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An adventure in a Cistercian abbey

Posted on 15/07/2024

HOW CAN WE MAKE SURE THAT OUR CULTURAL HERITAGE IS PRESERVED IN THE FUTURE?  

Since 2021 when we began the program “monasteries past present and future”, there has been one idea that has been repeated continuously, namely that it is impossible to maintain our cultural heritage without really knowing it.

It doesn´t matter how big the investments in the rehabilitation of the heritage sites are if new generations take them for granted or even worse, they don´t know about their existence.

On the other hand, we cannot have any guarantee of decent rehabilitations in the future if people in charge of them know nothing about the essence of these places nor they have ever experienced them.

Regarding that, we made a proposal to Irene Pascual, a young lady in charge of events and institutional communication at Monasterio de Valbuena, which is a luxury hotel belonging to the prestigious hotel brand Castilla Termal.

“How about we invite the staff of your hotel, which used to be a monastery, to get to know the everyday life of a real monastery?” This friendly talk was shot in a beautiful old chapel. And here you have it available in Spanish

At the same time, we also organise scholarships for young professionals who every year, travelled to visit real monasteries, and buildings that used to be monasteries but today have a different function such as hotels, cultural centres or museums. After the journey, they have to make an oral presentation talking about their experiences and conclusions they have reached. 

As an example, here you have the talk of the photographer José Luis Martínez Arce, just click here: 

Just like every year we also had the volunteering week. In 2023 it was held in San Pedro de Cardeña, Burgos in the region of Castilla y Leon (Spain). You can find out more about it here

Hora del café

Now in 2024 we were at Monasterio de La Oliva, in Carcastilo, Navarra. Read on to find out what we did.  

A VOLUNTERING WEEK BUT A FILMING WEEK AS WELL  

Pablo Beorlegui durante el rodaje en La Oliva

It was a fun but also intense week. Not only because all the team has been working hard on getting to know the daily life inside a monastery, the real “ora et labora” of the monks, their prayers, playing music, keeping archives, gardening, maintaining supplies, among others, but also because of Miguel Arguibide and Pablo Beorlegui shooting their documentary there

En el campanario de La Oliva

Both are working on a documentary that will be released in autumn and as you can see in the photo below, we are sure that it will be a piece of work of a really high level 🙂 

Pablo y Miguel en un momento del rodaje

 

EXPERIENCES THAT WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN  

We are very much aware of the fact that, in general, the young are quite reluctant to participate in so called “cultural events”. And it´s probably because they associate them with the idea of having to listen to a lecture given by an expert. That is why we devote our efforts to make the young become the real protagonists of these events.

En la cocina del monasterio de La Oliva

Both boys and girls are welcome to participate in our events, although this year no girl signed up for the volunteering week. Everything this year’s volunteers learned when living with the monks helped them to better understand how difficult the maintenance of these big old buildings is.

What is more, everybody contributed to the project with their knowledge. For instance, Iñigo Medrano, who is an industrial engineer, talked about energy efficiency of solar panels and the need for keeping them thoroughly clean. So, here you can see the team cleaning the panels.

Limpiando las placas solares

There were moments of friendly meetings and time for having fun, especially at coffee time – sobremesa, which is typical of the Spanish lifestyle. Sobremesa is a time after lunch, especially during holidays or special days, when people spend their time just talking and sharing thoughts in an informal way.

Sobremesa

One aspect that everybody talked about was the big surprise that the elderly monks turned out to be for them. Their vitality and strength caught the attention of the young volunteers.

It was a worthwhile week. The volunteers had the chance to listen to the architect in charge of the renovation of the church, José Luis Franchez Apecechea.

Visita con José Luis Franchez.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

The volunteering week has been the last activity of the 2023/2024 academic year but not the end of the project.

Pablo and Miguel are still working on their documentary. From January to June 2024, they talked with many people, and it is not possible to include all the conversations in the documentary. For that reason, all the interviews are available on our Youtube channel.

Not only did they visit some monasteries, but they also explored some churches that are not churches anymore. Here you can listen to an interview in La Merced Library.

En la biblioteca de La Merced en Cuenca

It is located close to the seminar and in the old church of Our Lady of La Merced in the beautiful city of Cuenca, (Worldwide Heritage site) which is in the region of Castilla la Mancha, Spain. Click here to listen to the conversation:

Here is another example of a former church, Espacio Torner, also situated in Cuenca.

Just look at the beauty of Monastery of San Juan located in the north of Spain, in the city of Burgos, just on the way of Saint James (Camino de Santiago).

Pablo Ramos Aguado con Pablo Beorlegui y Miguel Arguibide en el antiguo monasterio de San Juan de Burgos

Another day to remember was the filming day with the female students of Instituto Antonio Machado, in the small town of Soria. They spent a morning together at Espacio Santa Clara. Click here if you want to find out more.

En el Espacio Santa Clara en Soria con alumnas del IES Machado

All the volunteers have worked hard, and each has contributed to the project with their creativity, personal worth and values, which makes Patrimonio para Jovenes a brilliant project. It is the result of the sum of high capacities of many enthusiastic people, of people who dare to do something different and who are not afraid to take on challenges.

Los volutnarios en la puerta de la iglesia con el P. Abad

We would also like to thank the Cistercians communities for trusting us. All these activities are described in detail in our annual report. Here you can see the delivery of the 2023 report at the abbey of San Pedro de Cardeña.

P. Abad de Cardeña con la memoria de Patrimonio para jóvenes

Thank you very much everybody for your attention.

Have a nice summer and we are coming back next autumn.

 

 

Blog

International Museum Day 2024

Posted on 06/06/2024

FROM CHILHOOD TO YOUTH. THE JOY OF SEEING OUR TEAM MEMBERS GROW

Years ago, at the very beginning of Patrimonio para Jovenes, some families joined our activities with their children and these children are not children anymore.

Currently, they are an important part of our content creation team. As an example, in the photo you can see Carlos Odériz 10 years ago.

WN&

Carlos is now a Psychology student. At the end of 2023 he was chosen as our association’s representative to prepare the event of International Museum Day 

He was enthusiastic about the proposal and look where he is now!

   Museums for Education and Research

This was the motto for 2024. Our proposal: under a watchful eye, museums are an ideal place to delve into any area of knowledge in which one is interested.

So, we proposed to Carlos that he analyse the permanent exhibition and, from the perspective of his interests as a Psychology student, choose a series of artworks to analyse character traits and themes.

He had been given very few guidelines. He had a lot of freedom to choose and organize his speech. Among the guidelines: that his presentation didn’t last more than 40 minutes, that he did something very personal, that his presentation and the moment created, were something unique. That he created an experience. “Data is forgotten, stories remain” was our mantra.

Carlos dispensed with the works in which faces are a prototype and took the visitors up to the second floor, which is an area of the museum with beautiful drawings, however, it is often forgotten by public.

Among the chosen works, this image that is seen above and the following one are of the actress Vera Vergani.

Vera Vergani

Some information about her is available in Spanish on Gustavo de Maeztu Museum website.

Carlos also talked about different self-portraits of Maeztu, and here you can see one of them.

Autorretrato de Gustavo de Maeztu

    A DAY TO REMEMBER

It was a lovely morning, full of good moments. Many people from Estella and Pamplona attended, as well as Carlos’s friends and family. Some people were visiting this museum for the first time and for us it was a great joy to be the cause of this discovery.

Público durante la visita en el Día Internacional de los Museos

Everybody applauded a lot at the end and many stayed asking Carlos questions and discussing ideas that arose around his presentation. Everything that a face, a gesture, a look or any other element of body language shows may spark new conversations.

Iniciio de la visita

For Carlos this was a very personal experience, which allowed him to create an affective bond with the portraits he had chosen. This was also the case of the experience lived by the students from Soria and their activity Proyecto Vozmediano. You can read about it in Spanish here.

We are very happy about this experience and we hope to keep enjoying this and other museums for many years to come.

Blog

Finalists at #InnovatorOfTheYear23 Project #FRH

Posted on 19/12/2023

Proud to announce we are finalists at the #FRHInnovatorOfTheYear project.

Thanks to  Future for Religious Heritage for this recognition. 

We really appreciate all the work done by our great team. Especially to Lucía Ruiz Ullate

 Ana Zabalegui

 

and José Luis Martínez Arce fotógrafo.

We also thank  Pilar Ortuño del Fraile and Tasio Ranz  for the graphic design

Cartel diseñado por Pilar Ortuño del Fraile

CARTEL DEL EVENTO DEL 16 DE SEPTIEMBRE EN SAN PEDRO DE CARDEÑA

We will continue working on this project with great care and we look forward to travelling to Krakow in september

Blog

Looking while people look

Posted on 18/05/2021

“The Oriental Institute (OI) was founded in 1919 to be an institution that studied the ancient cultures of the Middle East at the University of Chicago. Its collection holds more than 350.000 artifacts and its mission is to preserve, facilitate research and educate”. This information, the first that guests read when entering the galleries, is etched into my mind. It is not a surprise as I must have read it a hundred times.

Some months ago, while in my mission to discover all the museums in Chicago, I arrived at the Oriental Institute for the first time. At the time, the OI was one of the first in the city to reopen. Although there were masks, social distancing, and time constraints I was extremely happy to be back inside a museum after so long. That might have also affected my boldness when after my visit I went to the lobby and asked… “Do you have any openings?” Luckily for me, they did. And after a few emails, interviews, and safety training I donned my uniform and started my job as a gallery attendant.

My main role is to ensure guests’ comfort and safety while in the museum. Currently, this sometimes means having to remind visitors of Covid-19 regulations -my most uttered phrase must be “please Sir/Madam, could you please adjust your mask?-. But in general, my shifts are divided between answering questions, reading museum labels when the galleries are empty, and just seeing how people look and engage with the artifacts. I was surprised by how much I learned just by doing the latter

        

When I started my journey at the Oriental Institute I expected certain behaviors and questions. After all, I had been to many museums in my lifetime and I had interacted with gallery attendants before. And while people do ask for the bathroom, Wifi password, exit, closing time, or Covid-19 policies, these questions are not as common as I thought. Most guests approach me curious about the artifacts themselves. Sometimes, these encounters make for funny anecdotes such as the young man who asked me to explain the whole Mesopotamia exhibit for him because “he did not want to read anymore”. Or the student who argued with me that the cuneiform tablets could not be translated because “how would they know how to understand them if they were not there?”.

However, the most common question has always been “is this an original?”. This was asked in reference to almost anything: the mummies in the Egypt room, the ceramics in the Mesopotamia gallery or the gigantic bull of Persia -to name a few- were all artifacts I got quizzed about. Furthermore, visitors from very diverse backgrounds, ages, and behaviors in the exhibition would coincide in this question. From 12 year olds to to retired grandmothers.

The question in itself was not surprising. After visiting other museums in Illinois I saw that finding real-size reproductions of historical objects and environments was not uncommon. Some examples could be the White House in Abraham Lincoln’s Museum in Springfield or the Jazz Club in Chicago’s History Museum. It was not surprising then for guests to question whether the lamassu they saw was or not the real deal.

However, what perplexed me was the reaction to my affirmative answer – artifacts are real besides a few labeled casts made in a different color-. There was amazement and glee when considering the age of the objects -many even quoted how smart “their ancestors” were – but the casts also had positive reactions. There was no loss of interest in an object because it had been identified as a copy, people would still photograph it and spend time observing it. Authenticity did not seem to matter or at least it was not needed to appreciate the object.

Questions regarding authenticity and visitor expectations are more complex than what I can conclude by just watching people for a few months. But they have now resurfaced in my mind after this experience. I have enjoyed my work as a gallery assistant and now that my days in Chicago come to a close I will be sad to abandon it. I leave hoping that my time in the OI has helped guests enjoy and reclaim the physical space that is a museum.

I would like to thank my coworkers -especially Miguel for posing with me for the photos- for all their conversations, and my boss Vick Cruz -Manager of Visitor Services and Security– for taking the amazing photos that enhance this article.

Blog

EUROPEAN HERITAGE DAYS. JAVIER, NAVARRA, SPAIN

Posted on 11/10/2020

A very special European Heritage Days

By the end of June, in agreement with the city hall of Javier, we decided to let the 2020’s European Heritage Days start, with this year’s slogan “Education and Heritage”. Everything was new and uncertain, the confinement during spring had just ended, so we were facing summer with as much excitement as uncertainty there was. Said this, the best option was to design a safe yet versatile plan for the Heritage Days, that could easily adapt to whatever may the future bring.  We had to do it, we had to do it for culture, for life, for giving work opportunities, even if they were small and according to our resources, but we had to get moving. So, the first thing we did was to connect our volunteers with the town of Javier, with its heritage and with its people as well.

Early meetings in Javier, during summer

Get to know each other, undertake, create

Once the program was projected with guided visits to the castle, summer concerts previous to the saved dates, talks about sailing during the times of Saint Francisco Javier, and the main course,  the outing of the paintings of the Dance of the Death at the Chapel of Saint Christ of the Castle of Javier, we presented it to the town at an open session in the City Hall.

Visiting over and over again

One of the things that the volunteer have done, especially María and David Rodríguez, was to learn a lot about the castle. They were present during many days of guided visits, they got plenty of reading material and then they rehearsed those visits on their own.

The organizing team next to the city mayor and one of the town councilors.

Another one of the studied spaces was of course, the Chapel of Saint Christ, or the Christ of the Smile. A small, non-visitable space. Why is that? Mainly for two reasons, the first one – at least chronologically- to preserve the paintings of the dance of the death, which are very close to the human touch. The second and nowadays most important reason, is that this space that invites to meditation and observation, makes it impossible to keep safety distances. It’s a heavy reason due to its sanitary importance

Those curious reflections seen on the picture have a reason: that photograph is taken from a superior floor and through a glass wall from where all the Chapel and its paintings are visible

All the volunteers visited the chapel and learned about the iconography and peculiarities of these pictures in Javier

Creative Implication. Fundamental for Patrimonio para Jóvenes.

Besides learning, in our Association it is very important to create. We look for implication, creation, thinking for a better support and communication of heritage to new public spaces. We had a challenge in our hands: We have to preserve, but how can we spread something that’s closed to the public? There are many precedents and examples of this dilemma. Probably one of the best known in Spain is the case of the Altamira Caves.

With this idea on mind, with the help of the photographer María Cantero, and the architect Juan Roldán Marzo, we prepared an expositive design that would exteriorize the paintings of the Dance of the Death. It was fundamental that they could be seen closely, yet in open and safe spaces, and people could interact with them to have a better understanding of this iconography. Here are some pictures of the process.

On the left, Laura Guindano mayor of Javier, talking with photographer María Cantero
María Cantero during her photographic tasks

This wasn’t an easy job for María Cantero. The space is very tight and dark too. It took many hours in the chapel and overall, a lot of time focused on the edition and adjustment of the images.The result was extraordinary and that helped Juan Roldán on the creation of individual panels from which the skeletons could be removed. Before going through all the paintings, he presented in Javier a prototype created with the help of his friends from “Rótulos Diper”

Laura Guindano with Juan Roldan on August

Until the day arrived, the music…

We thought it was a good idea to create previous events to the European Heritage Days. A jazz concert in the terrace of a bar in a summer evening was something convenient, nice and relaxing. So we did that.

Iñaki Rodríguez

We called our friends form Pamplona Jazz, who had already been with us on February in ‘”In love with a museum ” Back then, we couldn´t suspect the circumstances that would bring us together again.

Luisa Brito

Nevertheless, the important thing was the reencounter with Iñaki, Luisa and Ramón, and how great their music sounded, leaving astonished to all of those who hadn’t listened them before.

Ramón García

Here are some pictures of that August evening.

They day finally came

We had walked a long road for months. Bonds were tightened, Knowledge grew, we enjoyed it fully, and September 25th came and left as any other day, but leaving great memories behind.

That Friday we didn’t have the usual summer weather of past Heritage Days. It was cold, on Saturday it rained, but we felt the warmth of the Heritage, of the fruits of a thoughtful work done for a long time. That Friday 25th we greeted members of the Institute of Naval History and Culture, Eduardo Bernal and José Cánovas. They talked about “Sailing in the times of Saint Francisco Javier” and the circumnavigation of Magallanes-Elcano”.


Cánovas. They talked about “Sailing in the times of Saint Francisco Javier” and the circumnavigation of Magallanes-Elcano”.

We filled our allowed capacity. Everybody helped out by having a seat and keeping a distance, and the hotel staff meticulously took care of the distribution of the room for the people’s safety. The next day, people arrived to enjoy the guided visits that María and David had rehearsed so much

An European Heritage Days that we will never forget

It was lovely to watch the support and affection they received from their firends. All of them came to Javier to discover the castle in a very special way. The public that day was heroic. Bad weather, rain and cold, and yet they were there

David Rodriguez during one of the visits

The groups of each guided visit, normally with a máximum of 20 people, were now reduced to 15. That meant we had to put extra work because the demand was bigger, but we delightfully complied.

I myself was in the porch of the building next door explaining the externalization of the Dance of the Death

María Odériz preparing everything before the public’s arrival
General view of the exhibition room with the paintings of the “Dance of the Death”

One of the essentials of this exhibition was, as I said above, interaction. To get people to enjoy and understand, and therefore, to leave with the feeling of discovering a new face of Javier, appreciating its heritage a little more. There were very fun moments and many people took pictures. Here are some of our volunteers.

In the afternoon we had scheduled a visit to the “molinaz”, ( The molino) the ruins of an ancient mill next to Javier. A walk by a gorgeous river, but unfortunately they day didn’t help us. Our volunteers went through the route and verified that there was too much mud and tangled roots that could end in a dangerous accident, specially four our elderly visitors.

We opted to listen to the talk at the City Hall, and it was great to listen to Enrique Galdeano. In a pleasant yet insightful way, he made us realize about many dilemmas that come up during art restoration, about our experiences facing ruins and the meaning of ancient buildings through time.

At last but not least, with Jorge Feito , Technical Manager Mining at Geoalcali a present and on-line talk about “Nurturing the earth”, because landscape is part of our heritage as well, and knowing how to take care of the field that surrounds us is very important.

The only thing left to say is that finally, for another year, we’ve peaked. Thank you all for coming, Thanks to the town of Javier for trusting Patrimonio para Jóvenes on the management of this European Heritage Days.

Blog

In love with a museum

Posted on 17/03/2020

            Our main goal: a young public

When we head to a museum and propose activities with teenagers or young people in general, their response is almost always filled with surprise. Young people? But they never want to come! And we say, yes. We are looking for those who don’t want to come. Some really want to though, but they feel a little ashamed of this due to peer pressure.

We want to ask, Why don’t they want to come?

Can we put the blame on the  educational system? Is efficiency much more important than creativity and learning to look at art?

At this point, a very interesting book by Nuccio Ordine comes in handy:  “ The use of the useless “L’utilità dell’inutile. Manifesto”

And after all the questions, we head right into action. Doing this in a way they can enjoy it, with the ideal language, time and so on.

Public within their fifties are loyal to the museums. Especially women. It doesn’t matter  what exhibition is ongoing , what a conference is about, they’ll go. And it happens in big, well known  museums such as the Prado Museum, as in smaller ones in tiny villages, just as the Gustavo de Maeztu Museum.

        “ Feel the museum” was born 

For more than a year, the Gustavo de Maeztu Museum was closed because of the installation of an elevator. Something absolutely needed in order to allow old people or people with disabilities to have access to the museum rooms.

With the occasion of the new opening , Camino Paredes, the person in charge of the museum, asked Patrimonio para jovenes for some proposals of activities here.

Talking about accessible museums we thought of “ Feel the museum”, with special focus on people with visual disabilities or straight blindness. It was about touching the objects represented in four paintings of the museum. Wood, porcelain, silk, jewelry, headdresses, fabrics… Even with perfumes that evoke the scenarios of the paintings, but let’s talk about perfumes later.

And , of course, the sense of hearing. First with the nice explanation by Iñaki Rifaterra and with the help of music. Flamenco for “ En la Dehesa” and “ Copla Andaluza ” and Jazz for “ Evening party “ and “ Ciro’s Club couple”. Camino liked the idea, so here we are now.

With the help of great professionals : Iñaki Rifaterra and Puy Portillo 

 

I met Iñaki during a Christmas children’s workshop taught in Euskera. He works as a guide at the Gustavo de Maeztu Museum. His kindness, smile, and knowledge makes you trust him at first glance.

Puy Portillo is the person in charge of communication at the Museum. She had such a great ability when broadcasting the news about the event “ Feel the museum” on newspapers as well as in social networks.

            The musicians

 

As professionals, they were very conscious about the public. Thinking about young people in the museum, they had to adapt their repertory to them. All of them, both with Jazz as with flamenco, played in harmony to the four paintings we were talking about.

What a pity, just because of space and security, jazz musicians are not in front of “ Evening party”. Look at this painting here

Evening Party

but in front of “ The couple of Vozmediano” another painting that has a great relation with our association, have a look here

                    Meanwhile,  the perfumes

Music began at the same time we presented to essences Chanel n 5  and “Wonderwood “ ( perfumed water from sandalwood and cedar) with jazz.

Flower and amber fragrances  introduced the Flamenco music.

 

            The surprise : Gipsy young people from La Merced slum

 

If we can blame someone for spreading magic, art, and great feelings, it has to be these children. They sang and danced in such a way that someone broke into tears. Tears provoked by the emotion of art that causes more art.

Thanks to Ricardo Hernández and Sonia from GAzkaló for coming with us and making possible the visit of these children.

It took four months to prepare an event that lasted one hour and a half. Time well spent thinking, travelling, and introducing people, but everything is well worth it when you get a result such as the one you can see on the pictures here . If you want a deeper look, visit our social profiles and you can also enjoy some videos.

 

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Art and Entertainment at Larraya

Posted on 25/04/2019

        GIVEN VOICE TO THE HIDDEN HERITAGE (ONCE AGAIN)

Here we are. This is one of the main goals at Patrimonio para jóvenes. Hidden heritage, small beauties, not very important, not big enough to be visited by big tourist groups. But a heritage belonging to a village, a people, an identity.

We have travelled at Larraya, at least twice.

       ON THE ROAD TO EUROPEAN HERITAGE DAYS 2019

This year the slogan is Art and Entertainment.On the website of the European Heritge Days you can find more information about it. Here are some ideas: “Will be exciting to witness diverse European cultural traditions share a collective stageate the 2019 European Heritage Days. From street shows to concert halls, traditional theaters and museums to modern cinema and digital art, entertainment heritage of Europe will play out on local, national and European stages for visitors and guests of all ages to enjoy.The all-encompassing theme will include sports, photography, tourism, circus, fairs, visual arts, cinema, radio, and television among other entertainment-inspired art forms”

Here you can see us wtih local sport as ” pelota’, music, and the architecture as the satge and meeting point.

         A MEDIEVAL  PORTICO AS A STAGE

First of all, this small church and its protico must be known. Musicians from Pamplona Jazz orchestra visited first the place. We remembered one of the functions of “porticos”: a place of entertainment.( The main functions were liturgical, morturary and also as a meeting point for the village council)

After the concert, we had a visit to the inside of the church. Today restored, it conserves a nice atmosphere given by the Romanic architecture. San Roman of  Larraya is cute and peaceful.

Its so nice the tabernacle, done in Renaissance style.

      AND HERE WE ARE AT THE FROTON

Nothing better than this to share and promote the ludic aspects of heritage. A fronton beside a church. Places where a community is gathered for prays and games Juan Barriola, one of the people in charge of Pelota Club of Ardoi, is very concerned about protecting frontones with its original function.

         AND A PALACE

A palace “cabo de armería” typical from Navarra. It was so nice the chat with its owners Martin and Visi. They tell stories, memories, and so on , that everything concludes on alive heritage

       THE VALUE OF THE LANDSCAPE

The landscape as heritage itself. The place where architecture and art in general are located.

Larraya in spring time has a soft aspect, relaxing, green. A kind of small English countryside.

Even the cats look as if they were very interested in all the show there

       AND IF YOU ARE IN SPAIN, DON’T FORGET TORTILLA DE PATATA

Tortilla, red wine, chorizo and all of the famous typical tapas or pinchos from our country.

A good way to enjoy conversation and the friendly people of Larraya. Once more, remember, the heritage is alive when is visited.. The video by Clara Frago , here

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The way we were

Posted on 12/03/2019

             The way we were. Familiar archives

Our title today sounds like the one of a famous film. But it’s all about familiar archives. How can we preserve documents, letters, pictures from any relative ?

To guard the identity of a family. The more we know about our own history, the better we can understand ourselves, life and some circumstances. As a result, the sum of familiar histories, could be the little history of a village.

       A familiar archive in a pretty village of Navarra

Patrimonio para jóvenes it’s not only a project in order to help youth to discover art and cultural heritage. Their team want also to promote young people who is very keen on humanities and creativity.

Marta Castaño, here you have her on the first picture, was the person in charge of this history.

At the beginning of last year, we were looking for an archive. Something with a kind of historical or political value in Navarra.

Have you ever known anyone saying: “ I don’t know what to do with all this mess of papers from my grandfather?

We were looking for that, but we came across the archive in Urroz Villa talking to Javier Garisoain. He needed some help with his father’s archive.

Miguel Garisoain Fndez played an important role being in charge of a political party: Comunion Tradicionalista Carlista.

Marta opened boxes and boxes, and classified documents. Just the beginning. It takes hours and hours to look carefully to thousands of papers. Marta had to classify them with criteria. At the same time, Marta had to leave proof of this classification in a memory.

During winter, spring and some part of the last summer, Marta traveled from Pamplona to Urroz two or three days at week. She read, took notes and classified. Along this post you can observe differences from the beginning till now.

      A workshop about archives :

We also had an informal talk about the way we “ write” our memory at present.

The amount of pics on social networks, are all of them relevant?

What are we telling? What we really want to be remembered from us? It is important or not prepare a kind of memory from ourselves ?

Would we like our family cto remember us through an archive with pictures , bills, books we had bought, tickets and so on ?

Today flights, rain, cinema or theater tickets are displayed on mobiles.This made life easier. But, is there any inconvenient?

Bid data, help for writing a history or bring us into a big mess? Could you give your opinion about advantages or disadvantages of this matter?

          And of course.. have fun

After the talk, we went for a walk around Urroz Villa. Explore some spaces, climb up the bell tower and walk over the vaults was a funny experience. We finished with a great Spanish “ tortilla”.

Nice day.

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Romanesque with another perspective

Posted on 12/03/2019

              An Invite for the Undecided

Due to many reasons (educational system, way of life and so on) there is a kind of wall built between young people, art (with the exception perhaps of Contemporary Art) and cultural heritage.

Say the word Romanesque or Medieval Art and you have a big bus full of retired people ready to go wherever you want to take them.

Say the same words to students and suddenly they are very busy because of homework, their grandma is ill or they have to train hard with their sport team.

It is necessary to encourage young generations to not take for granted their heritage. But it needs a new language, another way of communication. All without treating the content in a shallow way

Art and cultural heritage, even ruins, are never a fairground. Even if them could promote having fun!

      Coming back to St Esteban of Eusa

Saint Esteban at the little village of Eusa (Navarra) is a nice example of churches with “portico”,a kind of atrium . We had been there some years ago. Children at that time today are students at the university, even young professionals. To whom had been before, this day was a nice remembering. For the people who arrived for the first time, it was a surprise.

We made a proposal to Iñaki Rodríguez, the conductor of Pamplona Jazz orchestra. Something like “ Jazz inside the atrium”. The idea was born during the past European Heritage Days.

This time it was not a concert itself. It was dealing with a workshop about sound and acoustics, inviting people to be part of the show.

Before the event, Iñaki told me; let’s see if my pupils want to joinus.

Let’s see if they dare to.

They came, they dared, and had a great time loosing the fear to art

I hope so…

          Functions of an atrium

In a very easy and brief way,the students knew the functions of an atrium at the middle age : liturgy, funeral acts, meetings of people in charge of ruling the village and last but not least, entertainment.

In fact we can see scratched on stone a kind of game similar to chess.

It was a pretty sunny day. Sunlight on the stones gave the atrium a golden aspect. . Thanks to the rain and snow of previous weeks, the landscape was in a deep green colour.

We also observed decoration of capitals and before explanations people talked about what each drawing suggested.

Time went quickly and it was lunch time. Some of them, went to share a nice menu at Sorauren, a village not far away from Eusa and even from Pamplona.