8 February 2007

Conference

PRESENTATION OF THE REPORT 2006 OF THE CHAIR OF HERITAGE AND ART OF NAVARRE

Throughout its second year of life, the Chair de Patrimonio y Arte Navarro has intensified the pace of its activities and increased the issue number of attendees given the interest of its cycles and conferences and the novelty of the proposals. Along these lines, the lecture series New Lines of Action in Heritage presented recently researched topics or those still being developed, living topics, not inert ones, which are disseminated directly from researcher to society, keeping it up to date with the advances in the knowledge on cultural heritage. Subjects such as 16th century brushwork, The Nagore Altarpiece or Silverware in collecting and in the art market offer that novelty and that interest that society demands and appreciates.

Similarly, the series on The Hieroglyphs of Pamplona City Hall. Royal image and ceremonial at position by the professors of the Chair Molins and Azanza, made Navarrese society aware for the first time of the important series of hieroglyphs, the only one conserved on the peninsula, which is kept in the City Hall of the city. In the permanent interest of bringing art and heritage closer and facilitating its knowledge and enjoyment by society, the lectures on Reading and understanding the work of art, and Heritage and school: a didactic proposal by professors Silva and Felones respectively, were part of the permanent interest of bringing art and heritage closer and facilitating its and enjoyment by society.

Among the many activities carried out, the Summer Course held from 18 to 21 September under the title degree scroll Acercar el Patrimonio. The Baztan Valley: men, architecture and landscape. attendance The sessions took place in Elizondo at the Casa de Cultura Arizkunenea and in Arizkun and Azpilkueta and were attended by a large number of local residents and visitors from outside the Valley. The lecturers from the Chair and guest lecturers from other universities explained architectural ensembles, traced the historical profile of illustrious people from Baztania and spoke about the school of landscapes that the lyrical beauty of the Valley inspires. visit The programme was rounded off with a visit to the Jorge Oteiza Ethnographic Museum of Baztan, guided by the painter Ana María Marín.

The Chair de Patrimonio y Arte Navarro also took part in two major events this year, the Centenary of Saint Francis Xavier and the reopening of Tudela Cathedral after its restoration. In the former, several professors participated with presentations and publications on the exhibition Iconography of St Francis Xavier, curated by Professor Ricardo Fernández Gracia. Regarding the second, the Chair organised a series of conferences in Tudela and Pamplona on different aspects and periods of the cathedral, which were a great success with the public, who followed the sessions with visible interest, with lively colloquiums being held at the end. Also in celebration of the events, the Chair paid tribute to the Casa de Misericordia on its 3rd Centenary with a lecture series on Festive Poster and Bullfighting coinciding with the publication of the book El cartel de la feria del toro and the subsequent exhibition on the topic of which the professors of the Chair Azanza and Urricelqui were curators.

The roundtable on A Forgotten Heritage: Historic Houses in Navarre, which brought together representatives and specialists from topic to discuss the problems of this sector of heritage, as well as possible ways of protecting and conserving it, aroused particular interest and was a great success with the public. Painting and Photography was the degree scroll of another cycle that analysed the work of the painter Inocencio García Asarta and the photographer Miguel Goicoechea.

position Finally, the Christmas in the Arts cycle dealt with the Salzillo Nativity Scene and the Principe Nativity Scene, and the conferences were given by Professor Belda and the curator of National Heritage, Dr. Herrero, respectively. visit The cycle concluded with a guided tour of the exhibition A Belén Pastores! Historical Nativity Scenes of Navarre, guided by Ricardo Fernández Gracia, curator of the exhibition.

During the past year the Chair continued with its work professor giving the seminar of Navarrese Art, both to university students and people from the city, since it is a course open to anyone interested. The classes at position of different specialists in the subject were combined with visits to exhibitions, repeated explanations in the Museum of Navarre, Cathedral and cultural trips, with highly satisfactory results. In this way, the university teaching is opened to society in general according to an updated program and methodology.

At the same time as these activities, the Chair has been increasing its still incipient line publishing house , with the publication of El fondo iconográfico del P. Schurhammer. La report de Javier en las imágenes, authored by Ricardo Fernández Gracia, and the publication of Cuadernos de la Chair de Patrimonio y Arte Navarro, no. 1, issue graduate programs of study on Pamplona Cathedral in memoriam Jesús Mª Omeñaca, in homage to the man who dedicated his life and his work to the religious heritage of Navarre, has begun. The volume brings together an extensive group of articles by various specialists who contribute new information on different aspects of Pamplona Cathedral and constitutes an important contribution to the knowledge of the first temple. lecture It was presented at an event at which Professor Pedro Navascués, Vice-Director of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, gave a lecture on cathedrals, which served as an appropriate framework for the tribute.

On the other hand, the web page of the Chair has continued with the classroom Abierta and its usual sections of the Piece of the month, Recensión de publicaciones and has started a new one, Recorriendo nuestro patrimonio, which offers itineraries such as proposal cultural.

Through the activities described above, the Chair de Patrimonio y Arte Navarro has made itself known during these two years, not only locally but also nationally, and has occupied a cultural space to develop its aims centred on knowledge, the dissemination and conservation of its own heritage, something which, in view of the warm response and reception from the public, it must be acknowledged that Navarrese society was missing and demanding. The Chair wishes to continue along these lines of involving society in the live issues that affect our Cultural Heritage.

María Concepción García Gainza
Director of the Chair de Patrimonio y Arte Navarro (Navarrese Heritage and Art)