Ben Jakober: Co-Founder of the Jakober Foundation

Ben Jakober co-founded the Jakober Foundation with his wife Yannick Vu in 1993. He tells us how it all started and a little more about what makes it so special to live and work in Mallorca…

How did the idea come about for your foundation? Tell us how it all started please.

It is an Anglo-Saxon custom to give material things away during one's lifetime. Having no valid descendants and wishing for the land, buildings and collections assembled over a life time to remain intact, the most viable way seemed in 1993 to be to give everything to a foundation created to that effect.

The location is pretty unique, the building designed by Hassan Fathy is really impressive. Why did you choose Alcudia as a location?

We were introduced to the area by Sir Philip Dunn then owner of the neighbouring farm called Aucanada which is now a golf course and we were able to buy Sa Bassa Blanca together with some associates in 1978, most attractive because of its sea frontage and mountainous background. The abandoned farm house occupied by the military for many years called for a total make over and Hassan Fathy seemed the ideal person to create a building around an interior courtyard closed off to the land that was overrun at the time.

What makes Mallorca a special place to be for someone in your field?

The people of Mallorca had been introduced to eccentric foreigners by the presence of Archduke Luis Salvador, then George Sand and later many others, so gracefully accepted cohabitation with us. The climate obviously was a factor. There are many artists on the island and some excellent art institutions like the Miró and March Foundations, Palau Solleric and later Es Baluard etc.

Where are you going to see good art/design in Mallorca? Any special Mallorquin talents that you recently spotted and would like to share with us?

Obviously the outstanding genius is Miquel Barceló and a visit to his chapel at the Seu or cathedral is a must but there are now many places and people that make the island very special.

What has been your best ever day in Mallorca? Set up the scene please.

Every day on the island is the best day of my life although as you know we live in winter in Morocco.

Do you remember your first trip to the Island?

I first came to visit Domenico Gnoli and Yannick who became my wife after his death in 1970, in 1968 and was so taken by their life style that I abandoned everything and bought a mountain farm at Mortitx between Pollensa and Lluch where I lived till moving to Alcudia. This area was recently turned over to grape vines and various wines are produced there.

You seem to have built a very interesting group of friends/collaborators in the Balearic Islands and beyond. I read Yoko Ono donated three of her art works to your foundation. Correct? How did you two connect?

We met Yoko when we were both invited to show at the Venice Biennale in 1993 and we arranged for Yoko to have an exhibition at the Miro Foundation in 1995 through our friend the director Pablo Rico who now lives in Mexico, and we have remained in contact with her ever since attending her openings in Valencia, Alicante, London and Bilbao and she continues to be very supportive of the Foundation.

What are the best encounters you have made through your artistic practice so far?

We have made friends with artists, curators and museum directors all over the world, the strongest friendship perhaps being with Achille Bonito Oliva who is an Italian contemporary art critic and curator based in Rome.

If you look back at all the works you’ve done, what feelings could you associate with your art work? Are you happy with your life? Do you consider art as a form of therapy?

We have had major exhibitions in Paris, Vienna, Budapest, Brussels and New York and we made site specific works in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, Paris etc. Of course at 84 and going strong, I am happy to be alive. Art is a way of life.

Would you consider leaving Mallorca and settling down somewhere else in the future ?

We still spend a lot of time in Mallorca but now live in Marrakech where the humidity of only 30% is beneficial for my spinal problems and asthma. And on top of that Yannick’s brother lives in Essaouira, Morroco, on the Atlantic coast.

What is in store for the future with your foundation? Any exciting projects in the pipelines that you can share with us?

The foundation as you know has the largest collection in the world of portraits of children by artists from the 16th to early 19th centuries, a sculpture park, Sokrates - another underground space turned into a sort of Wunderkammer with ancient artefacts in dialogue with contemporary artists such as Domenico Gnoli and Miquel Barcelo against a background of the crystal curtain given to us by Swarovski. Then the Hassan Fathy House usually showing works by Vu Cao Dam, Yannick's famous father, our friend Rebecca Horn and Gnoli is at the moment hosting a new collection of singular Moroccan artists from the south and next year we will add to the 14 Majorcan portraits we have by borrowing for three months another 26 pictures of children belonging to the islands foremost families if the financing can be arranged. We have a dedicated board of trustees and a mechanism for their renewal as well as an endowment that we believe will enable the foundation to continue over the years.

What do you do when you're not working?

We are at it 24/7 with time out for good food, wine and a swim now and then and of course visits to museums and galleries.

Where would you send someone who was after that something 'something special' to stay, eat or drink in Mallorca ?

Stay at Cap Rocat, a unique fortress on the sea near Palma that belongs to our friend the architect who refurbished it Antonio Obrador. The nicest place for dinner is Flanigan run by the extraordinary Miguel Arias. And for a spa, try the Font Santa Hotel with its thermal spa, with unique underground spring.

Anything you would like to tell the world ?

Keep on turning till its time to close down.

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Read more about the Jakober Foundation and click through to their website for current events and exhibitions.