04-10-21

BBk Art Route II

The Art Route BBK Artearen Ibilbidea II BBK-Museum of Fine arts of Bilbao Program

From 4 October 2021 to 11 January 2022

Its official presentation today in Bilbao's Plaza Nueva kicked off the autumnal journeys of this cultural dissemination project, which has been enthusiastically welcomed in numerous towns around the Basque Country since June 2020. The BBK Art Route is an extension of the show ABC. The Alphabet of the Bilbao Museum outside the museum galleries. Curated by the writer Kirmen Uribe, it offers works from the collection according to the meaning of the words that alphabetically order the galleries by their first letter to create a singular tour through art history. Via the 36 high-quality reproductions of artworks and QR codes that allow visitors to download the audio files with interesting comments on each of them free of charge, the audience can enjoy this travelling cultural dissemination initiative outdoors.

The BBK Art Route will spend at week at the following locations in Bizkaia::

October 4 (monday)	Bilbao
October 11 (monday)	Basauri
October 18 (monday)	Orozko
October 25 (monday)	Artea
November 2 (tuesday)	Durango
November 9 (tuesday)	Mallabia
November 16 (tuesday)	Markina
November 23 (tuesday)	Gernika-Lumo
November 30 (tuesday)	Munguia
December 7 (tuesday)	Derio
December 14 (tuesday)	Barakaldo
December 21 (tuesday)	Sopuerta
December 28 (tuesday)	Balmaseda
January 4 (tuesday) (it closes on Tuesday 11 January)	Güeñes

[ 21/06/28 ]

LA RUTA DEL ARTE BBK ART ROUTE II BBK-Museum of Fine arts of Bilbao Program

This summer, the public will be able to see again in Bizkaia the educational travelling exhibition BBK Art Route II, which has been successfully visiting numerous Basque Country municipalities since 2018.

BBK Arte Route II will present thirty-six high quality reproductions from the museum's collection to the public, mounted on supports which were specially designed for open-air viewing as part of the dissemination of this artistic programme.

This programme not only has the objective of introducing you to the rich collection that the museum houses, but in addition it takes this novel exhibition format of ABC. The Alphabet of the Bilbao Museum, conceived by Kirmen Uribe (Ondarroa, 1970), beyond its galleries. At the request of the museum, and whilst working closely with the museum's team, the writer chose a series of words in Basque, Spanish, English, and French, which he then organised alphabetically. This became the common thread by which the artworks are grouped together conceptually.

Paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings, photographs, and video creations are presented in an original literary-inspired format that refreshes the viewer's gaze by offering new perspectives and also by creating new relationships between different art pieces, authors, and artistic currents from different periods and movements throughout the history of art.

Through high quality reproductions, with exceptional precision and great colour fidelity, the public can enjoy these 36 artworks and listen to their corresponding artistic commentary (available in Basque, Spanish, English, and French), which is obtained free of charge thanks to a QR code that opens a link to the audio files on your phone.

In this new edition presented by Kirmen Uribe, the itinerary begins in the coastal town of Ondarroa and from here it will travel along the coast of Bizkaia for the next three months, from 28 June until 4 October, with week-long stays in a total of fourteen locations: Ondarroa, Lekeitio, Ea, Elantxobe, Mundaka, Bermeo, Bakio, Armintza (Lemoiz), Plentzia, Getxo, Portugalete, Santurtzi, Abanto-Zierbena and Muskiz.

Participating towns

28 June 5 July	Ondarroa
512 July	Lekeitio
1219 July	Ea
1926 July	Elantxobe
26 July 2 August	Mundaka
29 August	Bermeo
916 August	Bakio
123 August	Armintza
2330 August	Plentzia
30 August 6 September	Getxo
613 September	Portugalete
1320 September	Santurtzi
2027 September	Abanto-Zierbena
27 September 4 October	Muskiz

Selection of Artworks:

A (Arte [Art]) Paul Gauguin, Laveuses à Arles (Washerwomen in Arles), 1888
A (Artista [Artist]) Isabel Baquedano, Mujer dibujando (Woman Drawing), 1970
B (Bilbao) Celso Lagar, Puerto de Bilbao (Port of Bilbao), c. 1917-1918
C (Citoyen [Citizen]) Xabier Morrás, Underground Station on Holborn Street, 1969
D (Desira [Desire]) Óscar Domínguez, Le chasseur (The Hunter), 1933
E (Espejo [Mirror]) María Helena Vieira da Silva, Passage des miroirs (Passage of Mirrors), 1981
F (Familia [Family]) Sofonisba Anguissola, Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine, 1588
F (Friendship) José María de Ucelay, Conversation Piece, Just Leisure or Hemingway and Duñabeitia, 1957
G (Grotte [Grotto]) El Greco, Saint Francis in Prayer Before the Crucifix, c.1585
H (Heads & Hands) Pedro Orrente, The Sacrifice of Isaac, c. 1616
H (Heriotza [Death]) Rogelio de Egusquiza, Tristan and Isolt (Death), 1910
I (Iron) Agustín Ibarrola, Interior de fábrica (Factory Interior), 1963
J (Japón [Japan]) Kawanabe Kyōsai , Wrestling Scene, c. 1880
K (Kirol [Sport]) Manuel Losada, Los remeros (The Rowers), c. 1912
L (Letra [Letter]) Ramón Zubiaurre, Los intelectuales de mi aldea (The Intellectuals of My Village), c. 1912-1913
L (Landscape) Jacob Isaacksz van Ruisdael, Pantano en un bosque al anochecer (A Marsh in a Forest at Dusk), c. 1655
LL (Lluvia [Rain]) Jesús Mari Lazkano, La irresistible ascensión de lo fragmentario (The Irresistible Rise of the Fragmentary), 1986
M (Mom) Menchu Gal, Retrato de mi madre (Portrait of My Mother), 1949
N (Noir [Black]) Alonso Sánchez Coello, Retrato de doña Juana de Austria, princesa de Portugal (Portrait of Joanna of Austria, Princess of Portugal), c. 1557
Ñ (Ñabar [Multicoloured]) Daniel Tamayo, Lección de geometría en Txatximinta (Geometry Lesson in Txatximinta), 1982
O (Otherness) Adolfo Guiard, El cho (The Ship's Boy), 1887
P (Pietate [Piety]) Diego de la Cruz, Cristo de Piedad (Christ of Mercy), c. 1485
Q (Quiet) Théodule-Augustin Ribot, Still Life with Pumpkin, Plums, Cherries, Figs and Jug, c.1860
R (Retrato [Portrait]) Equipo Crónica (active between 1964 and 1981), La fotografía o El personaje (The Photograph or the Character), 1980
S (Sueño [Dream]) Genaro Lahuerta, La siesta (The Nap), 1942
T (Terre [Earth]) Gonzalo Chillida, Arenas (Sands), 1983
TS (HuTS [Empty]) Benito Barrueta, Interior de estudio (Studio Interior), c.1903
TX (ETXe [House]) Antonio de Guezala, Elantxobe, 1924
TZ (BikoiTZ [Dual]) Peter Blake, Montgomery Clift was a Twin, 1981-1983
U (Urdin [Blue]) Mari Puri Herrero, El barco azul (The Blue Ship), 1985-1986
V (Vida [Life]) Aurelio Arteta, Campesinas vascas con frutas y hortalizas (Basque Countrywomen with Fruit and Vegetables), c. 1913-1915
W (War) Oskar Kokoschka, Pomozte baskicky'm detem! (Help Basque Children!), 1937
W (Writer) Francisco de Goya, Retrato del poeta Moratín (Portrait of the Poet Moratín), 1824
X (X) Anonymous, last third of the 13th century, The Descent from the Cross
Y (Yo [I]) Francisco de Zurbarán, La Santa Faz (The Holy Face), c. 1660
Z (Zubi [Bridge]) Darío de Regoyos, Viernes Santo en Castilla (Good Friday in Castile), 1904

Programmed Activities

Guided tours – free of charge, from Tuesday through Sunday, 18:00 to 20:00.

Activities will follow current safety guidelines, as well as limit the maximum number of attendees established by the authorities.

A Good Museum

Kirmen Uribe

Getting the opportunity to prepare the ABC collection for the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum was one of those lucky situations in life. I was able to look over the entire collection, both the works that are on display and those that remain in storage. It took us about a year to pull this off. Working side by side with the museum's team, I was given the opportunity to breathe new life into their permanent collection. Without worrying about chronology, we placed different schools of art and different countries next to one another, and we consolidated this exhibition by joining together Basque and international artists. We set up the museum exhibition by assigning a letter of the alphabet to each room. The concept of the alphabet is linked to children, and so following the intuition of a child, we turned the collection upside down. We found Bacon next to Arteta, Murillo next to Oteiza, juxtapositions that hadn't been seen before. The pieces of art seemed quite at ease with their newfound friendships, as if they had fallen in love with each other. We didn't purchase anything; we hardly spent any money. We only exhibited what was already in the museum's collection, and yet we did it differently: in a carefree and imaginative way.

What makes a museum good is its collection. It's the quality of the collection, not the quantity. It must treasure works by creators that are considered to be milestones in art history. Epoch by epoch. This is not lacking in the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum. The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum houses, among others, Goya, Mary Cassat, Bacon, Gauguin, images of antiquity, Velázquez, El Greco, Ribera, and Marcel Duchamp. In this aspect, it is one of the best museums in the world. But this alone does not make a museum excellent. A museum needs something else. It needs a special feature that makes it something really exceptional. Of course, it is good to have canonical names, but that does not set you apart from other museums of the world. You need to be different. The Museum of Bilbao has been able to achieve this. How? By looking inward. It has payed attention to Basque Art, an act which has enriched its collection extensively. It has artworks by Zubiaurre, Arteta, Guezala, Oteiza, Chillida, Zumeta, Ameztoy, and Herrero, among others, Basques are held at the same high esteem as international creators, not held off to the side, but right next to them. This is an extraordinary feature which contributes to the museum's excellence. This is in addition to its dynamic nature. The museum is very much alive and has been able to move forward progressively, welcoming into its collection other aesthetics that have formerly been silenced, such as those of women, or non-Western traditions, such as Asian ones. All of this contributes to making the Bilbao Museum outstanding. And now you can find at your disposal some pieces of art from this marvellous collection.

Enjoy this excellence!