Alicante's museums and cultural centres are joining forces once again this year to celebrate International Museum Day with a programme of free activities between 14 and 19 May. International Museum Day (IMD) is celebrated on 18 May, as proposed by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). This year's theme is "Museums for Education and Research" and underlines the importance of museums as dynamic educational institutions that foster learning, discovery and cultural understanding.
The City Council (the MACA, Las Cigarreras and Torre Sarrió), the Provincial Council (the MARQ, the Mubag and the Instituto Alicantino de Cultura Juan Gil-Albert), The Ocean Race Museum, the Museum of the University of Alicante, the University Headquarters City of Alicante and the Museo de Aguas de Alicante, once again join forces to offer a carefully planned programme for all audiences, which includes guided tours, workshops, exhibitions and concerts, among other proposals. In addition, some of the museums will extend their opening hours.
Nayma Beldjilali, Alicante City Council's Councillor for Culture, thanked "all the technical staff for their daily work so that this celebration, as well as other joint activities that take place throughout the year, can be carried out, as they are the true architects of the excellent programme that is presented".
The deputy for Culture, Juan De Dios Navarro, highlighted the commitment of the provincial institution to the commemoration of a day that "allows us to highlight the important role that museums play in the transmission of knowledge, cultural exchange and the promotion of research and education". He also highlighted the "high level of the museums on offer in the province, which has positioned us in recent years as a benchmark both within and beyond our borders".
The vice-rector of Culture, Sport and University Extension of the UA, Catalina Iliescu, expressed "her satisfaction with the theme chosen this year for the celebration of the DIM, fully aligned with two of the essential missions of the university institution". She added that "the MUA fosters encounters with the community, promotes didactic work and becomes a space for the dissemination and transfer of multidisciplinary university research to society as a whole".
Martín Sanz, Director of Communication and External Relations at Aguas de Alicante, emphasised that "in the case of the Museo de Aguas de Alicante, a space that has received nearly 250,000 visitors in its 15 years of existence, this date serves to highlight the importance of education in an area such as the environment, which affects everyone's future".
Jan Perez, Director of The Ocean Race Museum said that "this year's theme underlines the role our schools play in the educational experience and in research". She adds that "at The Ocean Race we develop a scientific programme where racing boats collect samples from the ocean as they sail to the most remote places on the planet" Pérez invites "all DIM participants to visit the museum and discover with all our activities, how this data is collected and what we can do to improve the health of our seas and oceans".
Programming
Cigarreras
At the Centro Cultural Las Cigarreras you can enjoy the three exhibitions of the Photoalicante Festival and the project Negre audiovisual 'Després del Sol' in collaboration with the Consorci de Museus de la Comunitat de Valenciana.
On Friday and Saturday the programme is completed by a concert by 'Oscuro Deseo' and 'Primate Matriarca', whose contribution is from 5 to 10 euros, by the Colectivo Amistat, and the proposal 'Camino de las Cigarreras', in which part of one of the routes that some of the former workers used to do to get to their jobs in the Tabacalera will be made, leaving from Campello at 8:00 am and arriving at 12:30 pm:00 and arriving at 12:30 at the Drying Room of the Cigarreras Cultural Centre. Promoted by La Plataforma Violeta de El Campello, Ecoxarxa l'Alacantí, La cuarta piel and Las Cigarreras.
Juan Gil-Albert Institute of Culture of Alicante
On Thursday 16 and Friday 17, the Casa Bardin will host a video projection throughout the day, which includes the testimony of twenty artists from the province about which is their favourite museum. In addition, on Thursday, from 16:00 to 19:00, there will be a meeting moderated by Estefanía Soler to share with the public the museum preferences of Alicante. On Friday, from 17:00 to 19:00, there will be a meeting between the artist Carlos Martínez and the curator María Ramis about the exhibition 'Registros del hábitat' de la Casa Bardin, which will also be visited with a guided tour.
MACA
From Thursday 16 to Sunday 19, the MACA offers a series of activities around contemporary art aimed at all audiences, including guided tours and family workshops, carried out by the museum's mediation team; dance, by the programme 'MACA en vivo', produced by the Consorci de Museus de la Generalitat and in collaboration with Abril en danza; music, by Lumina Ensemble; dramatised readings, thanks to the group Palabras Mayores; a perforamance by No (Dos) 3; as well as the screening of the Sempere Audiovisual, produced by Sol Espinelli, as part of the 2022 public call for subsidies from the Department of Culture for the development of cultural and artistic projects. All activities are free with prior registration and until full capacity is reached. The museum will be open until midnight on Saturday.
MARQ
The MARQ has prepared a varied programme that includes animated and guided visits, educational workshops and educational talks, related to both the temporary exhibition 'Dynasties' and the permanent exhibition. The activities will include the participation of local and provincial associations and institutions related to people with disabilities and social responsibility, which are part of the MARQ family, as well as the general public.
In addition, the programme includes the presentation of the Empower Parents project on Saturday morning, as well as a performance by the Hispania Romana historical re-enactment group on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning in the museum gardens. All activities are free of charge, subject to prior registration and until full capacity is reached.
MUA
On Friday 17th, between 17:00 and 20:00, the MUA has designed a big party with creative workshops, collective murals, discovery games, video games, guided tours and animations, with the help of students and teachers from the Faculty of Education and the staff of the MUA's Didactic Area.
On Saturday 18 and Sunday 19, visitors will be able to take part in the creation of a collective mural, the puzzle "Investiga y descubre" and the mobile video game "En las profundidades de Ilici". On Saturday, there are also two guided tours of the museum's exhibitions, one at 11:00 and the other at 18:00. On Sunday two activities have been programmed, a guided tour at 10:00 and 11:00 and the workshop visit 'Pre-Roman handicrafts in clay', related to the exhibition 'Women of the pre-Roman Italies in the collections of the National Archaeological Museum'. All activities are free of charge, subject to prior registration and until full capacity is reached. The museum extends its opening hours on Saturday until 20:00.
Mubag
The Museum of Fine Arts of Alicante will celebrate the DIM throughout the weekend with different thematic visits 'Horizons of change: the artistic revolution at the beginning of the 20th century' and the dramatised visits 'Gesture and light' to the permanent exhibition 'The 19th century. The collection in the light'. A dynamic cultural game on the hidden history of the Mubag has also been organised, which will bring to light curiosities about the museum's masterpieces and its trajectory.
There will also be guided tours of the temporary exhibition 'Eusebio Sempere & Felipe Pantone. Seriation and kinetic chromaticism' by the curators María José Gadea and Óscar García and several art workshops for children around this exhibition by the urban artist Kaufman and Daguten. Escuela Gráfica de Barrio.
Those interested in attending these free activities can consult the timetable and register in advance on the museum's website. Finally, the Mubag's DIM includes a conference on urban art given by Óscar García and the performance 'Latin Jazz' with Pakito Baeza on percussion and Abel Figueredo on piano. The museum extends its opening hours on Saturday until 22:30.
Water Museum
The Water Museum's programme will take place over two days. On Saturday 18 at 20:00 there will be an acoustic concert by the Alicante band 'Mailers', while on Sunday 19 at 11:00 there will be a dramatised visit from the Town Hall, through the old quarter to the Water Museum.
The Ocean Race Museum
The programme will begin on Thursday 16th and will run until Sunday 19th. During these days, at 11:00 and 16:00 there will be a guided tour in English and at 12:00 and 17:30 there will be a guided tour in Spanish, where you can discover all the secrets of the round-the-world sailing trip.
From 16 to 19 May, every hour from 10.30am, a free immersive experience with The Ride Simulator and Virtual Reality with 11th Hour Racing Team is scheduled.
The following days of the programme will be completed by a dance exhibition battle - 'The Ocean Race Museum battle', in which there will be an exhibition of different urban dances with participants from different parts of the city and province of Alicante; the children's workshop 'Build your own Lego' and a storyteller for all audiences. The museum extends its opening hours on Friday from 10:00 to 20:00 and on Saturday from 10:00 to 19:00.
Sarrió Tower
On Saturday 18, at 19:00, the concert "Soundscapes from Baroque to Rock" will offer creative versions from Pachelbel to Elvis, with grand piano and cello. The concert will be performed by Benjamin Sun and Morela Giménez.
University Headquarters
The programme begins on Thursday 16th with a guided visit to the photography exhibition 'ELUA en la Sede. Espacios imaginados', and a performance and collage Haiku by María Dolores Mulá.
Friday and Saturday will be rounded off with a seminar entitled 'Powerful women beyond the palace'coordinated by Gloria Franco Rubio and Maite Ávila Martínez, a chamber music concert with Alejandro Costa and Victoria Marco, on the one hand, and, on the other, a guided tour of Rafael Altamira's office and a lecture and guided tour of the exhibition 'El bosque encontrado', by Fiona Olimpia, artist, and María Marco Such, curator. All activities are free of charge, subject to prior registration and until full capacity is reached.
All the joint information on activities, opening times and registration for the activities offered by the museums can be consulted on the website of each centre and at museosdealicante.com.
