Graduates from the Museo Universidad de Navarra Master’s Degree choose the works from the Fundación ARCO Collection to be exhibited at ARCOmadrid 2025
The curators will undertake this curatorial project supervised by a team from CA2M, where the collection is currently housed. The Sala Consejo, a space designed by the architect Pedro Pitarch, will host this selection of works during the fair, which will take place at IFEMA MADRID from 5-9 March.
Four graduates from the 7th Graduating class of the Master's Degree in Curatorial Studies at the Museo Universitario de Navarra have been invited to curate the selection and installation of works from the Fundación ARCO Collection, which will be exhibited in ARCOmadrid’s Sala Consejo from 5-9 March. A team from the CA2M (Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo), headed by its director, Tania Pardo, is collaborating with the curators on this project, which will be presented in a space designed by architect Pedro Pitarch.
This curatorial work has been entrusted to the students whose Master’s Degree Final Project (TFM) was selected from among those of this past academic year. Entitled “Dear spectator, what are you looking at?”, this exhibition project that will soon be on show at the MUN, brings together 35 works from the Fundación ARCO Collection, which, since 1987 has featured pieces by renowned national and international artists, including Jon Mikel Euba, Sigmar Polke, Eva Fábregas, Teresa Solar Abboud, Anish Kapoor, Thomas Schütte, Teresa Margolles, Mario Merz, Elena Asins, Boltanski and Jorge Macchi. In the proposal presented in their TFM, they invite each person to be the protagonist of the visit and to reflect on how they look at the works, adopting possible ways of connecting with them.
It was the very nature of Fundación ARCO that provided the potential for this project. As its director, Maribel López, explains, one of the foundation’s missions is “to offer opportunities, tools and visibility to new generations of curators.” To this end, it has placed its collection at the disposal of the Museo Universidad de Navarra’s Master’s Degree graduates, reaffirming its commitment “to supporting young people”. She adds: “Bringing new voices of contemporary art to the fore is a responsibility we take on as a fair.”
The curators – Florencia Baliña, Andrés Ruiz, Aroa Urteaga and Andrea Vargas – have presented an exhibition that focuses on the figure of the viewer of contemporary art, asking which ways of looking are activated when they are in contact with each work of art. It is based on the premise that the act of looking is in itself a form of action, since the viewer also “does” by selecting, comparing and interpreting.
“It is a privilege to be able to work with a collection of this importance, containing artworks that are so stimulating for us,” says Florencia Baliña, a member of the curatorial team. “It is also an opportunity to share our vision of the ARCO Collection with other stakeholders.” With regard to their working process, she explains that when thinking about an exhibition, the team attaches great importance to considering who each work is addressed to, and who the visualised target viewer is; in this case, specifically, professionals from the art world who will be visiting the ARCOmadrid fair.
ARCOmadrid’s Sala Consejo is a meeting place for patrons, collectors and national and international cultural agents, and is the venue for the International Council’s annual luncheon and private meetings with museum directors.
MUSEUM PRESS CONTACT
Marta Vidan / mvidan@unav.es / museo.unav.edu / 948 425600 - ext. 803409