Towards the creation of a museum in the university. The Contemporary Art Collection of the University of the Basque Country

Abstract

The changes occurred during the twenty-first century around the new creation and presentation ways of contemporary art, as well as its musealization are evident nowadays. This is reflected by the redefinition made around the concept of museum and the inclusion of typologies such as university collections as the one presented here. The artistic heritage collection of the University of the Basque Country is composed of works compiled during the last three decades, and, as it happens with other university collections, it has been created mainly by purchase, donations and specially, heritage acquisition contests. Despite being formed by important works that represent the development and production of the Basque Art of the last decades, it has not managed to be constituted like a patrimonial ensemble that fulfills all the functions that define the museum neither has made visible its importance properly. With this review, we intend to recover the identity and history of this university collection with the final objective of preserving and showing to the public this interesting exhibit of contemporary art, closely linked to the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of the Basque Country.