BRINGING HERITAGE CLOSER. PHOTOGRAPHY IN NAVARRA. FUNDS AND COLLECTIONS

29 August 2012

Artistic photography in the Museum of Navarre: history, content and work of dissemination
D. Francisco Javier Zubiaur Carreño. Museum of Navarre

The Museum of Navarre's policy with regard to artistic photography began in 1984 with two specific lines of action: collecting (with the acquisition of the Ardanaz collection) and exhibition (with the monographic exhibition of the American painter and photographer Ben Shahn).

From the point of view of increasing the Museum's holdings, from then until now, 58 photographers' collections have been acquired, which have generated 23,993 images (almost 48% of the total collection held by the Museum), and the number of exhibitions has reached 36. In addition to the catalogues published for this purpose, the Documentary Collection of Contemporary Navarrese Artists includes more than 300 names of photographers whose documentation is constantly increasing and the centre's Library Services has more than 1,000 titles of this artistic specialization program .

The complete collections of Gerardo Zaragüeta Zabalo, Pedro Irurzun Irurzun, Nicolás Ardanaz Piqué (including his specialised Library Services ) and José Luis Bayona Baquedano stand out, as do the significant collections of Julio Altadill, Miguel Goicoechea and Paco Ocaña.

The Museum of Navarre has collaborated effectively in the revaluation of photography as an artistic medium and of photography by Navarrese artists in particular. And it has done so by adding the exhibition programme to collecting. In this respect, it is worth recalling the four exhibitions mounted around "Images in Time. Historic Photographers of Navarre", and the monographic exhibitions on Paco Ocaña, Koldo Chamorro, Carlos Cánovas, Chema Madoz, Nicolás López, among others, which were joined by great names in world photography: Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Inghe Morat, Martín Chambi and Alfonso.

This does not include all the photographs that are taken for documentary purposes as part of the museum's own work. The Museum of Navarre focuses its work on aspects relating to the history of this community.

Nicolás Ardanaz self-photographed with his nephew Félix in the back room of his drugstore.