The Port recovers the Sotoliva shed as an exhibition hall
The reopening of the hall will feature the exhibition "PORTUARIA: Does the Port have an Art Collection?", made entirely with port funds.
Martin explained that the basis of the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the port has been "the reuse of materials, works of art and port spaces that were underutilized and now will have a citizen use".
Santander 25-11-22. The president of the Port Authority of Santander, Francisco Martin, said today, during the reopening of the Nave Sotoliva as an exhibition hall, that this building becomes part of the list of port assets that "have been recovered for public use". Martin has stressed that "thanks to the events developed on the occasion of the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the port", the APS "has put in value not only spaces such as the Archive, the Maritime Station or the Nave Sotoliva but has reused technical materials in the musical performances of Show Hall and has restored some of the works of art that can be seen in the exhibition that opens today".
The highest representative of the APS, who has been accompanied in this reopening by the delegate of the Government in Cantabria, Ainoa Quiñones and the Minister of Industry and Vice President of the APS, Javier Lopez Marcano, has also stressed the quality of the works that make up the sample PORT. Does the Port has an Art Collection? and recalled that the Port Authority has been gathering this collection since 1985 with the aim of "promoting its modernization and involvement with the city, supporting and promoting the cultural activity of Santander".
"PORT: Does the Port have an Art Collection?"
Apart from donations and occasional acquisitions, it has been fundamentally the development of various programs that has allowed the Port the constitution, since 1985, of an interesting artistic heritage composed of paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, installations and engravings, works of authors who develop their activity in local, national and international areas. To this concept respond the projects: "Port City Activity", "Equivalences" and "ARS", all of them of own production.
ARS is possibly the most ambitious project undertaken by the Port Authority and the concept of collection is most evident in it. The starting point was the idea of the "port" as a space in which to articulate the complete cycle of the creative process: conception of the project, development and material execution of the same, exhibition of the work and its documentation, finally collected in a publication. The artist participated in the configuration and future orientation of the program, having the option of proposing other names for its continuity. Victoria Civera, Pello Irazu and Ashley Bickerton were part of this initiative during its period of validity, developing their proposals in the Palacete del Embarcadero, being the setting for the exhibitions of Txomín Badiola and Jon Kessler, the Nave Sotoliva. Given the characteristics of some of the works, three of the five works created for this self-produced program have been installed in this exhibition, which constitute the central axis of the show. The dimensions and characteristics of the Nave Sotoliva have made it possible to bring these three pieces together for the first time.
It is not a nostalgic decision what has weighed at the time of organizing this exhibition, but the intention to encourage reflection, both inside and outside the institution, on the role it has played, and should continue to play in the cultural field, from a consolidated management and a heritage of undoubted importance, both in work and spaces.
To celebrate the reopening of the Nave Sotoliva with the exhibition of its funds, the Port Authority has organized a simple event on Saturday, November 26 from 12.00 h, which will feature a musical performance by Pelayo Arrizabalaga and María Luzuriaga.
Schedule:
Saturday: 12.00 to 14.00 h and 17.00 to 20.00 h.
Sunday: 12.00 to 14.00 h.
As the last two weekends of the year coincide with Christmas holidays, the hall will be open to the public from Tuesday 27th to Friday 30th December, from 12.00 to 14.00 h and 17.00 to 20.00 h.
SOTOLIVA NAVE
C/ Carlos Haya. Santander
From November 26th, 2022 to January 29th, 2023
SOTOLIVA NAVE
Inaugurated in 1990, after the refurbishment carried out by the architects Junquera and Pérez Pita, it was for a time the largest open-plan exhibition space in the city with its 250 m2 in its main hall. It has had an intermittent activity (1990-1996) and (2008-2010). During these periods it was a meeting place for important collections of contemporary art, sometimes simultaneously with the Palacete del Embarcadero, and large exhibitions of relevant artists who have developed their activity in local, national and international spheres.
For many years the Nave Sotoliva was in service until it fell into disuse and was closed to the public, being used from then on as a furniture warehouse of the Port Authority.
On the occasion of the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the port, it has been decided to reopen this room as an exhibition space.
Given the poor state of conservation of the building, the APS carried out several works for its adaptation, which involved an investment of 125 thousand euros and consisted mainly in the rehabilitation of the facades, especially those facing west and north; the conditioning of the hall and the warehouse; the provision of a toilet for people with reduced mobility and air conditioning.
In its current state, the building has a built surface area of 625.25 m²: 444.15 m2 on the ground floor and 181.10 m2 on the second floor. Of this surface area, 223.00 m² of usable space is used as an exhibition space.