The University of Navarre Museum is a finalist in the New European Bauhaus competition, organized by the European Commission
The University of Navarre Museum is a finalist in the New European Bauhaus competition, organized by the European Commission
In the heart of the University of Navarre’s campus, in Pamplona, we can find the UNAV Museum, an open space where collections inspire artists and, in turn, artists inspire visitors and society. Through an innovative program based on the Museum’s own collection and driven by the visual and performing arts, the Museum and its interdisciplinary approach to art are updating their legacy; transferring artistic tools, values, and resources to society in hopes of improving life through art and the meaningful experiences which it entails.
The museum was created in 2015 to contribute to the innovative educational model proposed by this university, which seeks to train young people in a complex and increasingly more international world. Aiming to achieve excellence in terms of the humanistic perspective and values, the Museum presents its art as an indispensable tool for education.
Two legacies gave rise to the museum project: a donation from engineer and photographer José Ortiz Echagüe, and the collection of modern and abstract art belonging to María Josefa Huarte. Though they are, at first glance, different from each other, the institution’s team of experts saw an intrinsic connection between the popularity of photography and the development of the modern and abstract movements. Beginning with the initial 32,000 pieces that made up these two donations, the museum has expanded its collection to 250,000 paintings, sculptures, and photographs and now has works by renowned artists such as Eduardo Chillida, Jorge Oteiza, Pablo Picasso, Antoni Tàpies, Mark Rothko, and Vasili Kandinsky.
As part of the university, the museum also offers a Master’s Degree in Curatorial Studies that features a program in which students are trained as curators through methodology based on practical learning within the humanistic context and upholding the standards of the University of Navarre.
The museum has a theater where the performing arts enter into a dialog with other artists and disciplines, generating hybrid experiences that contribute to the institution’s legacy, which is updated with each project –not only in the visual arts field but also in the performing disciplines through dance, music, and theater. All this makes for a line of work that serves as an inspiration for an ambitious educational, training, and cultural program for university students and for the general public. Learning and enrichment that are transferred to today’s society and tomorrow’s audiences.
This progressive way of stimulating creation leads to a sustainable art system in terms of economy andinvestment. The artists and the center invest together in the sustainability of the art sector, moving towards a system less dependent on institutional grants and more based on a shared commitment. This model has led the museum to be a finalist in the New European Bauhaus initiative, organized by the European Commission, which rewards the establishment of new, more beautiful, sustainable, and inclusive forms of living together.
University of Navarre Museum
University Campus, Pamplona.
