28 june 2002
Spain's Official State Gazette (B.O.E.) has today published a Ministerial Order to create, under the Presidency of Honour of HRH the King and Queen of Spain, a National Commission for commemoration of the centenary of Salvador Dalí's birth in 2004. Under the Order, signed by the Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, Pilar del Castillo, "it is a good idea to create a National Commission to prepare a broad programme of activities in commemoration of the birth of this great Catalan artist". The Order lays down that the Commission, reporting to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, "will schedule, promote and coordinate the activities carried out by government departments, public and private bodies and individuals who take part in the celebration".
In order to fulfil its purposes, the National Commission will be structured into the following bodies: the Chairman, the Executive Chairman, the Plenary Meeting, the Executive Commission and the Commissioner. The Chairman of the National Commission will be the Minister of Education, Culture and Sport and the Executive Chairman of the National Commission will be the President of the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation. The Plenary Meeting will be made up of Their Majesties the King and Queen (Presidency of Honour), the Minister of Education, Culture and Sport (Chairman), the Secretary of State for Culture, the Minister of Culture of the Government of Catalonia, the President of the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation (Vice-Chairmen), and many members on behalf of the various government departments at state, regional and local levels; there will also be representatives of major museums, foundations and cultural institutions (Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Fundació "la Caixa", Salvador Dalí Museum, Palazzo Grassi, Tate Gallery, Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum, etc.). The Executive Commission will be made up of various experts to carry out the programmes of activities and any other tasks approved by the Plenary Meeting, while the Commissioner of the National Commission will be the Director of the Centre of Dalinian Studies of the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation.
