Every September, for one weekend, the galleries of Arte Madrid come together to offer a unique tour of exhibitions, open to all and free of charge, that take place all over the city. This year, the event returns to celebrate its fifteenth edition from 12 to 15 September with the participation of the 52 galleries that form part of Arte Madrid – Association of Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries of Madrid – including some new additions such as Espacio Mínimo and Memoria.

For four days, Madrid’s galleries will present top-level exhibitions with national and international artists such as Eduardo Chillida, Antoni Tàpies, Milena Muzquiz, Miguel Ángel Tornero, José María Sicilia, Vik Muniz, :mentalKLINIK, Juan Uslé, Julie Mehretu, Luis Gordillo and Jerónimo Elespe.

Apertura includes a programme of free activities such as the joint opening of all the galleries. During the days of the event, they will be open extended opening hours: Thursday from 1:30 pm to 10:00 pm, Friday and Saturday from 11:00 am to 8:00 pm and Sunday from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.

During these days the galleries come together to offer a unique tour of exhibitions in different neighbourhoods of the city such as Chamberí, Salesas, Lavapiés, Letras and Salamanca, in addition, of course, to those located in the centre and in other districts such as Carabanchel. To this is added a programme of events in the galleries’ spaces, as well as other activities aimed at promoting contemporary art.

This year, Apertura Madrid Gallery Weekend features the novelty of a Gallery Notebook that can be picked up at any of the 52 galleries of Arte Madrid. With a limited edition of 550 copies, this notebook will accompany visitors and, at the end of the tour, will allow them to win, through a raffle, a ticket for ARCOmadrid 2025 or a free one-month subscription to the film platform created in Spain, Filmin.

To enter the draw, visitors must visit a minimum of 20 exhibitions at the event. The notebooks must be deposited in an urn located at the entrance to the exhibition Jacobo Castellano. El espacio entre los dedos at the Sala Alcalá 31 until 14.00 on 14 September. ‘The purpose of this document is to encourage visits to the galleries and to reach the most diverse public possible on the occasion of this festival of the galleries. We would also like to thank the entities that have made this new activity possible’, says Nerea Fernández, president of Arte Madrid.

Beyond the galleries

Every year more and more institutions join in the Apertura celebrations by organising exhibitions, talks and visits. In this edition, the collaboration with the MACBA Foundation and its 3rd Conference on Artistic Institutions and Sustainability will be held on Wednesday 11 September from 9:00 to 13:00 at the Cuatrecasas headquarters in Madrid. Open to the public with prior registration, they are included in the Apertura Madrid Gallery Weekend programme due to the MACBA Foundation and Arte Madrid’s commitment to sustainability and the art sector.

These sessions will focus on putting real measures and actions on the table to promote change in the management of museums and art institutions. Organised by the MACBA Foundation in collaboration with Blanca de la Torre and entitled Strategies for the ecosocial transition, they will address some key dimensions in the field of sustainability. To this end, some of the leading museum directors and curators on the European scene will reveal some of the complexities and challenges facing the cultural sector in tackling the ecological crisis.

Once again, Apertura Madrid Gallery Weekend collaborates with the Fundación Pablo Palazuelo, which offers guided tours organised by art theorist and critic Alfonso de la Torre to the Bankinter headquarters at Paseo de la Castellana, 29, and to the Museo de Escultura al Aire Libre at Paseo de la Castellana, 40. On the other hand, the Fundación ARCO continues to organise its usual guided tours, the ARCO GalleryWalks, which propose circuits to visit the galleries of Arte Madrid. This year they will take place from 18 to 21 and from 25 to 28 September and will visit galleries located in different districts of the city.

The University of Nebrija repeats this year with the exhibition Symbiotic Weavings, curated by the students of the Master’s in Art Market with the accompaniment of the curator Nerea Urbieto. The show, which brings together the work of the artists Rosana Antolí, Rosalía Banet, Nacho Carbó, Día Muñoz and Maya Pita Romero, considers relationships as constant flows of change, inviting reflection on what we are and what we can become, and promoting a future of cooperation and resilience.

One of the novelties this year is the participation of the Museo Lázaro Galdiano with a series of conversations with different agents from the art world in which questions will be addressed such as the motivations that led José Lázaro Galdiano and other European collectors of the 19th century to create a collection. Galleries and their relationship with collectors will also be discussed: past, present and future, as well as the similarities and differences between late 19th century, 20th century and contemporary collectors. The meeting, which will take place on 17 September at the museum, will be attended by museum curators and gallery owners and will be moderated by curator Pía Ogea.

Art on paper

As usual, literature will also find its space, vindicating the role of bookshops in the dissemination of the arts, ideas and artists and as places of knowledge and pleasure. Bookshops such as Laie, Antonio Machado, La central or Tipos Infames will have a special selection of books about art throughout September.

All these free activities will make up a rich programme that will make contemporary art the protagonist of Madrid’s cultural life. Apertura Madrid Gallery Weekend seeks to bring contemporary art and gallery activity closer to the professional and non-professional public and to encourage dialogue between contemporary art and other cultural disciplines. To this end, Apertura Madrid Gallery Weekend has the support, collaboration and sponsorship of both private companies and public bodies.

To discover Madrid’s capacity as a node of international contemporary artistic creation, the public can organise their route and enjoy the artistic offer through the Arte Madrid app – free and available all year round on Google Play and the App Store. From the mobile phone, visitors can organise their own route and enjoy the artistic offer of the different galleries spread throughout the different neighbourhoods of the city, as well as consult all the information related to the event and the activities around it.

To complete its digital presence, Apertura Madrid Gallery Weekend once again has its own event on Exhibify, a tool developed by ITGallery, the first free online art sales portal for galleries.

Felipe Pantone intervenes on the DEFY Skyline Tourbillon by Zenith.