture "Meeting Place IV" by Eduardo Chillida, weighing more than 13 tons, suspended in one of its installations. This collaboration between the museum, Loire Gestamp and Tecnalia is the result of a project that "puts industrial technique at the service of art" and is part of the exhibition "Gravity Zero" and the celebration of Eduardo Chillida´s centenary.

Loire Gestamp has participated in the management and execution of the entire process, from the overnight transportation of the work in a special truck from the site in Bilbao to the final assembly of the sculpture in the museum. Before installation in the museum the artwork was unloaded and kept in custody at Loire Hernani until the agreed date with the Chillida Leku Museum in Hernani. Loire Gestamp coordinated with different suppliers to erect the 13-ton artwork on the ground, considering the previous study of the sculpture´s support design, as well as the final transport to the museum.

The exhibitions manager of Chillida Leku Museum, Estela Solana, emphasized that "having a work of these characteristics at Chillida Leku expands the knowledge surrounding the artist´s study of gravity." The museum director, Mireia Massagué, stated that this proposal has been "a challenge" for the entire museum team and that "through the project, we want to remember how Eduardo Chillida worked in connection with the industrial world."

The sculpture, suspended by steel cables, rises a few centimeters off the ground, and this slight elevation "nullifies the weight and makes the material levitate," as detailed by Solana. The director of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, Miguel Zugaza, pointed out that "being able to see "Meeting Place IV" at Chillida Leku while the expansion of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum is underway offers an exceptional opportunity to appreciate a work that has become a true emblem of the institution since its placement by the artist in the museum.".