ARRUTI, NEREA (2004)

Reflecting Basqueness: Bilbao from mausoleum to museum.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IBERIAN STUDIES, 16(3): 167–175.

ABSTRACT: This paper studies the links between death and renewal in the city of Bilbao, and the tension between the city as museum and mausoleum – that is, the dynamic relationship between memory and oblivion. The uniqueness of the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum will be problematized, contrasting Adorno’s and Benjamin’s views on aura. The paper will also explore to what extent a new critical framework is necessary to study the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum as the paradigm of the new museum.