International Museum Day, 2015

Guided tours of the Collection and Exhibitions

11:30 a.m. Guernica. Historia de un icono
12:30 p.m. A propósito de… Fuego blanco. La colección moderna del Kunstmuseum Basel
12:30 p.m. A propósito de... Carl Andre. Escultura como lugar
5:00 p.m. Feminismo

Museum in Dance. Tour for children and adults based around artworks and movement

Location: Education Information Point, Floor 1, Sabatini Building. Registration up to half an hour before the start of the activity.
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Aimed at: families
Performers: Patricia Ruz, Tania Arias, Raúl Márquez and Pablo Martín Jones
Capacity: 30 people (children and adults)

Contemporary dance has a distinguished presence over this weekend. The proposal comprises a tour through painting and abstract sculpture, where the composition and meaning of the works chosen are presented to visitors by using corporeal expression and movement. The tour, open to both children and adults, who are invited to actively participate, strives to open new channels for perceiving, understanding and enjoying contemporary art.

Educational program developed with the sponsorship of: Fundación Banco Santander

Presentation of the restoration of the work Portrait of Joella by Salvador Dalí and Man Ray

In 1933 Man Ray created the plaster portrait of Joella Bayer, the wife of New York gallery owner Julien Levy. On the occasion of an exhibition held the following year in the Julien Levy Gallery, Salvador Dalí intervened pictorially in the portrait plaster, transforming it into a sculpture-object.

To mark International Museum Day, the Conservation-Restoration Department will present to visitors the recent restoration of the work, carried out through the sponsorship of the Bank of America Merrill Lynch and its Art Conservation Program.

Location: Room 205, Sabatini Building, Floor 2
Time: 11:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Admission: Free, until full capacity is reached

Restoration programme carried out with the sponsorship of: FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE
Restoration of the work Joella with the sponsorship of: Bank of America Merrill Lynch

I call them simply books. Opening of the exhibition curated by Guy Schraenen

The exhibition I call them simply books, devoted to the «book as book», can be seen as part two of the previous one It is not new, it is a book, that it was a purely conceptual approach to the book. The title is a quotation by Peter Downsbrough, an American artist who has published numerous «books» since 1972.

Artists’ books are a new and revolutionary way of dealing with the space of the book, it is not considered any more as a mere container of information, but as a creative space. These books are generally of average format, of traditional appearance and the materials and printing techniques are unexceptional; but while the conventional books and their content can be diffused by other media, the artists' books of this exhibition can only exist as books. They are, even published in several hundreds of copies, original art works. The various drawings, photographs, etc., used to be reproduced in these works should not be considered as originals, but the books themselves, the book as a work of art. Thus we call them "books" in the same way we call a painting "painting".

Among the artist presented are works by Marcel Broodthaers, Daniel Buren, James Lee Byars, José Luis Castillejo, Mirtha Dermisache, Peter Downsbrough, Sol LeWitt, Richard Long, Michael Snow and Bernard Villers.

Location: Nouvel Building, Library and Documentation Center. Space D, Floor 0
Time: 7:00 p.m.

Radio Nacional de España visits the Museo Reina Sofía

Location: Nouvel Building. Floor 1
Time: 8:00 to 12:00 p.m.
Admission: Free, until full capacity is reached
Access time: access until 11 p.m.

From inside the Museo, Radio Nacional de España will broadcast the evening news, 24 horas (24 hours), directed by Miguel Ángel Domínguez. Visitors will have the chance to attend its broadcast live.

Special late opening, until 11 p.m., to the exhibition White Fire. The Kunstmuseum Basel Modern Collection

The Museum offers the chance of visiting the extraordinary exhibition la extraordinaria exposición White Fire. The Kunstmuseum Basel Modern Collection until 11 p.m. coinciding with the International Museum Day.. The Kunstmuseum Basel is considered one of the finest public municipal museums in the world. The two cornerstones of its collection are the works dating from the 15th and 16th centuries, on one side, and artworks from the 19th century to the 21st, on the other, with the ensemble of the latter making it one of the most significant collections of contemporary art in Europe.

Guided tour of the Library

The Documentation Centre and Library offer the chance to discover their facilities in this visit. The aim is to divulge their collections and services as a study and research tool for contemporary art. A selection of highly valued pieces will be on display, ranging from Vicente Huidobro’s poem Tour Eiffel, published in 1918 and with an illustrated cover by Robert Delaunay, to the SMS collection of multiples edited in New York in 1968 by The Letter Edged in Black.

Location: Nouvel Building, Documentation and Library Centre. Space D, Floor 0
Time: 9:30 a.m. and 10:45 p.m.
Capacity: 20 people per group
Registration: prior registration at antonio.majado@museoreinasofia.es
Registration deadline: May 17

Guided Tours

Visita comentada al Archivo en que se encuentra la memoria histórica del Museo

The Central Archive offers the chance to discover its history and documentary content by way of an explanatory talk on the role of archive within the institution. It aims to divulge its collections and services as a source for the study and research of contemporary art.

Location: Nouvel Building, Study Centre. Space D, Floor 5
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Capacity: 20 people
Registration: prior registration by writing to archivo@museoreinasofia.es
Registration deadline: May 18

Apropos of… White Fire. The Kunstmuseum Basel Modern Collection

This guided tour aims to demonstrate that a collection is more than just a list of masterpieces added systematically. The objective is to delve deeper and expand, by looking at the history of what is widely considered the number-one public municipal museum in the world, the aspects that have forged one of the most important and representative collections of modern and contemporary art in Europe over the years.

Registration: Meeting Point, up to one hour before the start of each visit
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Capacity: 25 people per visit

Leap into Space. Visit-workshop led by circus artists

Leap into Space is a family activity that puts forward an innovative way of moving closer to contemporary art through resources taken from circus arts and conducted by circus artists. These artists will foster the ongoing interaction between children and adults and the works of Lucio Fontana, Gil J. Wolman, Wolf Vostell and Yves Klein, leading them towards a new stage of art appreciation.

Location: Education Information Point, Floor 1, Sabatini Building. Registrations up to half an hour before the start of each activity.
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Aimed at: families
Performers: Jorge Jorge y Dalí Bergamaschi
Capacity: 30 people (children and adults)

Seen and Unseen. A Tour through visual and tactile impressions

This tour is designed as an alternative experience, one where a visually impaired person and an educator specialised in accessibility provide multi-sensory strategies to approach art by means of a descriptive visit around Collection 2 with visual and tactile impressions. The commentary on the works selected includes impressions obtained by the visually impaired person through tactile exploration, for instance with sculptures, and the thorough visual analysis of various paintings and photographs by the sighted person. The aim of the initiative is to encourage visitors to experience and share the process through which visually impaired people access art content.

Time: 12:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Educators: Azucena Hernández and Asier Vázquez
Registration: Meeting Point, up to one hour before the start of each visit
Capacity: 20 people per visit
Further information: email accesibilidad@museoreinasofia.es or by phone: +34 91 774 10 00, Ext. 2033

Educational program developed with the sponsorship of: Fundación Banco Santander