galleries

Catalonia’s plan to ease coronavirus measures and resume activities

Many things are still closed, but museums and cinemas begin to reopen while professional sports also returns this month

Some 21 works by 15th century painter go on display at MNAC in collaboration with Madrid's Prado gallery

‘Brick lane’, in East London, is the venue of the first edition of the international contemporary art fair ‘Crossroads’, taking place until the 9^th of October. The event features some fifty galleries from 15 different countries: Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, the UAE, the USA and the UK. The Catalan participation, though, is one of the most relevant as it accounts for 20% of the total number of participants. In total, 10 Catalan galleries, most of them from Barcelona but also from other spots, are displaying their contemporary art pieces. The participation of the Catalan galleries has been facilitated by the Art Barcelona association, who for third time has brought together a representation of Catalonia’s galleries, with financial support from the Ministry of Culture. Already in 2014 eight Catalan galleries took part at ArtRío in Brazil and twelve attended ArtInternational Istanbul.

‘Fotografia a Catalunya’ compiles Catalonia’s photographic patrimony into one website. This initiative is the first of the measures set out in the Photography National Plan, approved in 2014. “This website starts to make Catalonia’s photographic patrimony visible” stated current Catalan Minister for Culture, Ferran Mascarell, and added that by launching this website “a lifelong pending issue has been sorted out”. There are 1,600 pictures from 497 different photographers already available which summarise outstanding collections from the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC), the Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) and Barcelona’s Photographic Archive, amongst many others, and the aim is to extend the offering to 15,000 by the end of next year. Catalonia’s photographic patrimony includes more than 35 million pictures, kept in more than 323 public archives, museums and other centres all over the territory.

Barcelona’s International Art Fair, ‘Swab’ aims to make the contemporary art scene more accessible to the general public and this year it had a new focus on African and Caribbean artwork. A record number of 65 galleries from 22 countries around the world took part in the 2015 edition of the event and over 200 emerging artists will present their work. In addition to the overall programme, the 2015 edition of the art fair sees the opening of “Swab Gate” from the Fundació Lluís Coromina, which consists of individual presentations from African and Caribbean artists with a focus on painting.

Barcelona Gallery Weekend will hold its first edition from the 1^st to the 4^th of October offering a vast opportunity for visitors to get to know international artists and their work in Catalonia’s capital city. The programme offers four routes in forty different selected urban areas including galleries, institutions and unusual spaces, as well as other cultural, intellectual and social activities. The project, promoted by the Barcelona Art Association, aims to show the artistic potential of the city and place it among the international benchmarks in the sector by collaborating with some of the most important art institutions in Barcelona such as the Joan Miró Foundation, the Fundació Suñol, MACBA, the MNAC, the Picasso Museum and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe.