[EXHIBITION] 50th anniversary : the art of keeping

The Sancho el Sabio Vital Fundazioa Foundation celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014 with an exhibition in which visitors were able to discover, through more than 2,000 pieces from the institution's own collections, the evolution of one of the most important documentary centres in the world in terms of Basque culture.

The exhibition ‘El arte de guardar, 50 años de la Fundación Sancho el Sabio (1964-2014)’, curated and designed by Fernando Martínez de Viñaspre, has been structured in three sections that represent the different stages in the history of the institution. The first of these, entitled ‘The beginnings of a project’, covers the period from its creation in 1964 to the 1980s, years in which, with fewer technological resources but with great tenacity and hard work, the project was able to achieve stability. Through photographs and bibliographic and audiovisual documents exhibited for the occasion, some of them unpublished, the close relationship between this evolution and the political, social and cultural changes of the city is revealed.

The second stage, called ‘The path of books’, reflects the consolidation of the centre during the 1990s and also coincides with its move to the Palacio de Zulueta, which would be its headquarters for 19 years. This change of premises made possible the acquisition of new collections and the beginning of the use of new techniques for their digitisation, a tool that would make it possible to open up this information to a wider public. In the exhibition, this period is also represented, in theatrical form, an expanding Vitoria that gave rise to the urban planning of today's city.

Finally, the ‘Open to the world’ section aims to show what the Foundation is today in its new headquarters in Betoño. Following a very industrial design and the construction guidelines of the new building erected on the cemetery of the old Carmelite convent, it will contain a variety of resources such as posters and stickers belonging to different political periods and workers' struggles or photographs and bibliographic documentation from all periods. The Internet will also play a leading role in this space. From the room itself, visitors will be able to access all the digitalised information available in the centre via the internet.