Voces del Prado

Internal communication

Alicia Quintana Martínez, Head of the Education Service, 1983-2007

I think there was talk of making an internal bulletin, which was to go beyond gossip such as who had got married or so and so had passed away. It would focus on the things being done. The Museum's Communication Department today, for a long time it was up to us, because we took care of spreading the word about what was going on. "There's going to be an exhibition on whatever." "And how do you know?" "Because we're working on it". Things along that line. It was very interesting for those working at the Museum, because it was something they had asked for. We split up into groups. Leading each group there had to be a restorer, or an electrician. When we arrived at a place, that person would step forward and give indications, "We'll be doing such and such here", and when they finished they blended back in the group and next we'd go to the library, and the person working at the library explained their mission.
Everybody got to know every department. This is a good way to feel integrated, rather than just coming to work, getting paid and "See you later". You got to feel that you were part of a living structure, something very important. Manuel Azaña used to say: "The Prado Museum is worth more than the Republic and the Monarchy together." He insisted on this in his arguments back in the day, in the Pyrenees. It's feeling part of something and being able to speak of what your workmates do, because remember the times, way back in the day, when some people thought that there were just paintings and guards. Internal communication took care of that.