Art & Exhibitions in Madrid

Last days to see one of Madrid's exhibitions of the year. Sala Alcalá 31 brings together Ouka Leele and the artists of La Movida who turned classical myths into pop language. It closes on Sunday 18 October. 🎨🏺

More than a hundred works by Ouka Leele, El Hortelano, Ceesepe, Carlos Franco, Costus, Sigfrido Martín Begué, Guillermo Pérez Villalta and Patricia Gadea.

🎨 MITOLOGÍAS MODERNAS: OUKA LEELE & CO

📅 Until Sunday 18 October 2026

🕐 Tuesday to Saturday, 11 am-8.30 pm · Sunday, 11 am-2 pm · Closed Mondays

📍 Sala Alcalá 31, Calle de Alcalá, 31, Madrid

🎟️ Free entry

🏺 The exhibition

The starting point is Rappelle-toi, Barbara!, the 1987 action in which Ouka Leele stopped the traffic around the Cibeles fountain to stage the myth of Hippomenes and Atalanta. From there, the show explores how photography, painting and visual culture crossed paths in the 1980s.

Classical mythology became a key tool to imagine the new reality of Spain's transition to democracy: from Ceesepe's comics and fanzines to El Hortelano's romanticism and Martín Begué's take on art history. Together they build a new mythology of Madrid.

🏛️ The venue

Sala Alcalá 31 is housed in the former Banco Mercantil e Industrial, a short walk from Sol. It is the Region of Madrid's main space for contemporary art, and entry is always free.

ℹ️ Tips: the room starts clearing 10 minutes before closing, and on Sunday it only opens in the morning. Metro Sevilla (L2) or Sol.

✨ La Movida, told through gods and heroes.

CentroCentro presents an artistic intervention that transforms space through geometric abstraction and pictorial three-dimensionality. 🎨🏛️

The installation is part of EPICENTRO, CentroCentro's guest artist programme designed to provide visibility and opportunity to contemporary creators.

🎨 Carlos Cartaxo ‘In-sítu’

📅 From 9 September to 18 October 2026

🕐 Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 20:00

📍 CentroCentro, Madrid

🎟️ Free admission

📖 Space as an active agent of the artwork

This site-specific installation investigates contemporary abstract languages and currents linked to new constructivisms. The project aims to expand the visitor's spatial experience, altering perception and reflecting the uncertainty and speed of our present era.

Positioned between expanded painting and free-standing sculpture, the three-dimensional relief folds and unfolds with shifting geometric planes. Drawing inspiration from Kurt Schwitters’ historic Merzbau and Renaissance wall reliefs, the work integrates architecture into an active narrative shaped by light and viewpoint.

🎨 The EPICENTRO programme at CentroCentro

EPICENTRO serves as a dynamic platform where invited artists develop works directly responding to the architectural environment of CentroCentro at Plaza de Cibeles.

ℹ️ Good to know: Closed on Mondays.

✨ An immersive exploration where painting, sculpture, and architecture converse directly.

Los Molinos hosts a cultural project exploring sound traditions through visual art with the exhibition 'Música popular: una visión fotográfica'. 🎨📸

This travelling showcase arrives in the municipality as part of the Community of Madrid's Red Itiner network, in collaboration with the Los Molinos Town Council.

🎨 Música popular: una visión fotográfica

📅 8 to 18 October 2026

🕐 Thursday to Saturday from 10:00 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 20:00; Wednesday and Sunday from 10:00 to 14:00

📍 Casa Museo Julio Escobar, Los Molinos

🎟️ Free admission

📖 About the exhibition

'Música popular: una visión fotográfica' offers a visual journey highlighting diverse expressions of popular and traditional music captured through the photographic lens.

Through this selection of images, visitors can discover artistic traditions, customs, and protagonists of musical heritage recorded from both documentary and aesthetic perspectives.

🏛️ Red Itiner and Casa Museo Julio Escobar

The showcase belongs to the Red Itiner programme of the Community of Madrid, an initiative designed to bring high-quality, free temporary exhibitions to various towns in the region.

The chosen venue for this presentation is the Casa Museo Julio Escobar, a prominent cultural hub situated in Los Molinos.

✨ A great opportunity to explore the bond between photography and musical folklore in the Madrid mountains.

For one week, Madrid opens the doors that are usually closed. Palaces, churches, theatres, libraries, cemeteries and landmark buildings can be visited for free during the 14th edition of Madrid Otra Mirada (Madrid, Another Look). 🏛️👁️

Madrid City Council's heritage programme breaks its own record this year with 205 institutions and 249 activities, all free, and for the first time it lasts a full week.

🏛️ MADRID OTRA MIRADA 2026 (MOM)

📅 Monday 12 to Sunday 18 October 2026

🕐 Times vary by activity (see the programme)

📍 More than 200 heritage sites across the city

🎟️ All activities are free

🗝️ What's on

Guided and theatrical tours, concerts, talks, exhibitions, workshops, screenings and children's activities. Twenty-two institutions take part for the first time, including the Council of State, the Gallery of the Royal Collections, the Palacio de Gaviria, St George's Anglican Church, the Metropolitano stadium and street-art galleries such as the Banksy Museum.

24 activities need no booking: the organ concert at the Royal Basilica of San Francisco el Grande, the Faro de Moncloa viewpoint, the Municipal Newspaper Library, the British Cemetery, the Russian Orthodox Church and La Casa Encendida, among others.

👁️ About MOM

Madrid Otra Mirada was created to bring the city's heritage closer to the people who live in it, on the idea that knowing it is the first step to looking after it. Its big draw is the chance to step inside buildings that are closed the rest of the year.

ℹ️ Tips: most activities booked through mom.reservaspatrimonio.es are full, but there are still places at the Retiro, Casa de Campo, Metro de Madrid, Matadero and Almudena Cemetery. Most activities are in Spanish. Check the programme for those that need no booking.

✨ One week to see Madrid through different eyes.

Mixed-reality headsets, a live Tesla coil and original pieces from the history of electricity. Iberdrola has set up the largest exhibition on the past, present and future of electricity at the Palacio de Cibeles. Free, until 20 October. ⚡🔌

The show is part of 125 años luz, the programme celebrating the company's 125th anniversary.

⚡ UN VIAJE ELECTRIZANTE (AN ELECTRIFYING JOURNEY)

📅 Until Tuesday 20 October 2026

🕐 Every day from 10 am (last entry 8.45 pm)

📍 Palacio de Cibeles, Plaza de Cibeles, 1, Madrid

🎟️ Free entry with booking on entradas.com or at the box office

🔌 What you'll see

The route starts with the first scientific discoveries and ends in the cities of the future, in the age of electrification. There is a museum of original pieces of great historical value, live Tesla coil demonstrations that make electricity visible and an immersive audiovisual experience with mixed-reality headsets.

Along the way come the industry's big milestones: the first power plants, renewables, smart grids, energy storage and the electrification of transport and industry. There are also educational workshops for students and families.

👨‍👩‍👧 Who it's for

All ages, and especially designed to spark interest in science. The visit takes about an hour and is available in Spanish and English.

ℹ️ Tips: arrive 10 minutes early. Children under 10 cannot use the headsets, and it is not recommended for people with photosensitive epilepsy.

✨ 125 years of light in a one-hour visit.

The Monastery of Santa María de El Paular hosts an interdisciplinary exhibition exploring the landscapes, biodiversity, and traditional rural trades of the Upper Lozoya Valley. 🌿🎨

Curated by Nuria Hijano Baonza, this group project combines painting, sculpture, and photography as part of the Paular Contemporáneo cultural programme.

🎨 Miscellaneous Exhibition "Yerba"

📅 8 to 31 October 2026

🕐 Mornings 11:00 to 13:30 (until 14:00 according to season); winter afternoons 16:00 to 18:00, summer afternoons 16:00 to 18:30

📍 Espacio Paular Contemporáneo, Monasterio de Santa María de El Paular, Rascafría

🎟️ Price not specified in source (combined ticket with the main Cloister visit; check official event website)

📖 Ecosystems, art, and rural heritage

Subtitled "The ecosystem of mowing meadows and ash dehesas of the Alto Valle del Lozoya-Paular", the project reflects on the historical connection between sustainable grazing, meadow mowing, and landscape conservation in the Sierra de Guadarrama.

The display brings together paintings by Julia Vallespín, Juan Higueras, Daniel García, Bernardo Lara, Antonio Montero, and Alessandro Taiana; sculptures by Federico Gómez; and photographs by H&H (Mikael Helsing and Nuria Hijano), alongside works made with organic biomaterials.

🎨 Espacio Paular Contemporáneo

Located in the restored Carthusian cells of the monastery, this venue features high ceilings, four interconnected galleries, an upper viewing walkway, and access to historic courtyards, offering an exceptional setting for modern art.

ℹ️ Good to know: Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays (except public holidays). Admission is combined with the visit to the main Cloister and Carducho's Carthusian series.

✨ An inspiring dialogue between artistic creation, science, and nature conservation.

A unique opportunity to delve into the most influential and candid photographic portrait of 1950s America. 📷🇺🇸

Espacio Fundación Telefónica presents an exhibition dedicated to Swiss-born photographer Robert Frank and his celebrated documentary project.

🎨 Robert Frank & The Americans

📅 From October 14 to November 1, 2026

🕐 Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 20:00 | Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 11:00 to 20:00

📍 Espacio Fundación Telefónica, Madrid

🎟️ Free admission

📖 A raw look at American society

Tired of commercial assignments, Robert Frank spent years traveling across numerous American states. That bold journey produced 800 rolls of film and nearly 28,000 photographs. This exhibition showcases the 83 pictures chosen by the artist, which challenged mid-century conventions through motion blur, tilted framing, and unbalanced compositions.

From Hollywood stars to everyday citizens, diners, funerals, and rodeos, Frank captured spontaneous scenes of minority groups and marginalized communities, revealing an authentic view of a society undergoing major transformations.

🎨 Documentary and visual legacy

The exhibition also features excerpts from Laura Israel's documentary 'Robert Frank, la mirada de América' (2015), where the photographer recounts anecdotes, accusations, and insights into his spontaneous shooting style. Once dismissed as anti-American, Frank's series is now acclaimed as a cornerstone of modern visual culture.

ℹ️ Good to know: Closed on Mondays.

✨ Explore a revolutionary photographic milestone that reshaped contemporary visual history.

A sensitive photographic project paying tribute to the teaching profession arrives in Las Rozas de Madrid to spotlight those who shape our collective future. 🎨📸

Photographer Marina Arcos presents this artistic and documentary exploration of education at the Sala J. M. Díaz Caneja.

🎨 ENSEÑANTES

📅 From October 8 to November 4, 2026

🕐 Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 21:00; Saturdays from 10:00 to 14:00

📍 Centro Cultural Pérez De Riva (Sala J. M. Díaz Caneja), Las Rozas de Madrid

🎟️ Free admission

📖 A tribute to the teaching vocation

The exhibition brings together a series of portraits in which Marina Arcos pays homage to the teaching community. Far from creating a uniform depiction of educators, the artist outlines a genuine human map of teaching through professionals across various generations, disciplines, and cultural contexts.

In each photograph, the subject incorporates an object of their own choice as a personal symbol of their educational work. This detail highlights the wide diversity of perspectives and practices within a shared vocation.

The project highlights the vital role of educators who, through knowledge, dedication, and daily commitment, contribute to personal development and the future of society.

🎨 The artist and the exhibition venue

Marina Arcos combines documentary precision with emotional warmth to reveal the human essence behind classroom teaching.

Sala J. M. Díaz Caneja, located inside Centro Cultural Pérez De Riva in Las Rozas de Madrid, hosts this compelling photographic series throughout October and early November.

✨ A meaningful photographic exhibition honouring the dedication of educators in Las Rozas.

The Casa de México Foundation in Spain builds its Day of the Dead altar, this year dedicated to composer Agustín Lara (1897-1970), the Flaco de Oro, who presides over the scene at his piano. 🌼🎹

The offering is inspired by a mountain cemetery in Michoacán on the Night of the Dead: candles, marigolds, copal, music and monarch butterflies, which in Purépecha and Mazahua tradition represent the souls returning to visit the living.

🌼 DAY OF THE DEAD ALTAR 2026

📅 2 October to 8 November 2026

🕐 Free entry: Monday 10 am to 6.45 pm, Tuesday to Friday 10 am to 1.45 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 12.45 pm

📍 Fundación Casa de México en España, calle de Alberto Aguilera, 20, Madrid

🎟️ Free

🕯️ Guided tours

About 20 minutes: Tuesday to Friday 2 pm to 8.30 pm, Saturday 1 pm to 8.30 pm and Sunday 1 pm to 6.30 pm.

With free booking (link sent every Friday in the Casa de México newsletter) or via the walk-in queue, subject to capacity.

🎨 Folk art

The altar features traditional Mexican crafts such as embossed tin and cartonería (papier-mâché).

✨ Music, memory and flowers for those who live on in our songs.

Sala de Arte Joven hosts a new edition of Circuitos de Artes Plásticas, highlighting fresh perspectives from Madrid's emerging art scene. 🎨✨

The exhibition brings together projects by the ten artists under 35 selected in this regional open call, held as part of Hispanidad 2026.

🎨 Bitácoras. El valor de lo invisible

📅 From September 16 to November 8, 2026

🕐 Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 20:30; Sundays from 11:00 to 14:00

📍 Sala de Arte Joven, Madrid

🎟️ Free admission

📖 Exploring the creative process and the hidden journey

Under the title "Bitácoras. El valor de lo invisible", the show focuses on what precedes the finished piece: research, doubts, rehearsals, and experimentation. Nature, daily life, memory, and technology shape the featured works.

The exhibition showcases pieces by Diego Lara, Sonsoles Masiá, Juan Pablo Pacheco, Ana Daganzo, Romina Casile, Lucía Gutiérrez, Dandara Catete, Valeria Landete and Pedro Núñez (Estudio POLARI), Pablo Quesada, and Verónica Márquez, spanning sculpture, drawing, installations, and digital art.

🏛️ Supporting young talent in Madrid

Circuitos de Artes Plásticas is a long-standing initiative promoting young creators based in the region. In addition to the exhibition, free group guided visits are available upon advance telephone booking.

ℹ️ Good to know: Closed on Mondays. Gallery clearance begins 10 minutes prior to closing. Group guided visits require prior telephone reservation (+34 91 564 21 29).

✨ An insightful look into the creative journeys of ten rising contemporary artists.

CentroCentro presents an insightful retrospective dedicated to María Lara, offering a deep dive into a pictorial journey defined by introspection and quiet focus. 🎨✨

Curated by Armando Montesinos, the exhibition explores twenty-five years of work by an artist long regarded as a secret painter, whose rigorous artistic language has achieved well-deserved acclaim in recent years.

🎨 MARÍA LARA. THE SLOWNESS OF LIGHT

📅 From June 25 to November 15, 2026

🕐 Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM

📍 CentroCentro, Madrid

🎟️ Free admission

📖 About the exhibition

The exhibition brings together nearly 40 pieces, including paintings and drawings, spanning the last quarter-century. It reflects a body of work pursued with patient determination, achieving vibrant aesthetic refinement.

Lara's art investigates subtle dialogues between line, surface, and space, offering a contemplation on time and the qualities of light.

🎨 About the artist

Born in Loja, Granada, in 1940, María Lara studied Fine Arts in Seville and at the San Fernando Fine Arts School in Madrid, an essential period of contact with key Spanish and international artists. After living and working in Málaga, Paris, and Bordeaux, she developed her practice largely within the quiet of her studio.

ℹ️ Good to know: Closed on Mondays.

✨ An exceptional occasion to discover the subtle poetic intensity of María Lara in Madrid.

Cultural space Traductores del Viento pays tribute to the extensive career of watercolor painter Josefina Muñiz in the Madrid mountains. 🎨

The exhibition brings together a curated selection of works spanning various creative periods of the artist.

🎨 Josefina Muñiz, Watercolorist · Tribute Exhibition

📅 From October 17 to November 21, 2026

🕐 Saturday and Sunday mornings (opening: Saturday, October 17 at 12:00)

📍 Traductores del Viento, old railway station of Bustarviejo (Bustarviejo)

🎟️ Price not specified (check the event website)

📖 Landscapes of Water and Light

The showcase offers an immersion into Josefina Muñiz's artistic universe, defined by the luminosity of watercolor painting. The displayed pieces depict nature scenes, seascapes, dramatic skies, woodlands, and moments from rural Spain.

Spanning multiple phases of her career, the exhibition highlights the painter's technical mastery and poetic vision of natural landscapes.

🏛️ Traductores del Viento

Hosted at Traductores del Viento, located in the former railway station of Bustarviejo, this retrospective celebrates a life devoted to painting. The opening event takes place on Saturday, October 17 at 12:00 with a welcoming toast and appetizer.

ℹ️ Good to know: The exhibition can only be visited on Saturday and Sunday mornings throughout its run.

✨ A delicate journey through the art of watercolor in Bustarviejo.

A fascinating graphic exhibition explores the evolution of bullfighting posters in Buitrago del Lozoya, tracing their journey from functional notices to avant-garde artworks. 🎨✨

Presented in connection with the Museo Picasso – Colección Eugenio Arias, this temporary exhibition examines the contribution of master artists to modern graphic expression.

🎨 AVANT-GARDE BULLFIGHTING POSTERS: PICASSO TO BARCELÓ

📅 From October 8 to December 8, 2026

🕐 Tuesday to Friday: 11:00–13:45 and 16:00–18:00; Saturday: 10:00–14:00 and 16:00–19:00; Sunday and holidays: 10:00–14:00

📍 Sala de exposiciones Buitrago del Lozoya, Buitrago del Lozoya

🎟️ Free admission

📖 Graphic art, avant-garde and tradition on paper

The exhibition begins with the origins of printed advertising in Spain, where the earliest preserved poster dates back to 1737 and advertised a bullfight. Through this historical trajectory, visitors discover how a purely informative medium evolved into genuine signature art.

The selection reveals how daring graphic language, color, modern composition, and artistic innovation redefined bullfighting posters through the creative vision of prominent masters such as Pablo Picasso and Miquel Barceló.

🏛️ Museo Picasso - Eugenio Arias Collection

The Museo Picasso in Buitrago del Lozoya holds the unique collection of works gifted by Picasso to his friend and barber Eugenio Arias during their exile in France, serving as an exceptional cultural hub in the Sierra Norte of Madrid that complements its permanent display with temporary exhibitions.

ℹ️ Good to know: Closed on Mondays. Lockers for small bags are available at the entrance.

✨ A singular opportunity to discover the aesthetic revolution of poster art through leading avant-garde creators.

The Madrid Planetarium hosts a singular meeting of art and astronomy through a curated selection of contemporary works centered on the fascination with Earth's satellite. 🎨🌕

The exhibition arises from a collaboration with Madrid's Museum of Contemporary Art, which has loaned significant pieces from its collection linked to lunar mythology and the capital's urban landscape.

🎨 Artemisia. La magia de la luna

📅 From July 16, 2024 to December 27, 2026

🕐 18:00

📍 Planetario de Madrid, Madrid

🎟️ Free admission

📖 The moon in the contemporary imagination

The exhibition explores the symbolism of Artemis and the moon as an inspiration for dreams and artistic creation. Highlights include Fernando Bellver's Madrid cartography filled with constellations, Delhy Tejero's stars over the city skyline, Moncho Otero's nocturnal visions, and Javier Clavo's take on the Neptune fountain.

The display also brings together pop imagery by Javier de Juan, metaphysical work by Sigfrido Martín Begué, and pieces by Manuel Ortiz, Dis Berlín, and Julio Zachrisson, alongside a marble moon sculpture by Jesús Alberto Bañuelos.

🏛️ A dialogue between art and astronomy

This joint initiative unites the scientific mission of the Planetarium with the visual poetics of the municipal art collection, inviting visitors to rediscover the night sky and the city's aesthetic heritage.

ℹ️ Good to know: Prior registration via link is only required to attend the official opening.

✨ An evocative journey through the cosmos seen through contemporary Madrid art.

Visual expression sheds all written language to explore the communicative power of pure imagery at Casa del Lector. 🎨✨

This collective exhibition is part of the Madrid Gráfica Abierta 2026 initiative, curated by the Iberoamérica Diseña association within the tenth edition of Madrid Gráfica.

🎨 Carteles Sin palabras

📅 Dates: From 7 October to 30 December 2026

🕐 Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday from 16:00 to 20:30. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 20:30

📍 Venue: Casa del Lector (Matadero Madrid), Madrid

🎟️ Admission: Free admission

📖 The visual challenge of wordless communication

The project brings together 64 posters created by Ibero-American professionals—including designers, illustrators, photographers and graphic artists—who took on a specific creative task: interpreting a designated word without using any written text whatsoever.

Through visual mediums such as illustration, iconography, photography or creative blends of these tools, each participant conveys meaningful concepts strictly through visual language, layout and graphic composition.

🎨 An Ibero-American design platform

Co-organised by the Madrid City Council, the Business Forum (Foro de Empresas) and Iberoamérica Diseña, this exhibition coincides with the 4th Ibero-American Forum on Design and Research organized by the association.

ℹ️ Good to know: Closed on Mondays.

✨ A unique showcase of graphic creativity and visual synthesis from across Ibero-America.

The iconic Cibeles Palace reveals its own rich history through an exhibition exploring its evolution from a central postal and telegraph hub to a major cultural landmark in the capital. 🎨🏛️

Curated by architect Jacobo Armero, this permanent exhibition highlights the architectural significance and everyday life of this Madrid monument.

🎨 Vida del Palacio de Cibeles

📅 May 4 to December 31, 2026

🕐 Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM

📍 CentroCentro, Madrid

🎟️ Free admission

📖 The birth of an architectural icon

In the mid-19th century, the old postal offices in Puerta del Sol collapsed under the strain of Madrid's rapid urban growth. In 1904, the Spanish state held a public competition on the grounds of the former Buen Retiro gardens at Emilio Castelar Square (now Cibeles) to group all postal and telegraph services together.

Young architects Antonio Palacios and Joaquín Otamendi won the contest, creating an imposing headquarters envisioned as a vibrant crossroads of public activity, communication, and civic life.

🏛️ CentroCentro and the exhibition

Jacobo Armero, an architect trained at ETSAM with extensive background in cultural management and architectural publications, leads the curation of this tribute to the building.

ℹ️ Good to know: Closed on Mondays. Visiting hours run Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

✨ A unique journey into the heritage and architecture of Madrid's grand palace.

Discover the values and history that made this unique urban landscape a UNESCO World Heritage Site through an educational and interactive journey. 🏛️🌿

The cultural space CentroCentro hosts this permanent exhibition dedicated to showcasing the historical, artistic, and scientific importance of the Landscape of Light.

🎨 Landscape of Light Interpretation Centre

📅 From December 14, 2022 to January 1, 2027

🕐 Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 20:00

📍 CentroCentro (Patio de operaciones, 2nd floor), Madrid

🎟️ Free admission

📖 Interactive resources, history, and science

The centre brings together comprehensive information on the qualities that grant this cultural landscape its Outstanding Universal Value. The exhibition features informative panels, videos, and tablets that thoroughly address the history, art, nature, science, and universal model of the Landscape of Light.

One of the main highlights is an architectural scale model featuring a videomapping projection that traces the urban and historical evolution of the area over centuries. Additionally, every six months one of the entities located within the Landscape of Light participates as a guest institution, lending pieces from its collection.

🏛️ CentroCentro and its cultural mission

Located at the iconic Plaza de Cibeles, CentroCentro hosts this permanent interpretation centre on its second floor, serving as the perfect starting point to explore this internationally acclaimed site.

ℹ️ Good to know: Brochures and maps are available in several languages. Closed on Mondays.

✨ An essential educational stop to understand the extraordinary heritage preserved in Madrid.

La Casa Encendida brings together La Chola Poblete, Niño de Elche and Pedro G. Romero in an exhibition that traces how colonial histories still resonate today in bodies, objects and culture. 🎨🌍

Curated by Manuela Moscoso, director of CARA, it arrives in Madrid after premiering in spring 2025 at the Center for Art, Research and Alliances in New York.

🎨 CONTINENTES COMO SEMILLAS · CONTINENTS LIKE SEEDS

📅 From 10 September 2026 to 10 January 2027

🕐 Tuesday to Saturday, 10 am to 9 pm · Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm (closed on Mondays)

📍 La Casa Encendida, Ronda de Valencia, 2, Madrid

🎟️ Free admission

🧵 The exhibition

Sound, sculpture, drawing and performance unpick the contradictions of colonial legacies. Niño de Elche and Pedro G. Romero follow the imperial trade routes that shaped flamenco, especially the Manila Galleon (1565-1815), starting from the Manila shawl: embroidered in China, sold across the Americas and later adopted as a symbol of Spanishness.

La Chola Poblete (Argentina, 1989) turns to her own body, merging it with figures such as the Virgin Mary, Pachamama or Che Guevara to reveal how capitalism, patriarchy and nationalism discipline bodies.

🔥 Beyond the gallery

The title comes from a poem by June Jordan: "New energies of darkness / we disturbed a continent / like seeds". The show comes with a programme of performances, family visits and accessible tours; check dates on La Casa Encendida's website.

ℹ️ Tips: galleries close 15 minutes before the centre. Metro Embajadores (L3, L5) or Lavapiés (L3).

✨ One of the must-see exhibitions of autumn in Madrid, and it's free.

An unexpected dance floor emerges in a space marked by memory and fire, inviting visitors to experience emotions oscillating between euphoria and unease. 🎨

The project is part of Matadero Madrid's 'Abierto x Obras' programme, curated by Jose Luis Romo with a site-specific installation conceived by artist Carlos Aires.

🎨 Bailad, bailad, malditos

📅 From 11 September 2026 to 24 January 2027

🕐 Tuesday to Thursday from 17:00 to 21:00; Friday, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays from 12:00 to 21:00

📍 Nave 0, Matadero Madrid (Plaza Legazpi, 8, Madrid)

🎟️ Free admission (free access until capacity is reached)

📖 A propped dance floor and historical memory

The site-specific exhibition Bailad, bailad, malditos features more than a hundred construction props and around twenty screens inside Nave 0, the municipal slaughterhouse's former cold store.

The artist takes the visible scars of this burnt space and the memory of its past violence as a starting point. Operating as a sculptural ensemble, the installation invites the audience directly onto the dance floor.

🎨 Carlos Aires and the 'Abierto x Obras' programme

Through this custom intervention designed for Matadero Madrid, Carlos Aires presents a physical and emotional journey curated by Jose Luis Romo.

ℹ️ Good to know: Closed on Mondays. Free entry until capacity is reached.

✨ A striking sculptural and audiovisual installation at Matadero Madrid.

CentroCentro presents a comprehensive exhibition dedicated to Cruz Novillo, gathering works from the mid-1960s up to pieces produced in 2025. A unique opportunity to delve into the creative world of an essential contemporary figure. 🎨✨

The exhibition proposes a non-linear journey focused on the aesthetic and conceptual investigations that have guided the artist's career across several decades.

🎨 Cruz Novillo

📅 From October 8, 2026 to January 24, 2027

🕐 Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 20:00

📍 CentroCentro, Madrid

🎟️ Free admission

📖 Arithmetic, color, and sound

The exhibition revolves around the core concepts underpinning Cruz Novillo's aesthetic and conceptual inquiry: reflections on arithmetic, color, time, sound, and play.

In the late 1960s, the artist began investigating the combinatorial possibilities of geometric shapes and color. While sharing artistic concerns with artists working at the Centro de Cálculo during that period, he was not part of that collective. In 1996, he produced his first computer-aided visual and sound piece: Diafragma Tres Opus 2.

🎨 Career and drawing at CentroCentro

Cruz Novillo began his professional journey as a draftsman at Publicidad Clarín. Drawing became his primary medium and remained a constant thread moving from paper to sculpture across varied supports.

✨ An essential exhibition exploring the geometric experimentation and conceptual depth of Cruz Novillo.

Madrid revives the splendour of the 17th-century court with an ambitious look at its architecture, urban planning, and artistic heritage. 🎨🏛️

This exhibition is one of the main milestones of the Madrid Barroco cultural programme, organised by the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage and Urban Landscape of the Madrid City Council, curated by Delfín Rodríguez Ruiz and Fernando Checa Cremades, alongside technical curator Helena Pérez Gallardo.

🎨 Teatro de grandeza. Arte, arquitectura y ciudad en el Madrid Barroco

📅 From 1 October 2026 to 31 January 2027

🕐 Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 20:00

📍 Fernán Gómez Centro Cultural de la Villa, Madrid

🎟️ Free admission

📖 17th-century architecture, urbanism, and court

The exhibition explores the peak of splendour of the Baroque Villa and Court through more than 180 works focused on its major buildings, urban fabric, and creators. It gathers loans from Madrid institutions such as the Museo de Historia de Madrid, the Archivo de Villa, the Biblioteca Nacional de España, the Museo Nacional del Prado, the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, and Patrimonio Nacional.

The display also features pieces from leading international collections in Austria (Albertina Museum, Khevenhüller Collection, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna), the United Kingdom (British Library, Duke of Westminster Collection), and Italy (Galleria degli Uffizi, Laurentian Library in Florence, Museo di Roma, and the Vatican Museums).

🎨 The Madrid Barroco programme at Plaza de Colón

Fernán Gómez Centro Cultural de la Villa hosts this heritage exhibition to showcase the monumental evolution and urban development of the city throughout the 17th century.

ℹ️ Good to know: Closed on Mondays. The venue has no cloakroom or luggage storage. Access with suitcases, large bags, scooters, and similar items is not permitted. Gallery clearance begins 10 minutes before closing time.

✨ A premier event to discover the transformation and artistic power of the Baroque capital.

A major cultural production invites visitors to step inside the classical epic through cutting-edge technologies and mythical storytelling in the capital. 🎨🏛️

The exhibition arrives at Matadero Madrid as a large-scale immersive experience transporting audiences into the heart of the Greece of heroes.

🎨 The Odyssey, an Immersive Journey

📅 From September 18, 2026 to July 30, 2027

🕐 Monday to Thursday and Sunday, 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM; Friday and Saturday, 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM

📍 Matadero Madrid, Madrid

🎟️ From €14.90

📖 Five experiences to relive Homer's epic

The exhibition brings together five distinct immersive experiences combining scenic recreations, an interactive metaverse, multisensory virtual reality, 360-degree wraparound projections, and a holographic installation.

At the center of the visit, a massive immersive room presents eight adventures from The Odyssey. Each chapter features its own visual atmosphere and an original soundtrack specially designed to accompany Odysseus's journey.

🏛️ The venue: Matadero Madrid

The contemporary creation center Matadero Madrid hosts this event as part of its featured cultural programming, dedicating its spacious facilities to cutting-edge artistic presentations and large-scale immersive environments.

ℹ️ Good to know: Available in Spanish and English. Recommended for ages 5 and up. Approximate duration: 90 minutes. Spectator's day available (check the ticket sales website).

✨ A fascinating sensory expedition through the timeless legends of Greek epic poetry.