Entorno Encuentro Exploración, a collective exhibition to recover and rediscover what surrounds us through artistic experience.

An invitation to recover, rediscover and relearn what surrounds us. This is the proposal of Entorno Encuentro Exploraciónthe exhibition that inaugurates the new exhibition season of the Museo Universidad de NavarraThe exhibition, selected from the Master's Thesis of the 2nd promotion of the Master's Degree in Curatorial Studies taught at the center. The proposal brings together works by ten artists from Spain, Argentina, Colombia, Canada and the United Kingdom: Daniela Acosta, Iñaki Chávarri, Olalla Gómez, Raúl Hevia, Antón Hurtado, Fernando Maselli, Ricardo Moreno, Kate McLean, Jessica Thompson and Ainize Txopitea.

The presentation was attended by curators Renata Alvarez, Manuel Gamaza and Maria Angelica Moreno, graduates of the master's program and members of Colectivo Sobremesa; artists Anton Hurtado, Ainize Txopitea and Olalla Gomez; and the director of the postgraduate program, Nieves Acedo. "The exhibition seeks to reflect on the feeling of instability and fragility left by the pandemic and confinement. It arises from a need to encourage the participation of the public and make them feel indispensable. That is why there are many works that require the interaction of the public to be activated," explained Gamaza.

ACTIVE PUBLIC

For this reason, visitors have an active role in the exhibition, participating in the operation of some works directly or delving deeper into them through the QR codes they will find next to each piece or on the web page that complements the exhibition: https://entornoencuentroexploracion.com/."For us it was extremely important that the artists had a direct connection with the public, with research, and that they were oriented to the didactic, since this is a university museum. We were looking for a direct link and we want people who visit the exhibition to feel connected to the space. The key word is encounter, and we want there to be an encounter between the artists, the visitors and the pieces," said Álvarez. In this line, Moreno recalled that the approach was initiated during the pandemic, "although many works were conceived before, but they were interested in the environment, in knowing oneself and how we recognize ourselves in front of others. In the exhibition we can transmit that experience and understand what it means to coexist in a space".

Thus, the public will be able to visit spaces in different cities through the different works, with which they will be able to interact. Pamplona is very present in the exhibition with works such as Smellmap, by English artist Kate McLean, who had already made an olfactory map in Pamplona in 2014 and is now looking to expand. "We proposed to create a new update with a participatory map in which they can intervene in the room. Then we created the contrast between how it smelled then and how it smells now, from the Museum," explains the curator. Another of the proposals related to the capital of Navarre, in this case sound, is Borderlineby Canadian Jessica Thompson. "The artist maps sounds and this project alludes to the invisible limits of cities and, through an app, investigates effects such as gentrification, pollution, displacement in neighborhoods...", says Gamaza.

Interpersonal connection

Another of the spaces that brings the exhibition closer is the most outstanding market of the Colombian city of Cartagena de Indias, through Bazurto Marketby Ricardo Moreno, which reproduces its sensory environment. Or the works Plaza Mayor y Planned Spaces by the Argentine Fernando Maselli, who captures spontaneous moments in Madrid neighborhoods where people meet on public streets. Likewise, the Asturian Raúl Hevia proposes a journey through color in Bilbao with his work History of painting in Bilbao through 8 districts, 39 neighborhoods, 872 streets, 1 archive, 453 samples, 2 legs and a map; and Iñaki Chávarri, from Madrid, exhibits his piece Separate, unitein which the phases of water act as elements of geographic and spatial union, transcending human barriers.

For her part, Olalla Gómez, from Madrid, explained in the presentation her proposal, entitled LIBERTADIt is an interactive work that is turned off until people, when passing by, activate it. A minimum of three is needed for it to be completed. It is a call to interdependence and to connect. There is a mutual affectation. This theme is also addressed by Colombian Daniela Acosta, who in The Price of Freedom captures the farewell of her grandmother and her sister at an airport, a moment full of uncertainty.

The presentation was also attended by Antón Hurtado from Pamplona, who presents a set of nine pieces and claims "the sensations that occur in the process of painting because painting represents an encounter with oneself". Likewise, Ainize Txopitea from San Sebastian highlighted the keys to her two proposals: "The time is now.The time is now is a diptych that addresses an issue that has always interested me a lot, to understand the archetypes of nature and the passage of time through its contemplation. Interestellar women shows an exile to another planet in search of peace and vitality and a vindication of women in a safe place, in another galaxy".

In addition, complementary activities will be offered to the public. There will be guided tours in person and online, as well as workshops with artists Raúl Hevia (open to all citizens) and Jessica Thompson (aimed at students of the Campus of the University of Navarra) and a special proposal for the association Eunate.