A Perfect Blend of History, Nature & Culture

Mary-Lynne Stadler
Aug 10, 2021
4 min read

‘All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware,’

(Martin Buber, Philosopher)

On this occasion the apparent destination was the Balearic island of Menorca. It’a not a big island and some of you who live in far-flung parts of the world may never even have heard of it until now. Believe me, though, this is somewhere that is worthy of your attention.

I’d been hearing a lot of good things about the place and as it’s easy for us, residents of the Baleares, to travel between the islands (currently we do not have to have tests or proof of vaccination as long as we have residents’ ID), it seemed like the perfect place to go for me (unvaccinated) to meet a friend (vaccinated) from Cyprus.

And this brings me to reason why I’ve started this newsletter with that quote from Martin Buber. Menorca, it turns out, is an island rich in secret destinations that it reveals only gradually once you are there: ancient Talayiotic sites displaying superhuman feats of construction almost on a par with Stonehenge; an enviable respect for the island’s natural beauty; a wealth of modern history that tells of a people who succeeded in holding onto their own cultural identity even while the French and British administrations that governed them changed at breakneck speed.

The biggest surprise of all, though, was the rich seam of contemporary art that we came across - more secret destinations that we had no awareness of.

A chance remark made to a friend shortly before the trip had alerted me to the imminent opening of a new gallery on the island…a major new gallery. A Hauser and Wirth Gallery (for anyone who doesn’t know of Hauser and Wirth, they are one of the big players on the global art scene with galleries in London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, New York and Zurich to name just a few).

On looking into it I discovered that the Inauguration of the gallery was to take place on the day of our arrival, so I booked the boat for us to go and visit it for the following day. Yes, you read that right. We had to book a boat because the gallery is situated on the Illa del Rei, a small island just off the coast of the capital, Mahón, where there is an historic naval hospital that was built in 1711. Now, just in case you’re wondering why they built a naval hospital there, Mahón has one of the longest natural deep harbours in the world. It is 5 kilometres long and up to 900 metres wide. and it played a significant role during the 18th century and in the Peninsular Wars, serving as an important naval and military base for the British. Needless to say, the city also flourished commercially.

But enough of that. You can always check out all the history for yourselves if I have piqued your interest enough now. Today I’d like to tell you about the art and culture that we discovered during our all-too-short stay.

The boat ride was a delightful added bonus to the outing, offering us a different perspective on the city and its surroundings. A short, shallow incline led us from the disembarkation point up to a shady garden where

the planting pays respect to the endemic plants of the Mediterranean - rosemary, lavender, artemisia, eryngium and echium, phloxes and kalanchoe, and melianthus.

As we ambled on we found ourselves distracted from any sense of clear purpose by Louise Bourgeois’ sculpture, Together, suspended in the alcove of an old stone structure.

At the entrance to the two gallery spaces Louise Bourgeois confronted us again, in the form of one of her signature spider sculptures.

In the beautiful, light-filled spaces that have been created in what were once derelict hospital out-buildings the inaugural exhibition, Masses and Movements, introduced us both to the intriguing work of artist Mark Bradford. In the first gallery his massive, multi-layered collages beg for close inspection, which reveals an intimate engagement with the incidental texts and images that fill our everydays.

The second gallery was much more concerned with his questioning of migration and homelessness is both thought-provoking and inspiring.

Our appetite for culture now happily sated, we wandered into another part of the gardens, where tables and chairs were randomly set amongst the olive trees, and large bowls piled high with bright yellow lemons and juicy-looking oranges tempted us to stop and quench our thirst with freshly squeezed juice before we caught the boat back to town.

On the morning of our leaving after this all-too-short visit (I will be returning) we dashed into Mahón again, to visit the magnificent historic Ca N’Oliver, once a fine townhouse in the 19th century and now both a museum of Menorca’s culture and another gallery of art, both old and new. In stark contrast to the maps and conventional watercolours of Menorca traditional costumes that hung on the walls of the museum, the basement offered a stark, modern installation of sculptures by Spanish sculptor Lucia Vallejo - Memento Mori, interrogating death in relation to our material world and possessions.

There was plenty to think about on the way home.