Menorca

Illa del Rei, a beautiful island in Mahon harbor, is home to Hauser & Wirth Menorca where art exhibitions, events and learning activities connect with the local community and landscape.

On View this Fall

Our current exhibitions ‘Chillida in Menorca’ and ‘Roni Horn’ are on view through Sunday 27 October.

Plan your visit and book your shuttle boat tickets here.

Plan your visit

The gallery is open Wednesday – Sunday, 10 am – 4 pm

menorca@hauserwirth.com

Exhibitions are free to attend.

To protect the native species of lizard which lives on Illa del Rei, ‘Podarcis lilfordi Balearica’, no animals are allowed on the island, except for guide dogs.

What's on in Menorca?

Restaurant & Shop

Adjacent to Hauser & Wirth Menorca is a lively eatery focusing on local produce. With a stunning location on Isla del Rey, this outdoor restaurant and bar offers a menu which pays homage to Menorcan cuisine, to be enjoyed under the shade of an olive-tree forest. The menu features seasonal sharing rice and vegetable dishes, seafood, fish and grilled meat, as well as a great selection of wines.

Gallery Shop

Sharing a restored sandstone building with Cantina, the gallery shop offers a selection of books and gifts inspired by our current exhibitions, Hauser & Wirth artist collaborations, crafts by local makers and products relating to Menorca.

OUTDOOR SCULPTURE TRAIL

Four outdoor sculptures by Gary Simmons, Stefan Brüggemann, Eduardo Chillida and Pipilotti Rist are presented alongside the gallery buildings and embedded in the natural landscape of Illa del Rei.

The Garden of Piet Oudolf

A garden designed by Piet Oudolf runs alongside the gallery buildings incorporating native perennials and planting suited to the climate. A matrix of graceful low growing grasses leads to various types of bright shrubs in a sustainable garden that enhances the ever-changing experience of the Mediterranean landscape.

Learning at Menorca

Hauser & Wirth’s global learning program is centered around engaging local communities, enriching academic programs, and fostering better access to art careers through a series of meaningful partnerships. In Menorca, the center has developed a dedicated education scheme in collaboration with entities such as Institut Menorquí d’Estudis, Pedra Viva, Es Claustre and the Fundació Menorquina de l’Òpera. The program includes events for all ages including workshops, talks and visits, as well as activities for primary and secondary schools.

Since the opening, over 11,000 learners have engaged in educational activities. Accompanying the exhibitions is an Education Lab, an initiative which started with Mark Bradford’s inaugural exhibition and art education residency. The artist worked with students from Escola d’Art de Menorca to create an impressive installation highlighting themes of migration. Since, an annual Education Lab has been developed every year in conjunction with Rashid Johnson’s exhibition in 2022 and Christina Quarles’ in 2023, always in partnership with local learning organizations.

The Making of Hauser & Wirth Menorca

Watch now Iwan and Manuela Wirth, Luis Laplace, Piet Oudolf and other key figures tell the story of our art center on Illa del Rei.

Latest News

Menorca location receives European Heritage Award 2022

The European Commission and Europa Nostra have announced the 2022 winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards, funded by the EU Creative Europe program. Among this year’s winners is Illa del Rei, in the Conservation & Adaptive Reuse category.

The restoration and revitalization of Illa del Rei is the result of a fruitful collaboration between Fundació de l’Hospital de l’Illa del Rei, established in 2004 by local volunteers, who restored the naval hospital and turned it into a museum, and Hauser & Wirth—joining them to restore and sensitively repurpose the Langara outbuildings as an art space.

New Books on Women Artists in Menorca’s Libraries

Following last year’s book donation and learning initiative, we have continued to work with Menorca’s local libraries to expand their art book collection. In 2023, the selection of titles consists of titles on women artists as well as other art books authored by women, chiming with Christina Quarles’ exhibition ‘Come In From An Endless Place.’

About Menorca

Hauser & Wirth Menorca is an art centre combining art, education and conservation on the natural setting of Illa del Rei, an island in Mahon harbour. The art centre presents an exhibition programme spanning ambitious new commissions by gallery artists across all media. Following a conservation project, Hauser & Wirth sensitively repurposed the existing 18th century outbuildings of a naval hospital, which opened in 2021 and has welcomed over 180,000 visits since.

Conservation

The conservation project at Hauser & Wirth Menorca has been led by Laplace, who has sensitively repurposed the existing historic outbuildings into a 1,500 sq.m. art centre.

The conservation project enhances the history and naval qualities of the building, and has been recognised by Wallpaper* as ‘2022 Best Art Destination’ in their annual design awards, by Architectural Digest as a ‘2022 Work of Wonder’, the European Heritage Award 2022, the DNA Paris Design Award, and nominated by IDA Design Awards, Créateurs Design Awards and 2021 Best of Year Awards.

Sustainability

Menorca is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and, in the interest of protecting the unique natural environment of its location, Hauser & Wirth’s sustainability practices on the island encompass the conservation project, daily operations as well as meaningful partnerships. This ethos has granted us recognitions such as the Plastic Free Menorca certificate and the Menorca Biosphere Reserve trademark, which recognizes companies which support the local environment, identity and culture.

On the partnerships front, we support Menorca Preservation, a non-profit which gathers funds for local initiatives on sea preservation, sustainable agricultural development and renewable energies. Our commitment extends to our suppliers and waste management systems, continuously improving our environmental impact.

The conservation project was conducted with the utmost care and included sustainability measures such as rain-water collection protocols to ground irrigation and efficient climate control for the buildings, among others. Additionally, grooves were left across the building to provide shelter to the native species of lizard, ‘Podarcis lilfordi Balearica.’

Learn more about sustainability globally here.