When you don't want to face a definition, a label; when you like performance, live art and music; or video art, sound art and dance... To play with the words of the dictionary that refer to any aspect of contemporary creation, and you want to be a participant in that concept puzzle. For whom art is more than a contemplative action. With this sum of ingredients, La Caixa launched last year the "Night Found! Festival", an event in which all forms of artistic expression have a place and that seeks to offer a space for the most emerging, most groundbreaking productions in today's contemporary scene, both national and international.

Image of “Walking Out”, 2011 (via bernatdaviu.com)

Although the initiative has a stable programming part, most of the activities concentrate on an intense day designed to awaken the most restless senses and open up the future of art. On November 16th, CaixaForum Madrid will open the scene to different artistic disciplines, offering the viewer a wide range of possibilities. From video-art to electronic and experimental music, through illustration, performance, poetry and contemporary dance.

One of the highlights of the program is the performance of Violeta Gil and Abraham Boba in a literary-musical performance entitled "Before you throw away my things." Violeta's personal story comes at a time of vital transition, when, after living for a while in the United States, she returned to Spain after the worst years of the crisis. The result of this experience is this poem-book, which will be recited with the live music of Abraham Boba, a renowned sound artist.

Imageof the artwork by María Arnal and Ilan Manouach: “Shapereader Chorale”

We must also highlight the appointment "E gira tutto intorno alla stanza", a performance starring Bernat Daviu and a group of dancers choreographed by Mar Aguiló. This proposal rescues a recently extended practice in some avant-garde cities in which young people dance spontaneously in public spaces. On this occasion, the dance will take place in tune with the pieces exhibited in the room, in a dialogue generated in the context of the exhibition “The painting. A permanent challenge ”, with works by Spaletti, Ryman or Ángela de la Cruz. As Daviu explains, the purpose is to generate several layers of discourse, one over the other, although they do not always have a unique meaning and can be discordant.

Besides, you can enjoy "Shapereader Chorale", a performative action by María Arnal and Ilan Manouach. This meeting is articulated as an experimental workshop to inquire about musical composition, tactile exploration and vocal interpretation so that participants can collectively create a unique musical piece.

In addition, there is also room for the little ones with the performance of Spaghetti Monster (Anastasia Bengoechea). This graphic and creative humorist will share with the public her creative process with hints of humour and lots of energy.

After their appointment at CaixaForum Barcelona, last October, the Night Found arrives at the Madrid headquarters on November 16th. Get ready!

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.