October 3, 2012

Global Seminars & Invited Speaker Series

AROUND THE EXHIBITION OCCIDENS. DISCOVER THE ORIGINS

About the exhibition project Occidens. Discover the origins

D. Francisco Javier Aizpún Bobadilla
Episcopal Vicar of Economics and Patrimony. Archbishopric of Pamplona

The West is not only a geographical space or a civilization. Above all, it is a way of understanding life that has as its foundation the dignity of the person, freedom, solidarity and the defense of the weakest. 

Navarra has been built on the framework of Western culture. Our values are those of the West. Our history is that of the West. Each stage in the history of the West has been a stage in the history of Navarre. Every crossroads of the West has been a crossroads of Navarre. On the other hand, Navarre has also collaborated in an important way in the construction of the West.

Our western identity has been built throughout the history of Navarre. A history that has an exceptional architectural expression in the cathedral complex of Pamplona. All the stages of the history of the West are represented in it.

The cathedral complex has been growing and changing according to the ages of the West. Each transformation is linked to a religious, artistic and social upheaval. The architectural ensemble has been marked by the ages of average, the Modern and Contemporary Ages. Each of them introduces a new balance inside the holy city. Each new configuration of the Cathedral complex is an expression of a new configuration of the West.

Therefore, the exhibition explains the roots of the West through the history of Navarre, touring the spaces of the cathedral complex. And in this tour it is intended to reflect on the values and foundations that are necessary to face an uncertain future in times of change.

A Contemporaneity is being built that runs the risk of forgetting its roots, renouncing our essential values. It is important that this new global civilization that is being born preserves everything that humanizes people and societies. What are these values, this is the discussion and the reflection that the exhibition Occidens intends to launch.

Throughout exhibition it is explained how the West is the fruit of a long historical construction based on four pillars: the Greek heritage (Athens), the Latin heritage (Rome), the Judeo-Christian heritage (Jerusalem) and the Germanic spirit brought by the barbarian invasions.

They are four legs of a table that does not yet have a table top. The tabletop is provided by the Gregorian Reformation. With it, the West was born. The revolution carried out by the Popes of the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries will be the instrument with which the synthesis of the inheritances contributed by Athens, Rome, Jerusalem and the Germanic spirit is realized.

Finally, the fullness of the West will come with the Modern Age.

Map of Greece. Parergon sive veteris geographiae aliquot tabulae. 1548. Library Services Pamplona Cathedral (20-1)

Map of the Roman Empire. Parergon sive veteris geographiae aliquot tabulae. 1548. Library Services Cathedral of Pamplona (20-1)