Liquitex, market leader in acrylic paint, will once again participate in this new edition of Art Madrid as a collaborator through a very special project: #SomosKanva. Art and solidarity come together in a broad and admirable project led by (Kanva), International aid network through artistic creation; together with Shanga India, non-profit organization for schooling children from poor families in India; and Un Plato de Comida, a non-profit organization whose purpose is to provide the necessary meals at the "María Soliña" School (India).

The three organizations, together with Liquitex and Art Madrid as collaborators, offer you the possibility of contributing to a project aiming to improve the vital needs and education of children living a poverty situation, marginality or abandonment in India. Although Liquitex has collaborated in the #Somoskanva project from the beginning, donating painting materials for (Kanva), in their visit to India, especially in actions at the Uma Sankar School "María Soliña", giving them the possibility to paint murals and organizing art workshops with children -this uplifting experience was recorded in a brief documentary. Now, Liquitex joins forces with Art Madrid in a new project in which we propose a charity challenge. If you are an artist and you want to help this immense and necessary workforce, we encourage you to support the project in the best way you can: through your art.

The first step of the challenge is selecting or creating a work for the project; in the second, (4th of February-10th of March), you would publish your work with the hashtags #Somoskanva and #Liquitex, this way sharing the project with your followers. This work of art will be a part of the following exhibition (18th of March-18th of April) presented in Art Madrid's online art gallery, the Art Madrid market, where the work will be sold (under contract with the artist). Before, a team of specialists from Art of Madrid will carry out a selection process (11-17 March) of the participating works, choosing a total fifteen works that will form the online exhibition in the Art Madrid market. All 100% of the proceeds from the sale will be given to the NGO Un Plato de comida. In addition, Liquitex will select one of these fifteen works and will reward its author with 500 euros in supplies.

Liquitex, that has been innovating in the acrylic paint industry since 1955, for instance, inventing the first water-based acrylic paint, currently offers a range of intense and vibrant acrylic paints in all formats (thick and thin bodied paint, inks, markers and sprays), acrylic medium and various accessories. In addition, their products have the particularity that they can be mixed perfectly so that the palette of any artist will not encounter any experimentation limits. Thus, Liquitex offers infinite possibilities of expression in one of the cornerstones of creation, colour, something that has undoubtedly made the brand a great reference for contemporary creators.

Artists often as committed as the creators of (Kanva): Desi Civera, Nicolás Chiaravalloti and Rodrigo Molinero, who since 2018 have been working in this social and artistic action bringing the most disadvantaged children closer to art. An aspiration that they share with the organization Un Plato de Comida, founded by Antonio Valiente in 2011 to provide the children of rural Orissa the meals they need at the Uma Sankar School "María Soliña" (Pubai, Orissa, India) a school that offers free basic education and also takes in homeless children non-profit. Likewise, the organization founded by María (Neneta) Herrero, Shanga India, which their main goal since 2004 is educating children from humble families.

National and international artists such as Carla Fuentes, Thomas Cian, Anwei and Julio Linares, have united with this cause, creating and donating works that were later presented in a charity exhibition that raised 6,000 euros, entirely allocated to these NGOs. What about you, do you want to be a part of #SomosKanva?

If visual arts arouse emotions in the viewer, and also gastronomy, at its finest, can cause a similar effect, the relationship between both "disciplines" is more than demonstrated.

Cheese is a fundamental piece in gastronomy, its diversity allows it to be part of gastronomy different moments, from starters to desserts, and that is why Art Madrid includes it in this year’s edition of the Fair from an ambitious place. Cheese is given this way a closest view to the creation of a work of art, both from the point of view of the time spent in its execution process and the almost personalized study dedicated to each piece during its elaboration.

Like a plastic artist, the Cheese Master Affineur executes a series of actions making each piece an exclusive and individualized element. This is what Madrid cheese factory QAVA de Quesos and its Master Afinador José Luis Martín achieve.

QAVA & MARTÍN AFINADOR is a new store concept: a unique space designed to taste, learn, promote and buy cheese in Madrid, in the heart of Retiro district."

José Luis Martín is a key piece in the QAVA cheese factory. He has been working in the cheese world for more than 30 years, providing training throughout the world, visiting cheese shops, consulting and advising on the design and implementation of one of the most emblematic cheese shops in Spain. The fact of knowing the producers personally, and even advising them on the manufacture and design of their products, allows him to select specific batches, at different stages of maturation, to complete the cheese ripening and then convert each piece into a unique product, different and with its own distinct character, the signature of the Cheese Master.

In the profile of the Master Martín Afinador experience and pure knowledge merge. Martín Afinador is an advisor and consultant for artisanal cheese factories and product design, and for the best-specialised stores in the country, director of Gourmetquesos, director and coordinator of the Championship of the Best Cheeses in Spain during nine editions, technical director and jury in national and international cheese competitions and tastings, collaborator of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Academy of Spanish Gastronomy, director and coordinator of the cheese section of the Repsol Guide to the Best Foods in Spain and trainer for hospitality schools and food centres teaching, among other activities.

Cheese ripening is a complex process that requires time and dedication, in addition to a developed use of the senses. The Cheese Master Affineur, as a specialist in the field, works in all cheese stages (varied and complex), controls all stages of raw material transformation, supervises the evolution and development of cheeses according to the characteristics of each one of them, verifies the quality and the state when the cheeses arrive at their cellars, checks their care and conservation, and; finally, he controls its packaging and the type of wrapping suitable for its best preservation.

In Qava de Quesos they have two Cheese Refining Cellars. In these "tuning caves" or refrigerated chambers designed in constant conditions of temperature, humidity and ventilation, "we take great care of the cheeses until they reach their optimum point of consumption". The work of refining involves placing the cheeses on wooden shelves, turning them over daily and/or washing them frequently, brushing them periodically, as well as other regular handlings.

Among the services offered by Qava de Quesos, we can find specific courses and workshops, events for groups and companies, and advice on shop design and ripening rooms.