The History of Exhibitions: Beyond the Ideology of the White Cube (First part) Course in Contemporary Art and Culture 19/10/2009 – 30/11/2009

Encuentros de Pamplona (1972) Presented by José Díaz Cuyás 23/11/2009 – MACBA Auditorium 7 pm Encuentros de Pamplona 26 June to 3 July 1972 Different venues in Pamplona Artists in attendance in Pamplona Participating artists (list created from reviews appeared in the press): Juan José Aquerreta, Arri, Balerdi, Isabel Baquedano, Néstor Basterrechea, Bonifacio, Ramón Carrera, Eduardo Chillida, Gonzalo Chillida, Luis García Núñez (“Lugán”), Agustín Ibarrola, Iñurrieta, Mari Paz Jiménez, Vicente Larrea, Remigio Mendiburu, Mieg, Mirantes, Javier Morrás, Ortiz de Elguea, Pedro Osés, Joaquín Resano, Mariano Royo, Rafael Ruiz Balerdi, Pedro Salaverri, Sistiaga, Zumeta. // Other artists: Javier Aguirre, Carlos Alcolea, José Luis Alexanco, Shusaku Arakawa, Jordi Benito, Nacho Criado, Equipo Crónica, Esther Ferrer, Xavier Franquesa, Joan Gardy Artigas, Madelaine Gins, Llimós, Antoni Muntadas, Fernández Muro, Dennis Oppenheim, Martial Raysse, Salvador Saura, Francesc Torres, Isidoro Valcárcel Medina. // Poets: Alain Arias Misson, Carlos Ginzburg, Jorge Glusberg, Ignacio Gómez de Liaño, Lily Greenham, Kriwet, Fernando Huici, Javier Ruiz. // Architects: José Miguel de Prada Poole. // Dance and theatre artists: Laura Dean and her company, Merce Cunningham (as a spectator), Ludwig Flaszen, Kathakali from Kerala. // Musicians: Agúndez, José and Jesús Artza, J. S. Breton, Silvano Bussotti, John Cage, Luis de Pablo, Diego del Gastor, Luc Ferrari, Grocco, Juan Hidalgo, Hornung, Kathakali from Kerala, Hoseyn Malek, Tomás Marco, Walter Marchetti, Carmelo Llorente (Pamplona Choral Society), Eduardo Polonio, Steve Reich, Josef Anton Riedl, Tran van Khe, David Tudor, Horacio Vaggione. // Spectators: Juan Antonio Aguirre, Castilla del Pino, Luis Gordillo, Armando Montesinos, Simón Marchán, Tomás Llorens. Total number of artists represented at the Encuentros de Pamplona: 348 Curators: Curators: José Luis Alexanco and Luis de Pablo (Alea group)1

Map of Pamplona showing the areas occupied by the Encuentros. / General view of the inflatable domes designed by architect José Miguel de Prada Poole for the Encuentros. 1

Cf. DÍAZ CUYÁS, José, with collaboration from Carmen Pardo. “Pamplona era una fiesta: tragicomedia del arte español”, in

Desacuerdos 1. Sobre arte, políticas y esfera pública en el Estado español, Donostia-Barcelona-Sevilla: Arteleku-MACBA-UNIA, 2004, p. 30.

“In the summer of 1971, Soledad Interrumpida [Interrupted Solitude], an artistic acoustic work by myself and Luis de Pablo, had its premiere in Buenos Aires. This event, preceded by much time working and exchanging ideas, gave way to other things, from trips through the Andes to reflections on how to inhabit art. In autumn, back in Madrid, the Huarte family commissioned de Pablo (then director of the Alea group) to organise a series of concerts in memory of their father Mr. Félix Huarte, who had recently passed away. To this end, the continuation of our reflections began to take the shape of an art festival that would not be solely limited to music and which would, in addition, be created and designed by the artists themselves. The Huarte family understood the idea, financed it, collaborated and came to our defence. Moreover, they didn’t impose anything on us. With this essential complicity and with support from the Regional Council of Navarra and the Pamplona City Council, the project took on a more and more ambitious shape, which resulted in the Encuentros in the summer of 1972. The crux of the idea was to create a new way of inhabiting art, sharing the stage, getting the spectator involved, bringing feelings together in harmony, mixing the avant-garde with the traditional, art with sound, with constant attention paid to the quality of the events and their ability to come alive. The title would define our wish; the location was ideal for fitting enough venues into the old quarter of a city to host the numerous artistic happenings that were proposed. The main figures were sought among those who embodied what was to come and what had already become established in the different trends. It lent itself to putting new concepts face to face with those that were already apparently settled. The controversy was on.” José Luis Alexanco2 “A A Festival Organised by Artists In their presentations, the organisers insisted that the aim of this event was not, as happens in other cases, selling or promotion. This was why, according to what they said, there were no intermediaries – it was the artists themselves who organised it. It is worth underlining that the organisers, Luis de Pablo and José Luis Alexanco, insisted on their complete freedom in decision-making, with the only limit being the funds that were available. All of the participating artists were paid the same amount: one thousand dollars. Those who joined in offprogramme were offered the production of their works.” “Public Public Art and Occupation of the City In the Encuentros de Pamplona’s orientation, a festive, public spirit and a desire to communicate can be seen, setting it apart from other meetings. Regardless of whether or not their objective was fulfilled, the Encuentros were conceived as a festival for the city and a snapshot of the city, which can be related to a purpose that was performative or eventful rather than exhibitory. All of the performances were free of charge.” “Balancing Balancing the Arts and Hybridisation of the Media In the programme there is a clear desire to balance the artistic genres, to put cinema, poetry, music, theatre and so forth on an equal footing: to look for a dialogue between the contemporary, technology and nonWestern or ethnic traditions; and, above all, one perceives the desire to increase the power of trends that seek hybridisation among the media, of tendencies of action and public art. The intermedia predominate.” José Díaz Cuyás3

2

From the text “A 25 años de los Encuentros de Pamplona”, in Los Encuentros de Pamplona. 25 años después, Madrid. MNCARS, 1997, pp. 9-10. 3 DÍAZ CUYÁS, José, with collaboration from Carmen Pardo. “Pamplona era una fiesta: tragicomedia del arte español”, op. cit., pp. 41, 44, 52.

The Spectator of Spectators, Equipo Crónica, 1972 (Private collection, Pamplona). / Random Telephones installation, Luis Lugán / John Cage in concert at the Pamplona Citadel

A Personal Balance “The Encuentros were plagued by accidents. The event was inaugurated with an uproar: the night before it began, a bomb went off at the monument to General Sanjurjo that stood in front of the hotel that would provide accommodation for a large number of participants. In some areas of the city propaganda sheets signed by ETA calling for a boycott of the Encuentros in the name of working class interests were passed out. More than a few of the performances planned had to be cancelled or moved to other venues for various reasons. J. M. Prada’s ‘pneumatic dome’, which came to have a certain emblematic value, was deflated before all was said and done. Criticism made its presence felt. There were violent arguments, serious threats and accusations; dark conspiracies were spoken of and statements were crossed... There was nothing, however, that we might not have expected.” “I think that even with all of the contradictions and conflicts the Encuentros were a memorable happening. Some of the situations and many of the performances are still alive in my mind’s eye. But it is only possible for me to give them consideration from the present. The impetuous idea of progress (in the end, polishing) that the avant-garde represented, according to which responsibility in this process is entirely ours and which, above and beyond anything else, is the result of an optimistic view of human nature, finds itself today in a state of ruin. Modernity no longer means anything. In its place we are left with a compulsive addiction to institutionalised change. A simulated change. The torture of in-novation.” Pedro Manterola4

José Díaz Cuyás He teaches Aesthetics at the University of La Laguna (Tenerife), and is the director of Acto Ediciones and of the art journal Acto (www.revista-acto.net). He published the book Cuerpos a motor (Las Palmas and Santiago de Compostela, 1997) and the catalogue raisonné Ir y venir de Valcárcel Medina (Barcelona, Fundació Antoni Tàpies, 2002). He has been giving lectures and publishing articles in specialist journals since the 1980s. Recently he curated the exhibition Encuentros de Pamplona 1972: Fin de fiesta del arte experimental (MNCARS, Madrid, from 28 October 2009 to 22 February 2010).

Image references: Desacuerdos 1. Sobre arte, políticas y esfera pública en el Estado español, Donostia-Barcelona-Sevilla: ArtelekuMACBA-UNIA, 2004, p. 36; Los Encuentros de Pamplona. 25 años después, Madrid. MNCARS, 1997, p. 8; Desacuerdos 1, p. 44; Los Encuentros de Pamplona. 25 años después, pp. 31, 35, 37. 4

From the text “Encuentros y desencuentros”, in Los Encuentros de Pamplona. 25 años después, Madrid. MNCARS, 1997, pp. 43, 42.

Selected bibliography

Los Encuentros de Pamplona 25 años después. Madrid: MNCARS, 1997. ALEA. Encuentros 1972 Pamplona, Pamplona, 1972. AMESTOY, Ignacio. "Crítica de la crítica", Arriba España, Pamplona, 27 de junio de 1972, p. 3. ARBELOA, Víctor Manuel; MAULEÓN, Jesús. "Carta abierta sobre los Encuentros", Diario de Navarra, 2 de julio de 1972, p. 28. ARRIBAS, María José. "Pamplona: Encuentros-72", El Correo Español-El Pueblo Vasco, Bilbao, 1 de julio de 1972. ARRIBAS, María José. 40 años de arte vasco, 1937-1977. Historia y documentos. San Sebastián, 1979. BARTOLOZZI, Francis. "Los Encuentros. Charla de Francis Bartolozzi", Arriba España, Pamplona, 2 de julio de 1972, p. 16. BONET, Juan Manuel.: "La calle como lugar para la creación artística", Diario de Navarra, 28 de junio de 1972, p. 23. CALVO SERRALLER, Francisco. España. Medio siglo de arte de vanguardia. 1939-1985, Madrid, 1985. CALVO SERRALLER, Francisco (dir.). Enciclopedia del Arte Español del Siglo XX. 2. El contexto. Madrid, 1992. DÍAZ CUYÁS, José, with collaboration from Carmen Pardo. "Pamplona era una fiesta: tragicomedia del arte español", en Desacuerdos 1. Sobre arte, políticas y esfera pública en el Estado español, DonostiaBarcelona-Sevilla: Arteleku-MACBA-UNIA, 2004. DÍAZ CUYÁS, José. Encuentros de Pamplona 1972: fin de fiesta del arte experimental, Madrid: MNCARS, próxima publicación. FILARE [Alberto Fraile]. "Introducción a los Encuentros", El Pensamiento Navarro, 1 de junio de 1972, p. 6. FILARE [Alberto Fraile]. “Encuentros 1972. Pamplona. Ante los Encuentros", El Pensamiento Navarro, 25 de junio de 1972, p. 16. FILARE [Alberto Fraile]. "Mi resumen de los Encuentros", El Pensamiento Navarro, 4 de julio de 1972, p. 16. GOITI [Fernando Pérez Ollo]. "Notas del reporter" [epígrafe "Una radiografía"], Diario de Navarra, 5 de julio de 1972, p. 7. GUASCH, Ana María. Arte e ideología en el País Vasco: 1940-1980. Madrid, 1985. HUARTE Y CÍA, S.L. Libro del XXV Aniversario. Pamplona-Madrid, 1952. LÓPEZ MUNUERA, Iván. "Los Encuentros de Pamplona: de John Cage a Franco pasando por un prostíbulo", Arte y parte, n. 83, octubre-noviembre 2009. MARCHÁN, Simón. Del arte objetual al arte de concepto. Las artes plásticas desde 1960. Madrid, 1972. OLLARRA [José Javier Uranga]. "Pamplona y el arte actual", Diario de Navarra, 1 de julio de 1972. PÉREZ DE EULATE VARGAS, Margarita. La crítica de artes plásticas en la prensa diaria navarra, 19551983, Pamplona, 1998. RUIZ, Javier; HUICI, Fernando. La comedia del arte (en torno a los Encuentros de Pamplona). Madrid: Editora Nacional, 1974. SÁNCHEZ MARÍN, Venancio. "Exposición "Forma Nueva", Goya, 78 (1967), pp. 416-420.

ZUBIAUR CARREÑO, Francisco Javier. "Los Encuentros de Pamplona 1972 Contribución del Grupo Alea y la Familia Huarte a un acontecimiento", Anales de Historia del Arte, n. 14, 2004, pp. 251-268

Other sources TVE (TV2) programme Galería (revista de artes y letras), two monographic programmes devoted to Encuentros de Pamplona, 1972. http://www.museoreinasofia.es/exposiciones/2009/encuentros-pamplona.html (about the exhibition Encuentros de Pamplona 1971: fin de fiesta del arte experimental, MNCARS, Madrid, 28 October 2009 22 February 2010) Interview with José Díaz Cuyás about the exhibition Encuentros de Pamplona 1971: fin de fiesta del arte experimental, en Diario de Navarra, 26 October 2009: http://www.diariodenavarra.es/20091026/culturaysociedad/los-encuentros-72-significaron-revulsivoescena-artisticaespanola.html?not=2009102602155946&idnot=2009102602155946&dia=20091026&seccion=culturaysocie dad&seccion2=culturaysociedad&chnl=40&ph=12