Introducing "Curator on the Go"

It is with great satisfaction that after months of plotting maps, selecting car museums and contacting automotive institutions, I am presenting you with my latest project, "Curator on the Go".

QUICK LINKS

Click [HERE] to go to the campaign's Kickstarter fundraiser page (starting on July 1st).

Click [HERE] for a list of stops and up-to-date tour schedule (last modified on 18/06/16).

Click [HERE] to view a 2-page PDF profile on Miguel Llorente, the Curator on the Go.

 

WHAT IS "CURATOR ON THE GO"?

Curator on the Go is a 6-month project that challenges the traditional stereotypes of museum professionals as being stationary. For close to half a year, Miguel Llorente —former curator at the Al Ain Classic Car Museum— will be touring over 80 automotive institutions across the USA, studying curatorial practices and all aspects of museum administration and design to answer the question on what makes the perfect car museum in 80 web articles.

WHY "CURATOR ON THE GO"?

Automotive museums have a different curatorial and administrative approach than most art and history museums, given that automobiles are live machines that need to be driven and maintained in very specific spaces under very specific conditions. Currently, there is no single university imparting a Museum Studies course specializing on automotive museums; as a result, I decided to create a highly immersive experience by visiting 80 of the best museums in the country and talking to the professionals behind these institutions.

WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF "CURATOR ON THE GO"?

As someone who is fascinated by the diverse automotive culture in the United Arab Emirates, my ultimate goal would be to set up a world-class automotive museum in the country. While the UAE counts with top-notch collections like Rainbow Sheikh's ENAM and the Royal Auto Gallery, my focus would be a public museum with a focus on automotive culture, history and design in the style of the Petersen, the Schlumpf Collection, the Revs Institute or the Gilmore Car Museum; institutions that not only provide a retrospective on the history of the automobile, but also become active bastions of present and future automotive culture. Think of it as a Louvre of the Automobile.

HOW MUCH WILL THE PROJECT COST?

My latest estimations point out that "Curator on the Go" will cost around $25,000 for the full six months. I plan on fundraising between $9,000 and $15,000 via Kickstarter, and pay for the rest out of pocket. With almost 30% due in taxes and fees, the rest of the funds raised will be employed to consumable costs like museum tickets ($10 on average) economical lodging ($4,000-$4,500), food ($20 a day) and fuel ($600 to $1500, depending on vehicle choice). Out-of-pocket expenses include getting a reliable car ($3500-$6,000), vehicle maintenance ($200 to $2000), flights ($1000), travel insurance ($750), a computer ($1200),  or audio/photo equipment ($700-$1200).

WHAT IS THE ROUTE FOR "CURATOR ON THE GO"?

Each stop is detailed on this [Google Document]. Plotted on a map, it looks something like this:

The official start will be at Frank Lloyd Wright's Historic Park Inn in Mason City, Iowa; the end point of the route will be Miami, where I will be returning to Spain/UAE. There are a few extended stops to catch my breath, write extensively, meet people and maintain the vehicle. I estimate the trip to be around 10-15,000 miles, which is close to what the average American drives in an entire year.

WHAT VEHICLE WILL YOU CHOOSE?

Tough question! While in the past I have used diesel Mercedes wagons as my vehicles of choice, I am not married to any particular vehicle for this trip. However, I have the following guidelines:

1) It must be cool or funky in its own right. It's got to have personality. Appliances... need not apply.

2) Must be reliable. The trip has a tight schedule and little time for breakdowns.

3) Must do 25MPG or better. Being an grown adult means spending fuel money responsibly.

4) Parts must be available. Hunting for rare bits and specialty tools takes precious time.

5) Must be competent in the snow, given that I will be driving in the cold season. No land-yachts!

6) Resale value must be acceptable. Hopefully, something at the bottom of the depreciation curve.

7) Must be comfortable to cruise on the highway AND creep in congested traffic. No stick-shifts!

With the help of my friend Tyler, I have been considering a few options. The Buick Reatta seems like a solid, American-made candidate with an interesting story; the Subaru SVX is perhaps one of the best unsung Japanese cars, with a formidable grip in the snow; the Toyota Previa and Oldsmobile Silhouette are two vans from the future worth taking a look at; and if all else fails, I can always revert into a trusty Mercedes 300CD coupe. The right vehicle will come at its due time.

I might inquire about having Tesla lend me a car for this project, as it would be wildly interesting to do the entire route in a 100% electric vehicle.  Otherwise, I am open to borrowing a vehicle for six months and returning it in a good state of maintenance. What have you got?

**July 16th Update** The official car will be a 1991 Buick Reatta, equipped with GM's true and tested 3800 engine, and the optional orthopedic seats. No Mercedes this time!

ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS?

I check the blog regularly; post yours in the comment section below.

Journey to the Ottoman Crescent (II)

"—What is it, Major Lawrence, that attracts you personally to the desert?

—It's clean."

 

Lawrence of Arabia (film, 1962)

 

SURPRISE LAYOVER IN BEIRUT (LEBANON)

An impeccably dressed MEA representative handed me my passport and a stamped document, folded in a crisp triptych.  "Hand it to the driver over there; we are sorry for your flight delay" —he said. Thus, what was originally intended to be a one-hour layover in Beirut turned into an overnight stay in a country I knew little about, other than it being the home to one of my favorite cuisines and a long, bloody civil war between 1975 and 1990. I would have less than 18 hours to visit it.

My improvised shuttle, an obvious American auction import, blazed through dark highways and leaky underpasses to Al Hamra. My eyes, half open, glanced back and forth between the blurry instrument cluster of the car and the dewy dust in the windshield, the orange glow in the distance and the lifeless intersections. It was past 10pm. We passed banks and bakeries, appliance stores and garages; still, not a soul in sight. A sudden ninety-degree turn landed us right in front of the lobby of a hotel with a grandiloquent name, faint memento from the days of Lebanese Wall Street.

The place was old, perhaps built in the 1960's or 1970's, with little maintenance ever since. An uninspired receptionist handed me a key a heavy bronze anchor and a wrinkled note with the wireless password, then proceeded to lounge with his friends in a cloud of smoke across the reception desk. A doorless elevator, caked with grime, took me to my floor, where I found my room wide open to the darkest corners of the hallway. I rushed in, reaching for all the lights in hopes not to meet any unwanted presence, and locked the door with as many turns as it would allow. I sighed in relief, eating a few pieces of Turkish candied fruit and getting ready for a shower. Not much later I would collapse on my bed, exhausted by the trip from Istanbul and this Beirut layover. I would have to wake up early the next day to catch a flight to Amman, in Jordan.

I was left disappointed that I did not have time to visit the country in more detail —and in a more positive light—, but in time it will happen, and become one of the many articles on this website.

WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR: JORDAN

How to bypass a war zone 101.

Wedged between Syria, Israel, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, lies the Kingdom of Jordan. Traversed almost in its entirety by the Bible's most famous river, this pistol-shaped country is home to countless epics, stunning scenery, and tales of clashing cultures and film that stood the test of time. Those visiting Jordan come in search of their more adventurous selves, wide-eyed before the Petra Treasury like Harrison Ford did in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, or deeply contemplative amidst the cliffs of Wadi Rum like T.E. Lawrence did exactly one hundred years ago.

Jordan is virtually a tourist's paradise, offering leisure and relaxation from the coastal town of Aqaba to the Dead Sea, further north; motorized adventures in Wadi Rum, and historical attractions in abundance, ranging from the times the Nabateans to the early 1900's.

Throughout history, Jordan has been an inclusive nation, taking immigrants and refugees from its neighboring nations with open arms. This is most visible in Amman, its capital, where the irregular layout and rushed architecture are testimonies to mass exoduses of the past, and entire communities of people who had to build their lives from scratch into this tolerant nation.

Being a car guy, my first stop was, without hesitation, Amman's Royal Automobile Museum. The collection did not disappoint, with two of its best pieces being the intimidating Mercedes 770 (gift of Hitler to the king of Syria) and their Aston Martin DB2, lost for decades in Iraq. Right afterwards, I had lunch with the former Museum Director, now Head of the Royal Heritage Directorate, and made the supreme mistake of thinking that the 300SEL 6.3 had a three-speed transmission. D'oh!

King Abdullah II's rallying cars in a diorama-like setting.

Presidential limos across the ages, from Buick to Cadillac to Mercedes and more.

Two of my favorites: Mercedes 770 (Middle) and Packard Double Cowl Phaeton (burgundy, right)

Their magnificent Aston Martin DB2, restored to brand new condition by the Aston Martin Headquarters.

Behind the scenes, the rover featured in the film "The Martian", starring Matt Damon.

Following my short stay in Amman, I embarked southward on to Petra and Wadi Rum. While I visited Petra on my own (glad I did!), I contracted a guide for Wadi Rum, given that it is absolutely necessary to have a 4x4 and the required driving skills for such tricky terrain. In order to visit Petra, I recommend Jett Buses; the best strategy is to wake up early, take a taxi to their own mini-station and book your ticket on the spot (about 10 dinar, roughly $14). The ride is ~5 hours.

This is where Petra starts, once you have gone through the visitor center.

 

The first leg of the walk is a claustrophobic slot canyon. Be careful not to be run over by all the horse carts!

Out of nowhere, you will end up at Petra's Treasury, arguably one of the most iconic monuments of all time.

Following the Treasury, you will get to a large open space surrounded by constructions on the hills.

Inside of one of the constructions. A geologist's dream!

Walking towards the Gate, on my way to the Monastery.

The Gate; it is in this section that you will find camels, donkeys and horses to get up to the Monastery.

Camels, awaiting customers too tired to continue on foot.

My heart almost stopped —for real, had to lie down— on the climb up. The Monastery is far larger than the Treasury.

Similar building to the Treasury and the Monastery; not a whole lot of information was provided on its function.

I have walked down the streets of New York and Chicago, and sailed my imagination at the crowns of its towers. I have climbed monuments the Mayan built to defeat the millennia, and gazed at the stars next to splashing crocodiles and solemn temples in Egypt. I have stood at the feet of Burj Khalifa and the boulevards of Paris, toured the galleries of Milano, and sailed through the canals of Venice. I have witnessed the industrial might of China, the chant of the mosques of Istanbul and the colorful markets in Oaxaca; shivering and hungry, I have seen the sun rise from Panama's highest peak. I have lived enough to see the human beehive valleys of Medellín on my way home. But never before, however, have I been in such awe as in Petra.

Perhaps it is the scale of it all —or the overwhelming idea of what it was, and what it is now— that leaves its mark on the imagination. Petra is a delight to the senses, yet one that required input to be enjoyed: effort, curiosity, stamina. Large part of it still lies unexploited, a long trek into the valley of treacherous rocks and thorny bushes; still, in the distance, one can see the towering, monumental tease for real adventure, for going off the beaten path into ancient cities that were visited by little more than local shepherds. The wide margin of discovery, of potential, that Petra leaves to speculation defines my amazement about this monumental complex. Petra promises of two Indiana Jones, one for the trekkers of the beaten path and one for those willing to take the leap of faith into the horizon, to find themselves alone in halls forlorn by the centuries.

The furthest off-the-route hall I could reach on my own —before my knee failed. I limped all the way back.

After a long and tortuous backtracking walk —mostly in pain—, I found my designated guide at the entrance of the visitor center and we drove out of the mountains into the main highway, on to the world-famous valley of Wadi Rum, a place so geologically fascinating as it is historically significant.

My home for the night. It took a long time to adjust to the utter silence in Wadi Rum.

The next day, I woke up at 6am, still in the dark, to walk to the nearest mountain and see the sunrise.

One of the Bedouins we stayed had lost sight of his herd. We retrieved them from grazing a couple miles into the mountains.

How photogenic is Wadi Rum? Ridiculously so. This photo was taken with a telephone!

Signs of Wadi Rum being covered in water —notice the waterfall patterns on the rocks.

Barren landscapes carved by centuries of water licking the soft stone.

Placeholders by past visitors who dared climb high into the rocks.

Much like the Grand Canyon, Wadi Rum is a place of obligated visit in one's lifetime. Never before you will see as many shades of red, vermilion, deep oranges, pastel tangerine, magenta, brown and ocher in one place. Wadi Rum is a true feast of the senses, and while the silence reigning among the boulders deprives the visitor from sound, it well compensates for it in a visual feast of shapes, shades and colors unrivaled by any place on Earth. Much like Petra, its sheer scale adds to its already imposing array of natural monuments, shaped by sand, water and time.

Wearing a traditional Jordanian ghutra (headscarf) with the agal (headband). Mornings are cold!

Few countries have stimulated the mind as much as they have moved the heart. Jordan truly holds something for everyone, surpassing any expectation you may have from this noble land. Do not let instability in Iraq or Syria worry you; at no point I felt unsafe here. In fact, I felt genuinely welcome; my curiosity about Jordan and its people was kindly rewarded with a myriad of stories on the fascinating history of this land, from the Arab Revolt to the recent migratory events to the North of the country. If anything, come visit and see for yourself —I highly recommend it.


Next up: Curator on the Go. The plan, the route, the museums. And hopefully, the funding to do it.