Latest Events in Barcelona(September Updated)

Valérie Belin (1964) is a French artist who, after studying art and philosophy, established photography as the core of her artistic practice. Her work examines the relationship between reality, representation, and artifice through frontal, serial compositions of striking formal precision, informed by minimalism. Since the 1990s, she has incorporated the human figure to explore questions of identity and simulacrum in series such as Bodybuilders, Transsexuels, Femmes noires, and Mannequins. From 2006 onwards, she introduced colour and developed a visual language she describes as “magical realism”, in which the figure emerges as a hybrid presence—between flesh, icon, and illusion.Her work has been exhibited internationally at leading institutions including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris; the Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne; and the Kunsthaus Zürich. She has also presented solo exhibitions at museums such as the MUba Eugène Leroy (Tourcoing) and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux. In the gallery context, she is represented primarily by Galerie Nathalie Obadia (Paris and Brussels) and Edwynn Houk Gallery (New York).A recipient of the Prix Pictet in 2015 and appointed Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2022, Belin has been inducted into the Académie des beaux-arts in 2026, marking a significant milestone in a career that rigorously interrogates the nature and power of the contemporary image.

MACBA is proud to present the first solo exhibition in Spain by Palestinian art duo Basel Abbas (born 1983 in Nicosia, Cyprus) and Ruanne Abou-Rahme (born 1983 in Boston, USA). They employ poetic techniques of sound, image, text, and performance to delve into collective memory, exploring stories of oppression, deprivation, and violence, as well as narratives of collectivism and resilience.

"Light Through the Cracks" takes viewers on a journey through the diverse forms of collective creation that have emerged through video art from the 1970s to the present. At its heart lies the experience of Video-Nou / Servicio de Vídeo Comunitario (Community Video Service). This group, active during Catalonia's transition, viewed video not only as a technological medium but also as a political and social tool to foster self-organization, community empowerment, and counter-information dissemination. Starting from this historical juncture, the exhibition unfolds across different thematic areas, weaving together archives, practices, and strategies from other countries and international groups (regardless of their historical context or contemporary characteristics). The exhibition is not a linear genealogy but rather a series of experiences that blur the lines between art and activism, documentation and fiction, aesthetics and ethics.

La Mercè in Barcelona is a festival dedicated to Mare de Deu de la Mercè, Barcelona's patron saint. Besides being a major civic event, it's also a vast festival made up of various festivals that bear witness to the cultural heritage of the Catalan capital: from the Mercè street art festival to popular culture shows, including BAM and the Mercè Festival, there are nearly 500 events every year. First officially held in 1902, this festival bids farewell to summer with a bang and welcomes the coolness of autumn.

As part of the 30th anniversary celebrations of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona (MACBA), this new collection exhibition explores how a vibrant life form spreads its wings, transforming its subjectivity into a liberating space. The exhibition abandons traditional chronological narratives, instead re-examining the collection through dialogue with new modes of being and action. It presents a multifaceted perspective, reaffirming the collection as a constantly growing, open, diverse, and ever-changing whisper.