Art Madrid'25 – THE ONES WHO LOOK: “MUJERES MIRANDO MUJERES” FESTIVAL

More and more disciplines have joined the reflection on the feminine condition that faces the current reality from the review and the questioning of its historical past. Thus literature, film, music, art, science, agriculture, to mention just a few, join the list of places from which to continue the debate on a movement in constant reinvention.

It is an awakening that, although it extends throughout the year, seems to focus particularly hard in March, with a program that includes festivals, fairs, conferences, marches, readings that transpire enthusiasm and communion. Thus, among the programs of the third month of the year, interesting and necessary projects stand out, such as the Mujeres Mirando Mujeres festival, an initiative of Arte a Click that celebrates its 5th edition between March 9th and June 12th.

Marina Vargas “La Bacante”, 2015. Polyester resin, marble powder, enamel paint. (image from ©www.marinavargas.com)

The Mujeres Mirando Mujeres project was founded in 2015 by Mila Abadía, with the purpose of spread out the work that women carry out in the art field from the creation to the communication processes, through the curatorial and art critic. As she herself confesses, the idea emerged as an outburst. I have always fought for women's rights and had not actively participated in any feminist claim for a long time.

In this sense, the fifth edition is composed of 51 artists, 52 art managers, 15 communicators, 11 invited projects which gives rise to a total of 80 works in which 118 women involved with the feminist movement and with art participate, among them, there are bloggers, journalists, communicators, gallerists, museologists who give light to a rich program based on presentations and interviews with artists that will be published until June on the web. As in previous editions, the festival is concerned with making visible the work of artists with a new professional career, as is the case of the Italian interdisciplinary artist Mónica Mura, whose work revolves around the improvement and appreciation of human beings. The gender perspective of the Italian author goes through her life and work in which she gives voice to groups and individuals who have suffered social rejection due to their nature as transgender, homosexual women... Mónica Mura will be presented by the researcher Karen Campos.

"For me, art is a synonym of freedom and I believe in the power of creation as an engine of transformation". Monica Mura

Mónica Mura, project “Poder ver-Ver poder”, 2018. Video installation (image from ©www.monicamura.com)

Among the less experienced artists, we also find the Catalan photographer Alejandra Carles-Tolra, who seeks to understand through her images the identity and to blur its limits. Is there an identity that defines women? Which one? These are some of the questions she poses in her project. Alejandra Carles-Tolra will be presented by the director of the Fiftydots gallery, Laura Salvado.

In addition to new artists, the festival also welcomes already renowned looks, like that of Gabriela Bettini who combines in her work the analysis of the environmental crisis with the situation of women, both affected by the violence of the system.

I guess the work changes to the same extent that we change as individuals, the artist once affirmed. Her work and that of the rest of the artists that make up the Mujeres Mirando Mujeres project are an echo of the concerns and conflicts of our time, a time that is increasingly ours.

Gabriela Bettini, project “Primavera silenciosa”, 2018 (image from ©gabrielabettini.com)

As once noted Estrella de Diego, always wise: it is not worth being a feminist in the art world, one has to be a feminist or not, our thinking should invade our way of being in the world and of relating to it. And in this sense, art makes it possible to stay those thoughts of our life which are the reflection of our passage through the world.

For this reason, initiatives such as the Mujeres Mirando Mujeres that make women's work real and effective, are as necessary as important.

 

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.