One of Mexico’s Most Important Art Collections Faces Uncertainty as Citigroup Offloads CitiBanamex
The future of one of Mexico's most popular and important art collections, La Colección Banamex, is now facing uncertainty after CitiBanamex, the bank to which it belongs, has been put up for sale.
A visitor looks at the painting "Impossible Interviews" by Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias during the exhibition "Mexique : Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Jose Clemente Orozco et les avant-gardes" on October 6, 2016 at the Grand Palais museum in Paris. The exhibition will run until January 23, 2017. / AFP / JACQUES DEMARTHON / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION
According to The Art News, Citigroup, an American multinational investment bank, finally decided to sell its subsidiary in Mexico. The financial company confirmed this detail on January 18.
That means that Citigroup is ending its 20-year retail presence in the country's banking market, as reported by Reuters. But it seems like the move is concerning many critics and enthusiasts.
Why? Because they believe that the La Coleccion Banamex will also be affected by the decision. La Colección Banamex is consist of more than 6,000 works including masterpieces by Frida Kahlo and Clemente Orozco.
La Colección Banamex: One of Mexico's Most Popular Art Collections in Trouble?
Although Citigroup did not confirm that it will also sell the art collection since CitiBanamex's collection and bank sales are different, the offloading still worries some Mexican artists.
A visitor takes a picture of the painting "Self Portrait (El Coronelazo)" by Mexican painter David Alfaro Siqueiros during the exhibition "Mexique : Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Jose Clemente Orozco et les avant-gardes" on October 6, 2016 at the Grand Palais museum in Paris. The exhibition is held until January 23, 2017. / AFP / JACQUES DEMARTHON / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION
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Graciela de la Torre, the cultural promoter and former director of the Museo Nacional de San Carlos and Museo Nacional de Arte, said she was not actually worried about the art collection since Mexicans will not allow that to happen.
"I am much more concerned about the integrity of the cultural archives and the Formento's ongoing cultural work such as the research and philanthropic activities," she added.
On the other hand, Museo Unversitario Arte Contemporaneos Chief Curator, Cuauhtémoc Medina, said that La Colección Banamex should not be impacted by Citigroup's offloading of CitiBanamex.
What Would Happen to CitiBanamex's Employees?
Aside from the famous art collection, employees are also worried about their jobs in CitiBanamex. In November 2021, the bank's staff reached more than 31,000 workers, leading to 220,921 employees in total.
As of the moment, experts said that these people would only have two scenarios once the bank is sold in the coming months. First, their positions will be at serious risk of the buyer being an established national participant.
Meanwhile, Altonivel explained that the workers can still have their jobs if the buyer is a new foreign participant in Mexico's banking market. Right now, the best thing they can do is to expect the worst but hope for the best.
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