• “Tàpies at Zabalaga” will be sponsored by Fundación Iberdrola España.
  • Two of the pieces in the exhibition will be loans from the Iberdrola Collection.
    The agreement is born with a vocation of continuity.

Hernani, April 16, 2021 – Chillida Leku and Fundación Iberdrola España have signed a collaboration agreement to promote the development of the museum’s exhibition project. Through this agreement, the Fundación Iberdrola España will sponsor the exhibition “Tàpies en Zabalaga” that will be hosted by the museum from June 10 to January 10, 2022. In this way, the Iberdrola Foundation will contribute to the launching of the museum’s new exhibition line, consisting of opening the doors of Chillida Leku to the work of artists contemporary to Eduardo Chillida. The exhibition will also include a parallel program of activities that will take place from autumn onwards.

In addition to the financial support of the Foundation, the Iberdrola Collection will lend two works of special relevance for the exhibition. These are Vuit creus [Eight Crosses] (1981, Painting and embossing on paper and canvas) and Empremtes de fulla [Traces of a Leaf] (1982, Light-sensitive emulsion ink, acrylic and crayon). Thanks to this loan, the ties between the Iberdrola Foundation Spain and Chillida Leku will also deepen the artistic commitment that is fundamental to the work that both parties develop with society.

“The sponsorship of Fundación Iberdrola España is stimulating and very enriching for Chillida Leku,” says Mireia Massagué, director of Chillida Leku, “thanks to their collaboration, viewers will be able to learn more about the bond that united Eduardo Chillida and Antoni Tàpies. Collaborations like this make the museum not only a place to visit, but also a place to come back to”.

For his part, the President of the Iberdrola Foundation, Fernando García Sánchez, added that “this agreement is another example of our Foundation’s commitment to the creation of social value through artistic and cultural heritage; this collaboration joins the one we have historically maintained with the Guggenheim and Fine Arts Museums of Bilbao”.

The agreement, signed by Mireia Massagué and Ramón Castresana Sánchez, director of Fundación Iberdrola España, comes into force today and will remain in force until December 31, 2021.

Tàpies at Zabalaga

On June 10, Chillida Leku will start a new exhibition line with a program of guest artists focused on the sculpture made by great contemporary figures of Chillida. This new project kicks off with “Tàpies in Zabalaga”, an exhibition in tribute to the exceptional Catalan creator Antoni Tàpies (1923 – 2012) whose work, like that of the Basque sculptor, left a deep mark on the evolution of modern and contemporary art.

The exhibition will be displayed on the upper floor of the Zabalaga farmhouse -occupying it in its entirety- and can be visited until January 10, 2022. It will be made up of a selection of small and large format works, mainly sculptures, dated between the 80s and 90s. In this way, they will establish a direct dialogue with the Zabalaga farmhouse itself, a space that was restored by the artist Eduardo Chillida, whose work will be exhibited on the first floor. The exhibition will have the collaboration of the Antoni Tàpies Foundation and the Tàpies family, as well as loans from the Fundació Suñol, Barcelona, the Hortensia Herrero Collection, Valencia, and various private collections.

Iberdrola Spain Foundation

The objectives of Fundación Iberdrola España include, among others, the promotion, dissemination and support of knowledge, research and culture and art in its most diverse facets, the development of projects and activities to promote and disseminate art and culture, and technical and financial support for cultural and artistic activities carried out by public and private institutions, with the firm purpose of being an institution of reference in the promotion of initiatives that contribute to improving the quality of life of people and promote sustainable development.