All higher education institutions are defined by three main goals: teaching, research and culture. These also correspond to the main functions leading the work of the Universitat de València, as stated on article 3 of its Statutes. In these fields, our University has come a long way through which -especially from the beginning of its democratic journey in 1985- doubled its efforts to promote the cultivation of knowledge, scientific findings of all kinds and the boost of critical culture within society as a whole, contributing to citizen coexistence and democratic plurality by so doing.
The here presented exhibition Aurora Valero. Sense límits. Testimonis i emocions al laberint de l’existència is not just another art show, as its author, Professor and Painter Aurora Valero, virtuously incarnates within herself and her vast teaching, research and creative career the three essential functions of the Universitat. As explained by the protagonist herself, discovering the great works of art history in her adolescence is what motivated her towards artistic creation, and the simultaneous desire to share that experience led her to the teaching field, where she developed an extensive career in teacher training. According to Curator and Professor Román de la Calle, she spent decades passing on her love for nature and art to entire generations of students. And to all that, it’s worth adding her work as researcher, a field she involved herself in from a very young age in search of a theoretical basis supporting her artistic and teaching efforts.
This all makes Sense límits a very special exhibition, which also serves as proof of the great energy and creativity, the intense work and rigour displayed by Aurora Valero in each of her fields of activity and constitutes a deserved acknowledgment of her importance as a figure and her profound dedication to the Universitat. Although, additionally, the exhibition at La Nau Cultural Centre’s Estudi General Room represents a step further in the unwavering commitment of our institution towards gender equality. And the fact is that inclusion, social justice and specifically the fight for a de-facto achievement of the same rights and opportunities for men and women are priority goals for a Universitat that approved its III Equality Plan since two years now and recognised gender equality as an inspirational and fundamental principle in its Statues since 2004.
Said principal that is transversally applicable to the educational, scientific, management, organisational and cultural field finds its privileged space of action in the latter to spread its values within society. In fact, the creation and dissemination of a critical and diverse culture that is committed to true equality and helps putting an end to stereotypes and gender roles which systematically place women in a position of inferiority, is one of the imperative pillars of the Universitat de València’s exhibition programme. A good demonstration of the same concept is given by the art exhibitions held in recent years, such as cultes i il·lustrades. Creixement i èxit de les il·lustradores a València; Ceràmica en mans de dona. Mirades diverses; Retrats de llum. Dones i presó; La ciutat de les dones. Fotografia, espais i gènere; Trencant barreres. Dones i ciències; 100 anys de WILPF - Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom or the recently inaugurated L’anguila. Açò és un quadre, no una opinió. Paula Bonet.
Aurora Valero. Sense límits. Testimonis i emocions al laberint de l’existència falls within this programmatic current giving voice and space to women creators, while also being heterogeneous and plural in perspectives, ideas, methods and art disciplines. Valero’s vast five-decade work is just as diverse and multidisciplinary, and it’s what the rigorously-selected set of art pieces seeks to give an account on in the exhibition, which now opens its doors at the historic headquarters of the Universitat de València.
We want to dedicate these following lines to publicly and sincerely thank Aurora Valero for her generosity and her absolute dedication to the Universitat, while also congratulating her for the opportunity she provides us to enjoy her personal and exceptional art legacy. Likewise, we extend our gratitude to the exhibition curators Maria Victoria Margarida and Román de la Calle for their complex and immense contribution.
The Universitat de València strongly invites all art and history lovers -another cross-cutting theme of its pictorial, teaching and research practice- to visit Sense límits. Testimonis i emocions al laberint de l’existència. An exhibition revealing the expressive clearness and the poetic strength of Aurora Valero’s extraordinary work, an artist who brings us closer -paraphrasing the very same painter- to “the testimony of our human adventure”.
