Art for Contemplation

 Oct. 7, '26 - Permanent
Curators: María José Zegers-Correa and Marta García Alonso
Location: Rooms 1, 2, 3, and 4

Museo Universidad de Navarra collection of paintings and sculptures Museo Universidad de Navarra presented in an innovative way designed to invite contemplation. Through the use of walls and texts, a journey is created that—by alternately concealing and revealing the works—will evoke a sense of wonder in the viewer.

Proposed by architects and professors at the School of Architecture María José Zegers-Correa and Marta García Alonso, the new layout of the painting and sculpture collection—whose core consists of the collection donated by María Josefa Huarte—seeks, above all, to focus on the viewer’s contemplation of the art.

Thus, through an unusual journey, the viewer will be surprised. For wonder is the gateway to a contemplative gaze: a gaze that, captivated by the work, begins to engage in a dialogue with the ineffable. This is the attitude we seek to foster, since only it can prepare the viewer to embrace what the work seeks to convey.

Within this approach, the furniture plays a fundamental role: it is not a matter of simply adding seats, but rather of designing pieces that invite visitors to linger and hold their gaze for as long as contemplation requires. In this way, each space is conceived as a place that the viewer must inhabit through presence: their own, that of the artwork, and that of the contemplative relationship between the two.

This establishes a dialogue between the artwork and the viewer that leads to what truly gives meaning to this project: contact with the transcendent—one of María Josefa Huarte’s goals in donating her art collection to the University.

Related activities

• Masterclass, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m.