The Valencià Institute of Modern Art (IVAM) extends across the campuses of the Universitat de València (UV) with the collaborative project ‘Rebrot’ which seeks to bring contemporary art closer to the academic community through works influenced by dana to which … They were given “a new life”.
‘Rebrot’ has a total of 11 works -8 sculptures and three paintings- by Alberto Corazón, Miquel Navarro, Juan Asensio, Juan Carlos Nadal, Andreu Alfaro and Sanleón located in the different spaces of the Blasco Ibáñez, Tarongers and Burjassot Campus.
The presentation took place this Tuesday at the Espai Vives of the University of Valencia in the presence of the rector of the academic institution, Mavi Mestre; the vice-rector for Culture and Society, Ester Alba; and the director of IVAM, Blanca de la Torre.
Mavi Mestre highlighted this joint project between the university and the museum which “recovers the symbolic force of art after the terrible damage that will hit our territory in October 2024”.
“In the agricultural areas of the Safor region, ‘regrowth’ is the act of considering something lost that comes back to life,” said the rector, who highlighted that after the damage that “severely” affected the warehouse where various pieces of the IVAM collection were kept, “these works return to public life and do so by occupying spaces of the University of Valencia” thanks to the “meticulous, rigorous and highly specialized” restoration process.
In this sense, the rector stressed that “Rebrot” “is not just an exhibition” but rather represents “a collective reading on fragility and the capacity for resilience and reconstruction” where the artists’ works are exhibited to the public with “a totally renewed power”.
“A regenerative soul that emerges from resistance”
Likewise, he stressed that his campus tour is “a reminder of material vulnerability but also of what emerges in a community that cooperates, that knows how to face adversity and that does so with dignity and intelligence.”
“The works represent a regenerative soul that emerges from the resistance of collective action and this is also the deep meaning of this collaboration between the University of Valencia and the IVAM and, this deep meaning is a common work that gives new meaning to the works, which accompanies their recovery and which transforms them into testimonies of an era that demands responsibility and commitment from us,” he said.
For her part, the director of IVAM explained that the exhibition has a total of 11 works, all affected by dana with the exception of one work by Alberto Corazón and another by Miquel Navarro.
In this sense, he explained that after the flood, “a total of 128 works” were affected, among which, throughout the year 2025, 70 works were restored, but that the pending intervention works will continue during the year 2026.
Regarding the restored works, De la Torre emphasized that they “are presented anew to the public charged with renewed symbolic power.” “In this re-emergence, they tell stories not only of destruction and loss, but also of regeneration, resilience and the importance of collective action within the community,” he argued.
Thus, he emphasized that “Rebrot” is designed “almost like a room of the IVAM itself” which “responds to the idea that culture, art and museums are a right and, therefore, we also want to be a museum outside the museum, and, in this case, occupy emblematic places on campus”.
“The transformative power of art”
“This collaboration also strengthens the idea of IVAM as an institute,” said Blanca de la Torre, while emphasizing that this facet of the institute is “where this idea of mobility, this museum tradition with the academic dimension, where the two intertwine.”
The director emphasized that “Rebrot” is intended as the first in a series of future collaborations between the two institutions based on “the common conviction of the transformative power of art”.
The vice-rector indicated that this project can be interpreted as a joint initiative that seeks to “articulate shared efforts, intentions and desires with the aim of bringing contemporary art closer to the student body and, in general, to the youngest and most diverse audiences of our Valencian society”.
Thus, he stressed that with this collaboration, the UV “reaffirms its commitment to society, to citizens, to its community and to the idea of an open, participatory and transformative university culture”.
“’Rebrot’, in addition to being a museum, it is an exhibition, it is art but it is also resilience, it is a living form of cooperation and continuity. A call between culture as practice with a meeting space and a collective force capable of generating social, emotional and material excesses in our environment,” Alba emphasized.
Work on the three UV campuses
The Blasco Ibáñez campus is home to the largest concentration of works from this first phase of the “Rebrot” project, which spans all three UV campuses.
“Conversation with Brancusi III” (2001), by Alberto Corazón, is on display in the Rectorate building. The Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry houses two sculptures by Miquel Navarro: “Figure of the Bridge” (2003) and “Totem of the Moon” (1995).
Two works by Miquel Navarro are also exhibited at Espai Vives: “Simbiosis” (2003) and “Sitting Temple” (2003). Finally, in Aulari III are “Untitled” (2006), by Juan Asensio and “Haboob” (2011), by Juan Carlos Nadal.
Likewise, the Campus dels Tarongers, in the Faculty of Professorial Training, exhibits “Elective Affinities” (1986), by the Valencian sculptor Andreu Alfaro.
Finally, on the Burjassot campus, the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Engenyeria (ETSE) houses a trilogy of pictorial works. Concretely, the artist Juan Sanleón presents a series of three works: “Flotó de Llebeig” (2005), “L’om” (2006) and “Nit” (2006).
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