The 18 students of the second class of the Master in Curatorial Studies of the Museo Universidad de Navarra, from 12 countries, celebrated their graduation online this Friday. The event, broadcast through a private YouTube live stream, was made possible thanks to the commitment of students, professors and the University of Navarra.

Manuel Fontán, director of Museums and Exhibitions of the Juan March Foundation, who gave the keynote lecture; Jaime García del Barrio, director general of the Museo Universidad de Navarra; Nieves Acedo, director of Master's Degree; and María Carabias, delegate of the promotion. 

In addition, the students have been accompanied by teachers, family and friends who have attended the graduation ceremony from their homes. In total, more than 160 people followed the ceremony. During the ceremony, the virtual submission of diplomas took place.

In his speech, entitled What if our children want to be curators? Fontán addressed the new generation of curators and, above all, their parents, and stressed that "a good curator is a great curator". In this line, he vindicated the curator's official document as "one of the most beautiful professions in the world, necessary, magical, which is dedicated to curating works of art". 

Thus, he advised recent graduates that, if they want to be good curators, they should "look for ideas embodied in works of art, ideas that embody meaning and are grounded in life, without limits". For this reason, he also encouraged them, being "participants in a historical and unprecedented period", not to stop reading and looking: "A curator who does not read is a curator without ideas. I would not so much look at the images, but at the works themselves. The works must be cured because they are sick, in the sense that everything that lives can be wounded and die". 

Also alluding to the current paradigm, García del Barrio invited them to discover "new opportunities in an uncertain and complex environment". The Museum's director stressed the importance of enhancing the capacity of research, development and innovation, as well as of constantly looking to the future: "The artist anticipates what society will be debating, often even creating it". In this sense, he valued the role of art, capable of "seeking consensus and peace in the face of tension". 

For her part, Nieves Acedo "praised the imagination" because only with it will we know how to build the right thing" and stressed that one of the current challenges is "to look at a different world and seek a lucid view that allows us to get our understanding right". He also urged the students to walk "with courage, united, in network, collaborating, innovating and contributing the best of oneself".

In her speech, the delegate of the promotion has thanked the teachers for these months of learning and accompaniment that began "with enthusiasm and high expectations, a spirit that has been maintained throughout the course despite the status". Carabias also praised the opportunity to "learn every day how we can make a better world through culture and art". And he has valued that before this challenge they have a "valuable variety of tools to face the future without fear". 

Due to the coronavirus, the students have completed the classroom phase of Master's Degree in an exceptional distance model that has included, along with classes and exams, a workshop with the artist Daniel Canogar. After graduation, they face two new challenges: the presentation of their End of Degree work Master's Degree and the realization of professional internships. Currently, deadline is still open for registration for the third edition of Master's Degree, the only official postgraduate program in Spain in programs of study curatorial.