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100 years. The modern and/or the contemporary

100 years. The modern and/or the contemporary

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In its hall devoted to Basque art, San Telmo Museum presents the exhibition 100 years. The modern and/or the contemporary curated by Peio Aguirre.

Providing continuity with the beginnings of Basque art represented in the Historical Art Hall, this exhibition covers the period between the 1920s to the present day, thus giving room to contemporary creation and to artists forming part of the Basque art scene in the present day. In this way, the museum moves past the barrier of the 1980s which marks the end of its permanent exhibition and gives visibility to the artistic heritage it has acquired over recent years.

The exhibition also spreads out into other spaces in the museum, such as the entrance hall, the tower, the Industrialisation Hall and the choir.

In the words of its curator, Peio Aguirre:

"One hundred years, a century, is a long enough period of time to confirm changes in cycles and eras. (…) Around 1924, news of the European artistic avant garde was spreading to all corners. At the same time, the foundations were being laid for a definition of "Basque art". One hundred years later, this term is no more than a provisional expression to reconnect the local with the international, the particular with the universal. This exhibition, based on the San Telmo Museum collections alongside pieces from other institutions (Gipuzkoa Regional Government, Kutxa Fundazioa, etc.), establishes a non-linear trajectory from the past to the present of art made in our closest surrounding area: from the city of San Sebastián to Gipuzkoa, and from there to the Basque Country as a whole. The aim here is to speak about the works, to make connections between them in a dense tapestry of links and associations.”

Download the leaflet of the exhibition

This proposal is the beginning of a new approach for this museum space. It is the first in a series of exhibitions which will be presented every 3 or 4 years and which will have different curators, with the aim of providing a vision of Basque art and contemporary creation in our environment that is as complete as possible.