The Government of Aragón has requested the Ministry of Culture to immediately create the National Bicentennial Commission for the commemoration of the death of Goya and to declare it an event of exceptional public interest. This request was made following the first meeting of the Autonomous Commission of the Goya Bicentennial, chaired by Jorge Azcón and with the participation of the mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca.
Request for a Declaration of Public Interest
The Regional Minister of Education, Culture, and Sport, Tomasa Hernández, described these measures as crucial steps to develop work related to this anniversary and to expedite essential procedures, such as promoting tax incentives or direct investments. The declaration as an event of exceptional public interest would involve tax incentives in the Corporate Tax, Personal Income Tax, and the Economic Activities Tax, among others.
First Meeting of the Autonomous Commission
The meeting was attended by the President of Aragón, Jorge Azcón, as the chair of the commission, and the mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca, who holds one of the two vice-presidencies along with Minister Hernández. Sara Fernández, municipal Culture Councillor of the Zaragoza City Council, expressed the municipal commitment: This City Council has been promoting cultural, artistic, and tourism-related activities based on Goya’s relationship with the city for six years.
The commission faces two main challenges: to promote inter-institutional collaboration in the development of cultural policies to reach the largest possible population and to serve as the institutional starting point for the largest cultural commemoration that an Aragonese government can undertake.
The Bicentennial Master Plan has already begun its development with several projects: the establishment of the Goya Center in the building of the former courts in Plaza del Pilar, the exhibition ‘Goya from the Museum to the Palace’ at the Palacio de la Aljafería, the purchase of the portrait of José de Cistué y Coll painted by Goya for the Museum of Huesca, and traveling exhibitions throughout the territory alongside the Goya Foundation in Aragón.
The autonomous commission includes six members from the Government of Aragón and five from the city council, and representatives from Cortes de Aragón, Delegación del Gobierno en Aragón, Universidad de Zaragoza, Diputación Provincial de Zaragoza, Ayuntamiento de Fuendetodos, Real Academia de Nobles y Bellas Artes de San Luis, Arzobispado de Zaragoza, Instituto Chemin Neuf, Ibercaja and CAI foundations, the Zaragoza Chamber of Commerce, and specialists in Goya and cultural management will be invited to join.
For the national commission, it is intended to include institutions such as the Ministry of Culture, Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, Biblioteca Nacional de España, Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida, Fundación Casa de Alba, Patrimonio Nacional, Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Banco de España, and Real Fábrica de Tapices de Santa Bárbara. The honorary presidency would correspond to Their Majesties the Kings.
The Aragonese Executive is also seeking international integration, collaborating with countries that Goya visited (Italy and France) and various museums and spaces that house the artist’s works. We want to recognize Goya’s figure with the national and international dimension that the artist deserves and also to remind that if he was the genius who astonished the world and continues to do so, it is because he was Aragonese, concluded Hernández.
