Calendar

THE EDGE
Álvaro Laiz
7 Apr - 2 Oct

Name: THE EDGE Álvaro Laiz 7 Apr - 2 Oct
Start: 2022-04-07T08:00
End: 2022-04-08T07:59
Location: {

The Edge is the result of a project Tender Puentes, a creation project inspired by the Museum's collection and initiated in 2017.

In The Edge the artist embarks on an exciting journey from the Bering Strait to southern Chile, a long journey through time and genetics, the evolution of man and his relationship with the environment in which he lives. The mark he leaves on the Earth, on the people, on the cultures.

Nature, traditional culture and technology converge in the artist's research work.

The geographical journey of The Edge project follows the footsteps of the Paleo-Siberian populations that, 20,000 years ago, passed from Asia to America through the Bering Strait, becoming not only the first settlers of America, but also the ancestors of the peoples that later inhabited this territory.

The Edge also collects questions about the Anthropocene era and how humans relate to each other and to other species.

A National Geographic Storytelling Fellow since 2021, the artist combines in The Edge the poetic yet powerful idea of shared memory and science through the analysis of population genetics data, and brings to the table the discourse on current migratory processes throughout the Americas.

In The Edge, the artist has sought scientific and consulting support to incorporate sustainability in all its aspects into the realization of the project. This has given rise to a parallel project called Beyond the Edge.

Beyond the Edge. Commitment to sustainability.

The consulting firm Ureculture has accompanied the artist in this project committed to sustainability with which they seek to implement circular thinking in artistic practices and museography, while measuring and minimizing the environmental impact of the project and the exhibition with professional tools.

Inside Beyond the Edgethe artist and the consulting firm have proposed the RE-FRAME initiative that promotes the circular economy in the exhibition through, among other elements, the manufacture of frames designed with a circular perspective and that have been produced specifically for the pieces in the exhibition in cellulose waste material.

The Museum, which has accompanied this project from its first steps within the program, also supports this parallel project, which is aligned with the University of Navarra's 2025 Strategy focused on sustainability. Tender Puentesalso supports this parallel project, which is aligned with the University of Navarra's Strategy 2025 focused on sustainability.

As part of this support, a working group has been formed with members from other schools and faculties, and from the Strategy 2025 development team, which will seek to measure the Museum's actual energy consumption over the time frame during which the exhibition can be visited in its galleries.

This University and Museum project with the artist seeks to unite architecture, art and sustainability.

Beyond the Edge was made possible with support from the National Geographic Society, Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the Museo Universidad de Navarra.

BIOGRAPHY

Álvaro Laiz (León, 1981) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work encompasses different techniques of expression such as photography, video, sound and writing.

He specializes in anthropological and environmental photography. Since 2021 he has been a National Geographic Storytelling Fellow, and in 2016 he received a grant from this institution for the realization of the project.

In 2017 he published his first book The Hunt (Dewi Lewis/RM 2017), a reconstruction of a story with echoes of Moby Dick of one man against the most fearsome and efficient predator of the Boreal Jungle: the Siberian tiger. It was presented at Les Recontrès de Arlès 2017 and selected by the British Journal of Photography as "Best of 2017".

Álvaro's work has been recognized by several institutions such as Sony World Photography Awards, World Press Photo, Visura or Fundación Cerezales.

LEARN MORE

Download the room sheet of this exhibition