"Touristyfied" domesticity: the house museums of Salvador Dalí and César Manrique

Abstract

When tourists visit a house museum, we do not only examine works of art, but rather scrutinize an infrequent domestic space. Considering the house museums of Salvador Dalí (Portlligat) and César Manrique (Taro de Tahiche) we will analyze how tourists with our predatory and perverse peeking, notice decoration, furniture, interior and exterior spaces and, above all, the outstanding environment surrounding these homes. The authentic objects that once pertained to the artists, together with the inherited spatial experience, will thus turn into desire object and example for our own dwellings. Turning the house of an artist, or any other famous person, into a museum implies 'touristifying' its domesticity.