Students of the Master's Degree in Curatorial Studies visit the Venice Biennale and other art venues in the city

From May 10 to 14, the students of the IV promotion of the Master's Degree in Curatorial Studies of the Museo Universidad de Navarra traveled to Venice to visit the Biennale and other artistic spaces in the Italian city. The students had the opportunity to get to know the most relevant international art event in this outing coordinated by Iciar Sagarminaga and accompanied by the director of the postgraduate course, Nieves Acedo, and professor Gabriel Pérez Barreiro.

During the curatorial trip they also visited the Spazio Berlendis; the Olga and Hugo Levi and In Between Art Film foundations; the large monographic exhibition Open-end, by Marlene Dumas, at Palazzo Grassi; the Lucio Fontana, Antony Gormley exhibition at Negozio Olivetti; and the studio of artists Penzo + Fiore.

María Gallegos, Art History graduate and delegate of the class, explains that the trip "has been very enriching, as we have had the opportunity to live the experience of the Venice Biennale first hand, getting to know the different proposals presented by the countries. This is essential for our training as curators, as we have seen reflected the concepts and theory seen during the course. In addition, we have had the opportunity to meet different artists who, from their experience, have given us to know other interesting aspects in this field".

Her colleague Ximena Quinzo, a graduate in Anthropology and Archaeology, values the field trip to Venice as "one of the best experiences of the master's program, especially because it was at the end of the classes. The visits we made to galleries and artists' studios provided a different point of view compared to the other field trips. We have been able to contrast how different curators work and what are the points of connection between the themes developed in the exhibitions we have seen throughout our studies."

SUMMER INTERNSHIPS

The experience that Gallegos was most interested in was getting to know the Biennial: "It gave us a better understanding of what an international exhibition and a major event in contemporary art is, and how each pavilion is organized. For his part, Quinzo highlights the visit to Palazzo Grassi: "I liked it a lot because the exhibited pieces constantly dialogue with the space, at the same time that its catalog was made with the artist and we can have a more personal point of view about the works shown. This constant work with the artist is something I wish to achieve in the curatorial practice, thinking of my work as a curator as a bridge between him or her and the public. On the other hand, Palazzo Grassi also houses part of the Pinault Collection. And it is also interesting to observe the dialogue between it and the other space of the same collection located in Paris".

During the summer, the students will carry out their professional internships in different museums and art centers. Gallegos will soon travel to Madrid to join the CA2M Museum team, while Quinzo's destination is Bombas Gens - Centre d'Art, in Valencia. "I'm super excited to get to know another art scene, as well as to contrast different work methodologies in order to find my own. I'm also interested in looking for new research topics in the curatorial area, in addition to developing my skills learned in the master's degree in the areas of collection and exhibitions," highlights Quinzo.