"Publishing an article is not like sending a letter to the director of a newspaper".

Teresa Reina, from San Sebastian, defended her thesis on May 5 and will be awarded her doctorate on June 6. She studied History, Journalism and completed a Master's Degree in Museum Curatorship. Her thesis , Las exposiciones de arte contemporáneo como objeto de estudio histórico-artístico en el contexto español entre 1972 y 1983. Three case studies, analyzes the Encuentros de Pamplona (1972), the Venice Biennial (1976) and Fuera de Formato (1983). According to Teresa, "an exhibition is the mirror of its time", a core topic vehicle for the public to get to know artists and art.

Under the direction of Nieves AcedoSchool of Philosophy and Letters and ICS) and Carlos Chocarro (School of Architecture), their research addresses how different artistic disciplines converge in these exhibitions, from painting to performances. In addition, he introduces art curatorship as a discipline linked to the historical study of art.

P. Throughout your doctorate, have you had any significant finding that have made you change your initial approach?

There have been several discoveries, although my initial approach has not changed. One of them was with the documentation on the 1972 Pamplona Meetings, held during Franco's dictatorship. We had assumed that the civil governor had authorized the event, but we had no documentary evidence. On reviewing a file with the governor's memoirs we discovered that he refrained from prohibiting what happened in Pamplona. This finding confirms the perception of a certain openness in the 70s. It was a surprise because in 2021 I could not consult this file, but in 2024, at the end of my research, it was already available.

Q. How do you experience, as a doctoral candidate, the first time an article is rejected?

It's not like sending a letter to the director of the newspaper. You have to get a lot of rejections before you get a yes, and that's hard to take in mentally. And when a paper is accepted you have to make changes before it is published.

Although the system is a bit bureaucratic, you feel the satisfaction of knowing that the published result is better than the one you initially proposed. Those corrections and suggestions that you get, which are hard to accept, will make your work better. Publishing an article is like life itself: the process is hard, but it is worth it.

Q. How did you experience the day of the defense?

The final stage of the doctorate seems to me that physically and mentally it is the most difficult: you have already worked a lot, you are tired and impatient to close everything. You can keep revising and revising, you will always find mistakes, typos and things to improve.

The day of the defense was a moment of maximum enjoyment. The moment comes when you have to explain your research and you will be asked a series of questions that you do not know what they are. It is about highlighting your most interesting contributions, and reducing 300 pages to 30 minutes is hard, but the feeling that your work has been well understood and that your family tells you that they have taken position on what your work consists of is worth it.

Q. And how are you facing the days leading up to the investiture?

With great enthusiasm. As an opportunity to enjoy again the feeling of a work well done and to be grateful for this process of professional and staff learning.

Q. Is there anything you have missed during your years of research?

A notebook and a pen. Even if you use the computer and type the thesis , paper and pen are essential to take grade of the ideas that come to your mind, of those inspirations that come to you. If I were to review that notebook now, I would see that there are many crazy ideas, some have gone ahead and others have not, but they have always been with me.

P. If you had to define this process in one word, what would it be?

Maturity. When you start the thesis you think you are starting from scratch and that you have no idea about anything, but I have realized that all the tools I learned in the degree program and in the Master's Degree were there, although I was not aware of them. The skills that you had learned are very valuable. For example, all the tools I assimilated in the Journalism Degree about communication, interviews, exhibition, etc. were there and I have resorted to them during my research.