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Inmaculada Jiménez Caballero , Professor at School of Architecture, University of Navarra

The phenomenon of Contemporary Art

Wed, 05 May 2010 08:58:37 +0000 Published in Navarra Newspaper

Every year and in different calls, public opinion is stirred by the phenomenon of Contemporary Art. Society and the media talk about art, write about art, and exhibit art. Contemporary Art. Given the social acceptance of the same, it seems interesting to me to pay attention to the phenomenon itself rather than to the different fairs that arouse this interest.

Contemporary art has been provoking silence in those who contemplate it for years. I am not referring to the silence present from the beginning of the work of creation described by architect Louis I. Kahn. That silence that is produced when, before the constancy of the work of art, one becomes mute. I am referring to the silence caused by the ignorance of elements that allow us to identify the object contemplated as a work of art, and that leads us to the mimetic attitude of accepting it because the media and public opinion establish it as a work of art.

Together with this, administrations and political action place contemporary art at the forefront of their strategies, I do not know if with conviction or also by mimicry of those who make such decisions.

Of all the mysteries of the universe, none is as profound as creation. As Stefan Zweig says, sometimes we are given attend to that miracle, and it is given to us in only one sphere: that of art. By virtue of what magic does a man manage to perform that miracle? How does a man equal to another, a mere mortal, manage to form an immortal work with some simple materials? A question that mankind has always asked itself and that two centuries ago Edgard Poe also enunciated.

It is in this panorama that I would like to present the alternative, in my opinion more avant-garde, in which we can be active protagonists in the world of Contemporary Art.

Navarre, so small in territory and population, has three Universities, or in other words, three centers dedicated to the study and research.

We also know that currently the knowledge is the most valuable resource , and that this resource is deposited in the people who daily dedicate all their energy to this productive activity. In the case of art, this activity refers specifically to the research on creative processes, i.e. innovative acts, which arise from nothing and transcend time and people. research and development with result of Innovation. Navarra also has a tradition of study and research in high quality artistic subjects that until today have been directed fundamentally to the historical patrimony.

It is here where I want to incorporate my proposal of action contrary to the prevailing fashion of competing for similar things among equals.

It seems interesting to me to avoid mimetic postures of competing "star" centers. Let's avoid continent constructions, impact actions, media alternatives, and let's build what is most valuable -the knowledge- on resources in which we are pioneers: 3 consolidated university centers; several museums and centers dedicated to the production on the topic of art, among them in a very relevant way the Oteiza Foundation Museum; some art galleries active for many years, and a patronage that has not yet been recognized as it deserves, that of the Huarte family, who dreamed of making Pamplona a Basel several decades ago.

Let's make of our land not a place to choose in a tourist pathway . Let's make it the reference to study in depth all those pending issues since the early years of the twentieth century. The great added mysteries that surround the already mysterious activity of Contemporary Art.

All advanced countries have in their universities an indicator of wealth and development. In Navarra, to the existing assets, the Center for Contemporary Art of the University of Navarra is now added at a moment of extraordinary opportunity.

All the research linked to it, is a magnificent opportunity to help decipher those great arcana that stand before the astonished gazes and the bewildered silence that will be imposed between the deafening media noise of the spaces of each fairgrounds in different places in each expected call.

There may be many alternatives to contemplate it, but to understand Contemporary Art, Pamplona is the international place of reference letter. Just an idea.