Jon Bilbao Chair 2025: Elena Martin

Elena Martín will be this year´s guest researcher at the Jon Bilbao Chair, promoted by the Etxepare Basque Institute at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Martín holds a PhD in Fine Arts from the Complutense University of Madrid and is the author of a doctoral thesis on Jorge Oteiza´s work. Since 2003, she has headed the conservation department at the Oteiza Museum, and since 2017, she has been teaching in the Master’s Degree in Conservation and Exhibition of Contemporary Art at the University of the Basque Country.

Her primary goal within the Jon Bilbao Chair is to promote and deepen understanding of Jorge Oteiza’s ideas and work through activities that include knowledge exchange, research on Basque art, and collaborative project development in the United States. One of the most noteworthy activities, held on 9 September at the Centre for Basque Studies, will be a lectura entitled ‘JORGE OTEIZA: SCULPTURAL, THEORETICAL, SYMBOLIC AND SOCIAL OBJECTIVE’. Another highlight of her stay as a guest researcher will be participating in the Reno Tahoe International Art Show, from September 11 to 13, where she will take part in a roundtable discussion on art on the 12th. At this meeting, her goal will be to share insights about Oteiza and explore potential collaborative projects, including exhibitions, publications, and dissemination efforts.

Jon Bilbao Chair

Created in 2014, the purpose of this Chair is to promote international research and knowledge about the Basque diaspora and culture. The Chair has created the Jon Bilbao Visiting Research Fellow, a research grant awarded to a visiting professor, renewable yearly or every other year. The fellow is based at the Center for Basque Studies, the leading research and educational institute on the Basque diaspora in the USA. One of its missions is to conduct Basque research and disseminate the results internationally.