Art Madrid'25 – Art Madrid and FiArt Foundation will be partners in the next edition of the fair, february 2015

Create links that make possible a symbolic space for exchange, creation and reflection on the art world. With this aim, the contemporary art fair Art Madrid seeks cultural agents to develop their activities and complete their program as a main fair in Spain. This year, as we made last year with CASA AMÉRCIA and Korean Cultural Center, the International Fund Endowment for the Arts / FiArt, with over 15 years experience, will be one of our main partners.

 
FiArt aims to contribute to the development and strengthening of the Spanish cultural enviroment abroad, as an interactive platform that provides support to institutions and cultural professionals. Thus, creators and managers can have information, documentation and spaces (physical and virtual) for the development of their activities. Its main purpose would be to "develop artistic creativity in its various manifestations, through its exhibition, research and dissemination".
 
Leading fiart is a passionate art lover, the director Alma Ramas, who is working in perfect tandem with Alma Noblía, head of International Projects. Beside them, a cast of professionals in the field of cultural management, curating exhibitions and art criticism that have managed to expand the activities of the Foundation beyond our borders and have exported their exhibitions and courses to major museums Latin America.

Fotografía perteneciente al proyecto "Saltando Muros"

Among the highlights Foundation projects it is "Saltando Muros", organized in collaboration with the General Secretariat (SEGIB), which has received the III Iberoamerican Award for Education and Museums. 

The Foundation has its facilities in the center of Madrid, at Infantas St, next to the Plaza de Cibeles, a prime location that connects directly to the headquarters of Art Madrid'15 - Galería de Cristal of Cibeles CentroCentro -  So the fair will held part of its parallel activities there: roundtables, presentations, workshops,... Also, FiArt, through its information platform Xtrart, "the website of the Spanish culture abroad" will be a major media-partner of the art fair, devoting special attention to the celebration of the 10th Anniversary of Art Madrid.

 

Xtrart covers various cultural areas (performing arts, visual arts, film, literature, etc.)with the recognized excellence of the artist, writer, actor, director, or agent that promotes and proposes editorials, specialized reports, interviews and other content signed by writers such as Simona Rota, Medina and Carlos Delgado Gemma Butler (curator of ONE PROJECT Art Program Madrid'15) responsible for the content related to Europe, Carlos de las Heras and Javier Iturralde de Bracamonte responsible for editing linked to US and Mercedes Ramas, Pina López Arias and Maria Veronica Perez, responsible for the contents of Latin America.

 

Imagen de Julia Juniz, en La Neomudejar.

 

Currently, fiart Foundation, in collaboration with the Arts Center La Neomudejar prepares the exhibition '‘Palabras que matan- Palabras que dan miedo’. A sample of three different proposals from artists in residence. The artists in the exhibition are Julia Juniz, Jean Gabriel Periot and Carlos Mate, who accompanied his speech to artists Urucatu Elena and Manuel Toro.
 
In February 2015, FiArt and Art Foundation Madrid'15 will bring you many surprises.

 

From July 7 to 9, 2025, the Balsera Palace will host the First Course on Collecting and Contemporary Art, an intensive 15-hour program that will explore the complex and fundamental question of taste in contemporary art. Organized by the Nebrija Institute of Arts and Humanities at Nebrija University and the Avilés City Council, in collaboration with 9915 — Association of Private Collectors of Contemporary Art and the Institute of Contemporary Art, the course offers a unique opportunity for analysis and debate on the dynamics that shape aesthetic and symbolic value in today’s art scene.


First Course on Collecting and Contemporary Art. Avilés, Asturias


The notion of taste, intrinsically tied to aesthetic judgments and power relations, has played a decisive role in the historical prominence of artists and artworks. However, contemporary art—marked by its breaking of conventions, diversity of media and techniques, and critical stance toward traditional canons—raises fundamental questions about the continued relevance of this concept.

This course will explore how the decisions made by key players in the art system—institutions, private collections, galleries, curators, and artists—continually redefine a field of taste shaped by aesthetic, symbolic, cultural, social, and political logics.


"¿But does it exist, and what is the prevailing taste of our time—so seemingly confused, fragmented, indecipherable?" - Omar Calabrese, The Neo-Baroque Era.


The academic program, directed by José Luis Guijarro Alonso, Director of the Master’s in Art Market and Related Business Management at Nebrija University, and Pablo Álvarez de Toledo, Head of the Department of Arts at Nebrija University and the Nebrija Institute of Arts and Humanities, will bring together a distinguished group of national experts—including collectors, critics, curators, gallery owners, and artists—whose contributions will address key issues in shaping aesthetic, symbolic, and market value in today’s art world.


PROGRAM

MONDAY, JULY 7

9:30 AM Registration.

10:00 AM Course Opening Nebrija University Avilés City Council Presented by Rosario López Meras – President of the Association of Contemporary Art Collectors, 9915, and Adrián Piera – President of the ICA, Institute of Contemporary Art.

10:30 AM Course Presentation By José Luis Guijarro Alonso – Art Historian and Anthropologist, Researcher, and Director of the Master’s in Art Market and Related Business Management at Nebrija University.

11:00 AM Coffee Break.

11:30 AM Panel Discussion The Taste of Private Collecting as a Prelude to History. Speakers: Candela Álvarez Soldevilla – Entrepreneur and Collector; Javier Quilis – INELCOM Collection; José Miguel Vegas Valle – Collector. Moderator: Luis Feás – Critic and Curator.

1:00 PM Lunch Break.

3:30 PM Individual Lecture On Good Taste in Contemporary Art. Speaker: Marisol Salanova – Curator and Art Critic, Director of Arteinformado.

4:45 PM Panel Discussion The Influence of Galleries in Shaping Contemporary Taste. Speakers: Elba Benítez – Gallerist; Ricardo Pernas – Gallerist (Arniches 26); Aurora Vigil-Escalera – Gallerist. Moderator: Rafael Martín – Coleccion@casamer.

6:00 PM End of Day.

6:30 PM Activity and Cocktail Visit to the Exhibition Asturian Artists in the Pérez Simón Collection – Avilés.

TUESDAY, JULY 8

10:00 AM Individual Lecture Contemporary (Bad) Taste: Kitsch, Camp, and Tacky. Speaker: Julio Pérez Manzanares – Autonomous University of Madrid.

11:00 AM Coffee Break.

11:30 AM Panel Discussion Institutions and the Formation of Contemporary Taste. Speakers: Virginia López – Artist, Founder of PACA_Proyectos Artísticos Casa Antonino; Julieta de Haro – Artistic Director of CentroCentro; Carlos Urroz – Director of Institutional Relations, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Moderator: Laura Gutiérrez – Director, School of Art of Oviedo.

1:00 PM Lunch Break.

3:30 PM Panel Discussion Beyond the Eye: The Taste for Ethical, Ecological, Social, or Political Concerns in Contemporary Art. Speakers: Semíramis González – Independent Curator; Eugenio Ampudia – Artist; Claudia Rodríguez-Ponga – Independent Curator. Moderator: Bárbara Mur Borrás – PhD in Fine Arts.

5:00 PM End of Day.

5:30 PM Activity Visit to the Studiolo Exhibition – Candela Álvarez Soldevilla Collection.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 9

9:30 AM Meeting with Asturian Artists Speakers: María Castellanos – Artist; Avelino Sala – Artist; Consuelo Vallina – Artist. Moderator: Pablo Álvarez de Toledo – Nebrija University.

11:00 AM Activity Visit to the Niemeyer Center – Avilés.

Course Closing Ceremony.





This course is designed for art professionals, collectors, researchers, and students seeking an in-depth analysis of the dynamics that shape taste and collecting practices in contemporary art. Adopting a critical and multidisciplinary perspective, it provides a unique opportunity to rigorously examine the aesthetic, symbolic, and structural factors that underpin the legitimization of contemporary art.