Spend an unforgettable summer with one of the festivals or contemporary art exhibitions that make up our highlights proposal for July 2021.
How time flies, the July Lights are here and that means that we are already in the middle of summer: festival season! We present our selection for all those melomaniacs and lovers of contemporary art. So that you can enjoy the good weather that accompanies us with the best possible entertainment.
1 – Avignon Festival
A regular highlight of July is the Avignon Festival, every July for 75 years Avignon becomes a theatre city. Up to 21 days of dance, exhibitions, theatre… on the most varied stages, transforming every architectural corner of the city of Provence into a stage.
Theatre lovers make a pilgrimage to this French town to discover and enjoy some of the 46 performances of plays, dance and music. This historic month-long festival gives everyone access to contemporary live culture.
The courtyard of the Palais des Papes during the Avignon Festival. © Avignon Festival / Christophe Raynaud de Lage
When: from 5/7/2021 to 25/7/2021
Where? Avignon, France
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased here.
2 – ARCOMadrid, an ode to Contemporary Art
The 40th edition of ARCOmadrid, Spain’s international contemporary art fair, which since 1982 has been one of our main platforms within the art world. This special edition, which will be held from 7 to 11 July at the IFEMA MADRID exhibition centre, will be dedicated exclusively to professionals during its first three days.
Lily Kemp, Coming home, 2021, Acrylic on canvas. Duarte Sequeira Gallery
It will open its doors at the weekend, when the general public will be able to enjoy its contemporary artworks. This is when they will be able to see the carefully curated selection of 131 galleries from 27 different countries.
Sandra Vásquez de la Horra, The dawn and dusk of civilizations, 2021. Bendana-Pinel, Contemporary Art.
A call where the Latin American presence takes centre stage and also presents the novelty of concentrating an exclusive selection of women, to give greater visibility and prominence to the creators.The works will be joined by other spaces to broaden visitors’ vision, such as debate programmes, gastronomic areas and ArtsLibris, a contemporary publishing fair. The exhibition will be open to the public and the general public.
When: from 7/7/2021 to 11/7/2021
Where? IFEMA – Feria de Madrid (Av. Partenón 5, 28042 Madrid).
Opening hours: from 12:00 h to 20:00 h
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased here .
3 – Cruïlla Festival 2021
Music lovers will have no shortage of options this summer with the Cruïlla Festival. A festival that stands out, as its name suggests, for the multidisciplinary nature of its staging. Three days to enjoy the voices of artists such as Tom Walker, Leiva, Ana Tijoux, Sopa de Cabra, Manel, Kase.O and many more;
In addition to enjoying the music, attendees will also have the opportunity to laugh with the Cruïlla Comedy. Thanks to the monologues of national comedy referents such as Antonio Castelo, Pablo Ibarburu or Eva Soriano….
When: from 8/7/2021 to 10/7/2021
Where? Parc del Fòrum (Muelle de la Marina Seca Calle De la Pau, 12. 08930, San Adrián del Besós, Barcelona).
Hours: from 16:00 h to 05:00 h
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased here .
4 – Homo ludens: Video games to understand the present
A presentation of more than forty pieces including video games and works of art, united by an interactive environment that turns the exhibition into a true collective gaming experience. “Homo Ludens. Video games to understand the present” is based on an anthropological vision of games as the maximum contemporary expression of our time.
Matteo Bittanti, IOCOSE, Game Arthritis, 2011. Digital print. Courtesy of the artist. ©Fundación LaCaixa
Divided into six roomsthe exhibition dedicates each of them to an area in which human beings can relate to video games. The approach to video games as forms of artistic creationover traditional formatsstands out. This industry has become an instrument to better understand our present and imagine our future.
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased here.
Hamilton Mestizo, Snake Unintelligent Agent – Colours, 2019. Acrylic paint on wood, electronic components, Nokia 5110 screens, microcontrollers, piezoelectric sensor and programming. Courtesy of the artist. © LaCaixa FoundationWhen? from20/7/2021 to 31/10/2021.
Where? CaixaForum Madrid (Paseo del Prado, 3628014).
Hours: from 10.00 h to 20.00h.
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased here
5- Opera: Verona Arena Festival
The famous Verona Festival, has united every summer for almost 100 years in the Roman amphitheatre of Verona, the most outstanding in the world of opera. Aida, Nabucco, La Traviata… these are some of the mythical operas presented in the programme;
In its 98th edition, in addition to the grandiose staging of operatic masterpieces that consolidate the Festival’s reputation. It surprises by projecting, through 10-minute cameos during operas and concerts, a selection of Italian art paintings. To offer the public the chance to enjoy Italian culture in its entirety once again, even though the museums are closed.
La Traviata, Arena Opera Festival 2019. ©Fondazione Arena di VeronaWhen: from 19/6/2021 to 4/9/2021.
Where? Verona, Italy
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased here.
6 – Claudia Andujar: The Yanomami struggle
This exhibition at the Barbican Art Center is dedicated to the life and work of Claudia Andujar and her collaboration with the Yanomami, one of the largest indigenous peoples of Brazil, whom she has spent her life documenting and defending.
This intriguing proposal brings together more than 200 photographs, an audiovisual installation and a series of drawings of the Yanomami. They reflect Andujar’s 5-decade long trajectory and complicity with the Yanomami people, as well as his commitment to both art and activism;
Community hut of the Yanomami, by Claudia Andujar in 1976. ©CLAUDIA ANDUJAR
The exhibition not only presents Andujar’s art, but also amplifies the voices and perpetual struggles faced by the Yanomami, just as they are threatened by illegal mining and the spread of Covid-19.
When? from 17/6/2021 to 29/8/2021
Where? Barbican Centre (Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS)
Timetable: from 10.00 h to 19.00 h
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased here.
7 – Vitra Design Museum: Women Designers .
We continue to soak up culture with the recently opened exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum: “Spot On: Women Designers in the Collection“. A true laboratory to explore the role of women in furniture design and to reflect on how little attention women designers’ work sometimes receives from the general public;
Inside view Vitra Schaudepot. © Vitra Design Museum, photo: Mark Niedermann
A way to try to strengthen awareness of the works of women designers and give them a greater voice and visibility for their creations.The collection “Spot On: Women Designers in the Collection” more than fulfills its purpose of highlighting the important role of women in design.
When?: from 06/19/2021 to 05/08/2022
Where? Vitra Design Museum (Charles-Eames-Str. 2, Weil am Rhein)
Hours: from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased here
Lisa Ertel, Dune, 2017, photo: Michelle Mantel – Raw-Edges, Herringbones Chair, 2016 © Vitra Design Museum, photo: Andreas Sütterlin
When?: from 06/19/2021 to 05/08/2022
Where? Vitra Design Museum (Charles-Eames-Str. 2, Weil am Rhein)
Hours: from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased here
