This March returns full of great exhibitions. Art and culture come together to reflect how artistic fashion was and its legacy.
The city of Dubai kicks off with the new edition of Art Dubai, while COAM Madrid hosts the celebrity of the mythical David Bowie alongside photographer Brian Duffy. Barcelona always has something to show, on the one hand, the Museum MACBA presents the exhibition Between circles and constellations. And on the gastronomic level, Passeig de Gràcia is dressed in a jacket to celebrate the VI edition of Passeig de Gourmets. The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao conveys the rebellious art of artist Oskar Kokoschka during times of war conflicts, and the Great Wave of the Japanese artist, Katsushika Hokusai is observed from different perspectives. Also, ending the 7 art highlights for March with the magic of photojournalist Joana Biarnés and her ability to represent, through the camera, the exquisiteness of fashion among the streets of Madrid 50 years ago.
International art in the Middle East
The city of Dubai has been growing explosively at the start of the 21st century, now one of the most beloved tourist references, having art and culture to offer its visitors. For this March, Art Dubai sneaks in with its 16th edition, with more than 100 contemporary, modern, bawwaba and digital art galleries. Also, with the addition of greater participation of African and South Asian galleries. Art Dubai’s artistic director, Pablo del Val, commented on the appreciation of being able to welcome more first-time artists.
Ghanaian artist, El Anatsui, from Barakat Contemporary gallery and his work Rehearsal, 2015.
Art Dubai is a global fair, and the strength of the applications we received for our 2023 edition reflects the growing importance of Art Dubai as the region’s premier art event, the gateway to the Global South and the maturation of the art market in Dubai.
The art avant-garde is made up of galleries from 33 different countries, with 16 exhibitors presenting for the first time such as Barbara Tgumm, from Berlin, Piedras, from Buenos Aires, Barakat Contemporary, from Seoul. Digital art offers an immersive experience to visitors who enter totally technological worlds. Breaking with the classics to never stop trying new methods. Among the most outstanding are NFT Asia, Quantum Art or Project Window.
Salah Elmur, one of Circle Art Gallery’s participating artists with Celebrating International Civil Aviation, 2021.
As for the modern art and bawwaba sections, the former takes up the vision of past art from which today’s new artists draw inspiration to continue creating. Traversing the influence of artists of the last century from the Middle East and Africa. The second section opens the door to 11 artists who reflect the concern for social tensions between people. The loss of traditions due to rapid urban development.
When? March 1 to 5, 2023
Where? King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud St, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Opening hours: Wednesday and Thursday, entrance by invitation, 2-9 pm, March 1, 2-9 pm (by invitation only). Friday and Saturday from 2 pm to 9 pm. Sunday from 12 noon to 6 p.m.
Tickets:: You can buy your ticket here
Gastronomic tour of Barcelona
The month of March starts strong in gastronomy, as the Passeig de Gràcia, in Barcelona, returns for another year with the sixth edition of the Passeig dels Gourmets. This year there will be 21 restaurants and hotels distributed in the different sections, offering different flavors. The routes to follow have been expanded, introducing two new categories to enjoy the pleasures of gastronomy in the city of Barcelona.
From left to right: Russian salad cannelloni with red shrimp tartar from Restaurant Somni, and Cronut of lamb tajine and citrus caviar from Belbo Terrenal.
Visitors can start their itinerary with Author’s Snacks, one of the new sections of the festival. A more informal proposal for those who do not have much time, but want to find culinary novelties. Among them, the hotel Monument has Verbena Terrace, with gastronomy designed by the Donostian chef Martín Berasategui. You can taste snacks with Basque touches. Another novelty is the Themed Dinners, being able to enjoy special nights where the restaurants recreate a magical atmosphere. Touring the world of Dalí or remembering the essence of the 80s with the best songs of the time.
Bokata Martintxo, by chef Martín Berasategui, one of the sandwiches on the Bocadillos de autor route.
On the other hand, the Ruta de los Platillos will take you to twelve restaurants, and discover small dishes for only ten euros. Enjoying the quality and elegance of places like the classic El Nacional, Sintonia or Somni Restaurant. To finish, it continues with the Gourmet Menus and the Gourmet Experiences, with the need for a prior reservation. The first route with ten restaurants with seasonal proposals, for example in Mr Porter Barcelona. The second is offering cocktail workshops, steak tartar and sake tasting.
When? From 9 to 19 March 2023
Where? Passeig de Gràcia and surroundings
Bowie’s art through the images
Take two steps towards the entrance of the COAM Madrid building and go back in time 50 years when the mythical David Bowie enamored the world on stage, through screens and images. For nine years, the British singer had a direct connection with photographer Brian Duffy, working together on five photo shoots and 3 album covers. Creativity and originality crossed borders with them at that time, creating one of the best-known images with Bowie portrayed with the famous lightning bolt on his face.
From the first character created for Bowie, Ziggy Stardust to mimicking the clown Pierrot. The exhibition Bowie Taken By Duffy invites visitors to tour the works they created together, with prints and objects both known and unknown. More than 150 framed works and 30 large Chromaluxe prints. In addition to posters, designs and filmed interviews with producers, designers, friends, among many others, who at that time praised their work together.
When? From March 15 to June 25, 2023
Where? Calle Hortaleza, 63, Madrid
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 am to 9.00 pm
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
Recovering stories of battles not to be forgotten
The MACBA Museum has hosted the exhibition Between circles and constellations by artist Bouchra Khalili, who has spent ten years researching the importance of language and orality in the face of hegemonic powers. Telling history through experiences, also using postcolonial archives and exploring ways to recover forgotten or erased facts. Because history, who tells it? Losers or winners? Those invisible people who have no voice, no..
The interior of the exhibition, portrays history through images and documentaries. Miquel Coll
Thus, the artist presents her projects, featuring films, video installations, photographs and documentary material. Along with the exhibition, visitors can also enjoy the video installation The Circle (2023). Through it, the legacy of the French Arab Workers Movement in the 1970s is reflected upon and examined. In this way, it highlights the struggle of many people who never stopped battling. In addition, the installation also features essays by the artist, among others;
When? 17 February to 21 May 2023
Where? Plaça del Àngels, 1, Barcelona
Timetable: Monday to Friday from 11.00h to 19.30h. Saturday from 10.00h to 20.00h. Sunday and holidays from 10.00h to 15.00h. Tuesday closed
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
Katsushika Hokusai’s great wave of inspiration.
No matter how much time passes, the great wave of the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai remains a reference for emerging artists. A work that allows them to reflect and debate. Thus, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, will showcase the exhibitionHokusai: inspiration and influence. The show will feature more than 100 woodblock prints, paintings and illustrated books by the Japanese artist. With them, more than 200 works by students, admirers, rivals and masters who were, and are, influenced by his art.
From left to right: One of the Japanese artist’s pieces, The Ghost of Oiwa, 1831-32, and artist John Cederquist’s five-wave reconstruction, 1994-95.
A perfect way to see how his works and techniques have captivated others. Starting the exhibition in the nineteenth century and the connection with his master and artists of the time. To explore how his art crossed the Japanese border. In addition to observing how that influence is transformed depending on the person. Contemporaries Utagawa Hirishige, John Cederquist, as well as his own daughter, Katsushika Oi, will be represented within the walls of the museum.
When? 26 March to 16 July 2023
Where? 465 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Thursday and Friday from 10am to 10pm.
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
Haute couture on the streets of Madrid
Madrid returns to the fashion of the 60s and 70s through the photographer Joana Biarnés and the exhibition Madrid / Moda at street level. The Sala Canal de Isabel II brings together more than a hundred images showing the evolution that society underwent at a time when the country was gradually reopening up to the world. The Catalan photojournalist, a pioneer in this field, as she was the first woman to do this work in Spain, began her career struggling. The fact of being a woman was detrimental to access to events, but despite the difficulties she consolidated, and went to Madrid to enter the world of glamor..
From left to right: The son of dressmaker Pedro Rodriguez trying on Carmen Cervera’s wedding dress for her wedding to Lex Barker. Madrid, 1964. Pilar Bardem, with a model of the dressmaker Vargas Ochagavia. Madrid, 1962. Fashion editorial in the street, Madrid, 1967.
Biarnés knew how to deal with fashion in a close way, being a regular reporter with the journalist Rosana Ferrera. Through his camera he captured the sophistication of the models with naturalness, in addition, without accessories and wonderful scenery, because the protagonists were the garments. He sought to portray from haute couture to the informality of pret-à-porter going out on the street, showing the day to day. Throughout his career, he portrayed characters such as Salvador Dalí, Raphael or Massiel when she was preparing to participate in Eurovision 1968.
When? 28 February to 23 July 2023
Where? Calle de Sta Engracia, 125, 28003 Madrid, Spain
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday and Monday, May 15 from 11.00 a.m. to 8.30 p.m. (including April 6, 7 and 8 – Easter – and May 2).
Sundays: 11.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. (including April 9, Easter)
Monday and May 1st closed
Free admission
Oskar Kokoschka and the art of reconstruction;
Finishing the 7 art highlights for March, after the good reception of the exhibition dedicated to the Austrian artist Oskar Kokoschka at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris, Oskar Kokoschka. A rebel from Vienna arrives in Bilbao. The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, co-organizer of the exhibition, offers a journey through Kokoschka’s world and his artistic revolution that led him to be considered a rebel. Art was the necessary weapon to fight for freedom, because in the 1930s wars were still alive.
From left to right: Time, Gentlemen Please, 1971-72, Theseus and Antiope (The Abduction of Antiope), 1958-75. Two of Kokoschka’s paintings, oil on canvas.
The artist’s beginnings were represented through chromatic experimentations, moving away from the classic Viennese Art Nouveau style and searching for the soul of the portraits. His travels through Europe, North Africa and the Middle East allowed him to reinvent himself, capturing landscapes to narrate the history of those places lacerated by the political altercations of those times. His pacifist position during World War II allowed him to show political images and posters from England calling for peace. Art being a tool of knowledge and reconstruction of a broken Europe;
When? 17 March to 3 September 2023
Where? Avenida Abandoibarra, 2, Bilbao
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00h to 19.00h
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
Images courtesy of the brands mentioned
