COLLEGIUM Production • Investigation • Art | Seite 13

Collection
Contemporary art is one of the most powerful vehicles to stimulate reflection
around the culture of the new millennium. The production of images and artistic
situations foster a wide range of reactions, dislocating the economic and politi-
cal structures of contemporaneity. Therefore, the development of this discipline
strengthens identity, while generating critique and knowledge about the world.
Contemporary art is thus fundamental to live and understand the post-modern
culture.
The art collector, Javier Lumbreras, a native of Arévalo, has built a cultural heri-
tage that reveals the past and the present of various places and cultures. How-
ever, in recent years, he has devoted himself to build an emerging art collection
that seeks to a redefinition of the 21st century’s society. This is why he chose
the Arévalo to house his art collection and found an experimental museum proj-
ect. With the intention of identifying yet unexplored facets of art and society, this
Museum will bet on research and on generating new experiences with the new
01. Adrastus Collection
cultural products of the new generation. During the last two decades, Spain has
been the subject of considerable development of cultural infrastructure in the field
of museums and art projects. This is a consequence of a significant social and
economic transformation on the European level as well as that of Iberian coun-
tries. This effort must become consolidated with the creation of novel concepts
that complement the work carried out by existing cultural institutions. The Jesuit
School of Arévalo and Javier Lumbrerases’ collection constitute the foundations
of a project that can transform not only the artistic mechanics of Spain but of a
large part of Europe. By conditioning under 15,000 m² overall, including 5,600 m²
only for exhibition space and furnishing the building with a series of facilities which
will hold a wide array of experiences and its enveloping program.
Patrick Charpenel
Collegium. Production. Research. Art.
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