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Clara Frago Daza

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Museums that let us dream

            THE STORY OF A VIDEO

                       Click here to watch it.

THREE VERBS PRINTED ON GLASS.

On A glass and in full color: Learn, Engage, Enjoy. This was the proposal written in the entrance of the Ryan Learning Center of the Chicago Art Institute. Those three words marked me. I found them superb, because it also matches perfectly with a recurrent phrase here at Patrimonio para jóvenes : “Art is not a subject, it’s an experience”.

2018 is the European Year of Cultural Heritage, and this occasion demanded a special homage, and there’s nothing better than letting Clara Frago talk to us through her camera.

       The #Meztuelviaje Video: What For?

To link the collections found in the museums with the work of an artist within those collections: In this case, the work of Gustavo de Maeztu from Estella, and the Beaux-Arts Museum of Bilbao.

To link the painting with the painted landscape (the Sorian countryside) and the landscape with traditional costumes.

To let these links turn into creativity. There had to be a speech, an original script. Telling the story of someone visiting a museum had no special interest. However, if those visits appear by the strength of the paintings, if these works are the ones dragging the observer until merging into the piece of art, the whole story changes.

To turn creativity into an ambassador of cultural heritage.

The story of this video takes us to two museums, one in Navarre, the other in Bilbao, and to the surprising Sorian village of Calatañazor. Showing you these places is our way to invite you to visit them.

FEW RESOURCES TURN INTO A CHALLENGE

A simple camera was all our equipment. A simple camera, but a great team

#Maeztuelviaje its a perfect example of the wit, creativity and expertise that represent Clara Frago Daza’s work.

We rooted for her four years ago, when she was still a student at the Communications Faculty of the University of Navarre. Now she has become a professional and her work never disappoints.

This Project has taken tons of hours from her. Despite the trips were long, they were the most entertaining part. The hardest challenge was to sit down and think how to tell this story.

AN EXPERIENCE THAT GATHERS PEOPLE

#Meztuelviaje was recorded between February and May, with many small obstacles such as rain, storms and winds. Against all odds, the Project could move on, also thanks to the collaboration of many people.

Camino Paredes, director of the Gustavo de Maeztu Museum and Eneritz Guillen Monasterio from the Communication department of the Beaux-Arts Museum of Bilbao. In both museums, they made everything easy for us to record its interiors.

While in Soria, Enrique Borobio went one afternoon to Calatañazor with his complete collection of Sorian costumes. We couldn´t help dressing Juan Roldán just as the Blindman of Calatañazor.

Due to obvious protection and preservation reasons, we couldn´t use the original robes from the Museum of the Sorian Traditional Costume. They’re very antique, and their handling is extremely delicate. Enrique gave us a lesson about the importance of preserving while spreading knowledge about these treasures.

Juan Roldán: Architect and fearless collaborator. In January we asked him if he would be interested on an acting career, he didn´t hesitate on saying yes, so now he was just expecting Clara’s instructions.

Marta Castaño and Miguel Mirón joined them and enjoyed the Castilla experience.

They enjoyed of the beautiful landscape and a delicious breakfast while being delighted with the gorgeous views.

I am pretty sure none og the mis going to forget that work of Gustavo de Maeztu.

They will always have the Sorian landscape and characters from Vozmediano and Calatañazor. As the time goes by, we’ll go back to this video and we will revive all this moments and experiences.

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Ventura Rodríguez, the architect

The Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando Gathers Together to Members and Friends of Patrimonio para Jóvenes.

 With the 300th anniversary of the birth of Ventura Rodríguez, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, organized an exposition about the architect. This was the perfect occasion to meet up with our members from Madrid and its surroundings. And a perfect occasion to invite them to see Ventura Rodriguez´s work in Navarre. Since not all of us could come, we organized a raffle to see who was coming. The exhibition was magnificent. You´re still on time to make a visit, since it´ll stay until april 8th. If you want more information, click here.

On this picture you can see some of the youngest members. And it was Maria, the littlest of all, the third from the left, who won the contest to come to visit us in Navarre. She did it a few days later, accompanied by her mother, Nuria.

   Discover, Relate, Learn, Enjoy

The exhibition about Ventura Rodríguez had a Little “but”: it could be too complex and hard to be appreciated or enjoyed by the youngest observers. With Ana, our guide, we did what we could in order to make it more approachable, talking about something very well known: The Fountain of the goddess Cibeles.

Designed by Ventura Rodríguez (although it was built by two othe sculptors) is an emblematic fountain, a “must” stop in Madrid. Either you are a soccer fan or not, everybody relates this fountain with Real Madrid. This helped us as a hook to demonstrate the importance of Ventura Rodríguez, his projects and works.

If you want tocheck out more about the category, complexity and setting of this exhibition in Madrid, you can watch this video.

By the way, it would be an authentic delight to have an encounter of the Patrimonio para Jóvenes “troupe” with the staff in charge of the setting of this exhibition and other not-less-important ones: Arquitectos Frade

Along the explanations we started to familiarize ourselves with Ventura Rodríguez and his work. Little by little, the curiosity about his work in Navarra started to flourish.

By the end of our visit, we made the raffle. We had a little bag with blank pieces of paper, except for one that had PAMPLONA written on it. The one who took this piece of paper would come to Navarra to see the façade of the Cathedral, the Bell Tower, the Noain aqueduct, and of course, to enjoy the city.

       And the Winner is…Maria!

The youngest member of our group was the fortunate one. As an anecdote, she took the papero ut of the bag without noticing she was the winner. For some reason, she thought that each of us was taking a piece of paper with the name of a different city, so she didn´t say anything. It was her mother who noticed. As you can imagine, Little Maria had a hard time being the center of attention, clapped and cheered by all of us. You could say this is a very personal and very intense way to discover Ventura Rodríguez .

It was a February afternoon, intense, kind, full of encounters, introductions, memories and all these details that come with the effort of making a visit. We said good bye and went to our respective Metro stations, buses and plans. However, all of us left with the feeling of being part of something bigger that gathers people together no matter their age, origins or education. It was the interest in appreciating and discovering our culture.

   Two Visits in Pamplona: First: The Cathedral and its Tower

In Patrimonio para Jóvenes we don´t like rushing nor overwhelming people with contents and information. We prefer little drops, generate curiosity step by step. And overall, we want people to have a great time with us. Let´s not forget that we are addressing to the most complex public: The one who generally is not interested in this kind of activities. So we have to awaken their interest, our biggest challenge. And this can only be done with care, preparing every visit with an artisan’s technique.

      A VIP Guide…

There´s no better way of showing the love that we put into our work tan visiting the Cathedral of Pamplona (relating the visit to Ventura Rodríguez) with Verónica Quintanilla Crespo, an architect specialized in restoring cultural heritage. You can see her on the picture above.

Verónica and her team were in charge of the restoration of the facade of the Cathedral of Pamplona.

All the visitors were amazed and said that they were discovering a new perspective of the Cathedral. They´d never seen nor thought about many of the details Verónica talked about.

While Verónica explained, Clara Frago captured with her camera those instants of communion and harmony of diverse environments. Surroundings where we discover new projects and designs for the façade of the Cathedral at the same time we re-imagine how the primitive Romanic façade would have looked like.

It was very interesting to listen to Verónica and how she approached us to Ventura Rodríguez ant to the Cathedral with the delicacy of someone who has had to listen, discover, observe and interpret to a great architect in order to intervene on his work. Take it back to its original glow with humility and generosity.

An architect that restores cultural heritage has to be humble”. I couldn´t resist falling for this comment. In a restoration project, the personal mark is not important; the main objective is to give back the starring light to the geniuses who created that piece of art. It was an amazing morning, another one on this February centered on Ventura Rodríguez. All this was occurring at the same time we were preparing Clara´s exhibition, that you´ll be able to visit in the main headquarters of La Caixa in Pamplona until April 15th.

It was such a pity that all of us started moving around, so just half of the group is shown in this

     The Visit to the Aqueduct of Noain

A week later we got together again to have a walk around Noain and enjoy the views of its aqueduct. This time, our photographer was Borja Centenera Crespo.

A lot of us have seen the aqueduct many times while being on the highway or by train. None of us had ever gone below its arches, and all of us agreed that the view is completely different. From below, you can appreciate the whole magnitude of this work. We talked about the way water used to be brought to Pamplona and reflected about the problem of water supplying and how we take for granted daily activities like opening the water tap, take a shower, or doing the laundry.

And of course, we thought about all the work that building an aqueduct demands.

The aqueduct of Noain also helped us remember the fountains of the city of Pamplona that received wáter thanks to the aqueduct. Since it was impossible to visit them during the day, I took pictures of them a few days earlier and then sent them through Whatsapp.

We talked about math and physics, the awareness of land, and overall, we had a blast. As always, Borja took fantastic pictures of our day.

A February that will be saved in our memories, a month dedicated to the architect Ventura Rodríguez. This poster, designed by our wonderful Clara, is the one she created to announce

Every time I write about our activities, I get the exact same feeling. How long and slow it feels when preparing the activities, and how fast it occurs later, how easy it becomes a souvenir. Some of our members leave us, most of them to prepare the MIR exam after their Medicine degree. But new generations are to come, so Patrimonio para Jóvenes keeps on working.

I say goodbye for now with this pic of the newly arrived members and a video about Ventura Rodríguez that´s worth watching over here.

So long, Ventura Rodríguez

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Dreamt architecture: The Expo

                 Because of Another Visit

In January 2017, we had a walk along the First Expansion of Pamplona. While preparing that activity, I read, observed and looked with a different view to this area of the town that can be misunderstood. Building created in the end of the XIXth century and the beginning of the XXth century get mixed, confused and almost hidden among taller, more modern and more impressive buildings. I found out details that I’d never seen before. And during the visit, all the people made the exact same comment: I had never seen this before. This topic awakened so much interest that it was a must to pull its thread..

               Photography as a Way

We started everything to prepare a photography exposition that fulfilled two of the main goals of Patrimonio para Jóvenes. On one side, to spread awareness about art and cultural heritage. On the other hand, to promote the work of young professionals. On November we started the search of the appropriate place. It had to be big, easy to be seen by pedestrians and inside or at least, close enough to the First Expansion.

We proposed the setting of this exposition to many entities. In the end, the idea worked for La Caixa, so we started working

            Working During Christmas

Since the first weeks of December, Clara Frago re-visited this houses that she had saved in pictures back in the day. Now, more calmly, by her own and focused only on her camera lens, trying to catch the spirit, almost magic of this buildings and its entrances. We´d like to thank to the Chamber of Commerce, the Residence of the Repairing Mothers and the Joaquín Maya School of Music for all the facilities they gave us for taking pictures of its interiors, ot from their Windows and terraces to take pictures from the heights.

At the beginning of January, Clara Frago presented her work in La Caixa. As it was expected, the exposition absolutely charmed the public. Now you still have a chance to delight yourself with her photographs from March 1st to April 15th in the Carlos III avenue in Pamplona.

          The Expositive Design of Juan Roldán Marzo

What story do we want to tell with these pictures and how can we do it? This exposition is an invite for you to observe, to discover hidden details and rejoice among them. This feeling of joy and relaxation can´t be achieved with stridency. The exhibition space of La Caixa does not admit an exhibit in color. Therefore, the pictures are displayed in black and wihite, also like a reminiscence of past times.

Another issue: Pictures can´t disturb workers and clients. The solution? Have them hanged in panels by a transparent thread that gives the effect of having the pictures floating in the air.

An additional element for the whimsical environment we want to create. This way, the observer will see doors that invite them to go in, stairs asking to be climbed, windows that work as threshold to a world of portals, peepholes and even more windows.

How was this arrangement decided? Through some trails in an A5 printing of the same images that would be presented in a bigger format.

       A GREAT JOB WITH A GREAT TEAM

For many months, Juan Roldán and Clara Frago have worked throughly, thoughtfully paying attention to every little detail. For  Patrimonio para Jóvenes it is such a delight to set up this exhibition. We give our sincere thanks to La Caixa for trusting in our association, Juan and Clara. We hope this becomes an opportunity for all the clients and people go pass by this area to be amazed by the details of the precious architectonic heritage of the First Expansion of Pamplona, this shy urban development before the demolition of the walls. Knowing about it, is the best way to preserve it.

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#MAEZTUTHE JOURNEY

ESTELLA: A VILLAGE WELL WORTH VISITING

 Estella needs more than one day. Perhaps if you are a pilgrim on the Way to Saint James, you will arrive there tired after walking for hours. You would be astonished by the view of the landscape and the fantastic streets at the old town, the palaces, and the stunning church of San Pedro de la Rua with its magnificent scales. Some years ago, the team of Patrimonio para Jóvenes visited this church, the cloister and even the bell tower.

Today our visit is just in front of this church: The Gustavo de Maeztu Museum. Read all the information about this museum here.

THE REHEARSAL

Before the visit, I travelled first to meet Camino Paredes, the lady in charge of the museum and Natalia Gentico, the tour guide. Even with the photographer, Clara Frago, we had a brainstorming session in order to find a really cool way of getting in touch with the artwork.

We even prepared carefully the flyer. Here you can see Clara Frago, during, let’s say… the making of:

And here is the result of the label we delivered during some days before.

 

The visit

Natalia explained us in a very friendly way the life of Gustavo de Maeztu, his journeys, family circumstances and how they had influenced on Maeztu’s way of painting. We even had time for humor with games that keep the people engaged. As an example, we imitated the posture of some of the characters on the canvas.

Another game was to listen to the music when looking at a painting. For “Evening Party” Natalia invited us to listen and see the video on Youtube: Blur to the end. You can have a look to the painting and you can listen to the music here:

This visit to the Gustavo de Maeztu Museum is just the beginning of a story: we are working on a video with the idea #Maeztuthejourney . A trip of imagination and engagement not only with the paintings but with the characters, its history and even the landscape.

We finished the morning, with the typical Spanish “tapas” and with a friendly chat.

If you come to Estella, in Navarra, don’t forget to visit this museum.

See you, keep in touch!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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New year, new reunion. San Martin de Unx

 

Meeting up during Christmas is a classic move for Patrimonio para Jòvenes. This time, it has taken place at San Martín de Unx. Very close to the town of Ujué, it is almost like going back to the start of our year’s journey. Walking around its streets, visiting the Church of de San Martín de Tours in the highest part of the town, and having a drink with a great conversation, among many things, about the new activities we want to make this 2018. That was our morning. 

 

 

               Reflections

This visit, despite its simplicity, had some complex moments. One of them, was the age – mixture. It is a delight- even a need I would say – to get a bigger and younger public interested in art. But having high school students right next to professionals with a 15-year gap demands a speech with a different pace and different perspectives. How do you face this challenge? With the great attitude of all our attendants, because in the end, experience grants you with empathy. 

Observando la iglesia de San Martín de Unx

Another complex challenge: Making our guide Javier understand that our visits do not have a fixed content with a monologue used for any visitor of the church. With all his good intentions and used to manage the guided tours around San Martín de Tours, he gave great but a little too long explanations for our people. In a moment, he realized how we work and he let me continue the guided visit. I thanked him for that generosity, and I still do.  

 

Living and feeling heritage is very different to listening to a technical and chronological explanation about a place. However, this long, detailed technical visits are absolutely essential for professionals, Art and History students, and for anyone who wants to go deep into their passion for art.  

 Patrimonio para jóvenes’ main goa lis to awake interest and curiosity in those who lack of it. Said this, the visits have to maintain their own dynamic. It’s necessary to allow the attendants to relate what they are seeing with thing they have seen. By the way, didn`t the crypt of San Martín de Tours remind you of the crypt at San Salvador de Gallipienzo? I let the kids talk about this. They made their own interpretations in front of the gorgeous baptism fountain at San Martín de Unx. Afterwards, Javier explained all the iconographic program. Once again, we had to stop him, “About iconography….” He asks. What is iconography?” That was the only way we could keep going. 

 

        Talking About the Crypt 

 It was probably one of the most joyful moments, when we visited the crypt. It gave us an ambiguous feeling: on one hand, amazement by seeing a small space that not only helps to maintain the base of the church but also transports us to ancient times.  “It`s like being in a movie” someone noted. On the other hand, the immaculate white of the restoration, couldn`t hide some polychromy remains that leave us thinking “this crypt looks so new…” 

We are always delighted by the access to these places, for how inspiring they are. I invite you to check out the video El patrimonio tiene vida, by  Clara Frago. In this video, the crypt San Salvador de Gallipienzo, creates a magic atmosphere. 

       A Raffle 

We have many raffles and contests along the year. And we thought that the day before King`s Day was the perfect day for something like this. So during this visit, we raffled a night with breakfast included for two people at the Hotel Heredad Beragu ). 

Here, you can see me during the moment of the raffle, under the view of our guide, Javier on the background.  

The bag was full of little blank paper pieces. Only one had “Heredad Beragu” written on it. Who got that piece of paper, was the winner, and it was Marta Castaño. Look how happy she looks. 

          A Bit of humor 

Walking, running for the younger ones, was right next to our snack time the last stage of our visit. Featuring cats. 

The youngest of us were focused on running up and down the streets, playing hide and seek with the cats. These village cats, catch them if you can! And among the oldest of our attendants… lets let images speak for themselves, since one picture is worth a thousand words.  

“What a pretty town, I`ve never been here before” or “What a blast we`ve had today”. These words let me say “mission accomplished”, or at least, the first mission of this year.