Six large-format versions of Mark Rothko's work Untitled (1969), exhibited on the stage of the Teatro del Museo Universidad de NavarraThe Rothko.50 project came to an end on December 19. The authors are the 1,512 schoolchildren between the ages of 6 and 18 from 28 schools in Navarre who participated in this initiative promoted by the Museum's Educational Department with the support of Fundación Caja Navarra. The closing ceremony was attended by students from the following schools: Escolapios Calasanz, Santo Tomás, María Inmaculada, Santa Catalina, El Molino, IES Mendillori and Irabia-Izaga. The students of the latter two schools also participated in the last two workshops of the program.

The starting point of this project, developed from September to December of this year, is the 50th anniversary of Untitled, a work painted by Rothko a year before his death. To celebrate this anniversary, the Museum has invited students from Primary Education, ESO, Baccalaureate, Vocational Training, Special Education and groups at risk of social exclusion to participate. Among the main objectives are learning to look, fostering creativity, teamwork and developing the philosophy of learning by doing, learning by doing and also having fun.

Fernando Echarri, head of the Museum's Educational Department, emphasizes that "we live in a very fast-paced society and the project proposes to stop and learn to look in depth, to contemplate. That is why the first activity in each workshop is to see the work. In addition, another objective is to work on creativity, which is increasingly valued. And it focuses, above all, on decision making and problem solving".

SELF-KNOWLEDGE THROUGH ART

Thus, after contemplating the painting and learning about the author's biographical and artistic keys, the schoolchildren work in the museum's workshops. "They all have to reproduce Rothko's works and must make decisions about technique, colors, shapes, etc., based on the artist's technique". In addition, participants learn to interpret. "We work on self-knowledge through contemporary art," says Echarri. Thus, each schoolchild has created two personal versions, one with markers and the other using the collage technique.

In addition, collectively, everyone has participated in the creation of the large-scale reproductions, the six collaborative murals. "Many groups have passed and we have only created six murals. The students have thus become aware that something apparently simple is actually complex. The light that Rothko's color has is very difficult to create," emphasizes the head of the area. Thanks to this project, they also learn to work as a team and experience the satisfaction of creating a project together.

Prior to the Rothko.50 project, two educational projects were developed at the Museum: the Gernika project, in the 2017-18 academic year, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Picasso' s work and the existence in the Museum's collection of Oteiza 's work Estela para un pueblo pacífico que era Gernika. The 2018-19 academic year saw the Kandinsky project in the Plaza del Castillo, based on the work of the Russian artist belonging to the collection. In addition to learning about his history and technique, the visit he made to Pamplona in 1929 along with other Bauhaus artists was made known. Both projects involved large collaborative murals. In 2020 a new project will take over.