BILBAO's CULTURAL CENTER
In 2015 as a tribute to the late mayor of Bilbao Iñaki Azkuna, its name of this center was officially changed to Azkuna Zentroa. Located in the center of the city this center is one of Bilbao’s most representative buildings. Originally a wine warehouse, it currently serves as a multi-purpose civic center dedicated to culture and the community. Azkuna Zentroa is an innovative, multi-disciplinary space that provides opportunities for knowledge, creativity, and recreation. Its most known features are the 43 unique columns, each one representing a particular design era.
​
​
This Basque government-owned building houses a multimedia library, a physical activity center, a swimming pool, and exhibition room, an auditorium, movie theaters, a multi-purpose hall, restaurants, cafeterias, and a shop. The venue is also host to a number of community and literary events.
​
This massive space is overwhelming upon entry, you get swallowed up by the high ceilings and transformed architecture. The lobby was full of people bursting with excitement, mostly families and students taking advantage of the space and what it has to offer. We walked around amazed by the design elements and learning about the spaces function. Take time to browse thru the library to see the modern-day functionality of it, and the way it brings purpose to the building as a needed outlet for the community to relax, learn, and create.
​
One of our main interests in visiting this space was for the gallery exhibition. It was a little hard to locate, on the lower level, but the exhibition hall was immense. There was collateral/verbiage in English, Spanish and of course, Basque about the exhibition so you could be knowledgeable about the work and what you were seeing. The space had booming ceilings, with a partial wall dividing the large room in half. We saw a retrospective for Angela de la Cruz called Homeless, which presented diverse experimentation with the language of painting and sculpture, drawing on topics such as climate change and social and political inequalities. The presentation was minimal and well curated. Plenty of space for you to walk around view and reflect. The work was contemporary and engaging, high quality and educational.
AAT-TIP: In Bilbao country street-level floors are numbered 0, and sub-street level floors are -1, -2 etc
WEBSITE: https://www.azkunazentroa.eus/az/ingl/home
HOURS: Tuesday - Thursday & Sunday 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. / Mondays closed
​
​
This finishes our Bilbao cultural center review. I hope you find it as amazing as we did. Please let us, and our followers, know your thoughts and comments!
MUSEUMS | GALLERIES | STREET ART | MARKET