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The State of the Art Scene in Madrid, Spain

July 15, 2014 Sean McLachlan
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Madrid has always been famous for its thriving arts scene. Sadly, the Spanish capital got hit hard by the global financial crisis. For the past few years, madrileños have seen nightlife spots and galleries drop dead like victims of a plague. Thursday night, which had always been called “the first Friday”, became just another weekday with nothing special scheduled. Fridays and Saturdays became shorter, too, with more people choosing to stay home or stay out less.

(above) This giant frog, dubbed "The Frog of Fortune", appeared near Plaza Colón earlier this year. 

This had a terrible effect on Madrid’s art scene. While the larger galleries and institutions soldiered on, labors of love such as the arthouse cinema La Enana Marrón and the gallery/café Entrelíneas Librebar fell by the wayside.

Now all that is changing. There’s a new electricity in the air, or one might say that some of the old electricity is back. Thursdays are discernible from Wednesdays now, and the weekends are revving up again. While Spain’s economic woes continue, it seems there’s more money and interest in art.

The Classical sculpture gallery at the Museo Arqueológico Nacional.
The Classical sculpture gallery at the Museo Arqueológico Nacional.

The Classical sculpture gallery at the Museo Arqueológico Nacional.

Can't-Miss Museums

The biggest news for the mainstream arts scene is the expansion of the Fundación Mapfre. This is one of the many large exhibition spaces owned by major corporations, which perhaps out of a sense of guilt offer top-notch exhibitions for free. Fundación Mapfre has been a Madrid institution for many years and this year doubled its space by opening the Bárbara de Braganza exhibition building with 868 square meters (2,848 square feet) devoted to photography, and a small but interesting model ship museum.

Museum junkies will also want to check out the newly renovated Museo Arqueológico Nacional. Spain’s national archaeology museum was closed for several years and locals were beginning to wonder if it would ever reopen. Now it has, with a more open, better lit floor plan that shows off its extensive prehistoric collection, a sumptuous display of large Roman mosaics, and several rooms dedicated to medieval Spain’s mixture of European and Islamic cultures.

Lomographic photo of Retiro Park. Courtesy flickr user Ser… Ser…
Lomographic photo of Retiro Park. Courtesy flickr user Ser… Ser…

Lomographic photo of Retiro Park. (Courtesy flickr user Ser… Ser…)

Good Things Come in Small Galleries

A few smaller art spaces have cropped up recently, including The New Gallery, which is only a little more than a year old. It specializes in international photography exhibitions. For those who want to go old school, check out the Lomography store, where Soviet cameras that take distinctively off-color, tunnel-vision photos are still the tool of choice. There’s always an exhibition of photographs on display, they sell cameras and accessories, and they are one of the few places left that develops film.

Tipos Infames Libros y Vinos
Tipos Infames Libros y Vinos

Inside Tipos Infames Libros y Vinos. (Courtesy Tipos Infames Libros y Vinos)

Burgeoning Bookstore Cafes

Madrid has always been one of the literary centers of the Spanish-speaking world, and now there’s a trend of opening bookstore cafes to bring together two of Spain’s loves of chatting over coffee and reading. There are several good ones, including Librería Café El dinosaurio todavía estaba allí, where once a month English-speaking writers give readings and the owner herself is a poet. Atticus Finch is a cozy little place with a small but select collection of books in the front room and a café/art space in the back. Readings, talks, and storytelling sessions happen regularly here. There’s also the spacious Tipos Infames Libros y Vinos (Infamous Types Books and Wine). With a name like that how can you lose?

Microteatro Por Dinero
Microteatro Por Dinero

Still from a production at Microteatro Por Dinero. (Courtesy Microteatro Por Dinero)

A Larger-Than-Life Microtheater Scene

For those with confidence in the Spanish language, check out Madrid’s burgeoning microtheater scene. Microtheaters are tiny spaces that seat only a few dozen audience members or less. You’re often right up against the stage and immersed in the scene. You might even end up being part of it! Some good new microtheaters include Godot and La Pensión de las Pulgas. There’s also Microteatro Por Dinero, which thumbed its nose at the financial crisis by opening in the black year of 2009 and managing to remain in business. It’s housed in an old brothel and has retained its original floor plan with a series of tiny rooms, once rented by the hour, where it’s often just you and the actors.

Street art at Plaza Juan Pujol. The two posters on top are painted on cardboard. Late at night, you’ll sometimes glimpse street artists carrying a ladder as a well as paint. Getting their work in hard-to-reach places has become a badge of pride.
Street art at Plaza Juan Pujol. The two posters on top are painted on cardboard. Late at night, you’ll sometimes glimpse street artists carrying a ladder as a well as paint. Getting their work in hard-to-reach places has become a badge of pride.

Street art at Plaza Juan Pujol. The two posters on top are painted on cardboard. Late at night, you’ll sometimes glimpse street artists carrying a ladder as a well as paint. Getting their work in hard-to-reach places has become a badge of pride.

A Thriving Street Art Culture

Madrid has always had an active and skilled graffiti scene. While there are the usual ugly tags, there’s also impressive spray paint work as well as poster and sticker art. Urban art seems to thrive during bad economic times (think New York in the 70s and 80s). Some Spanish street artists have moved away from traditional spray paint and are experimenting with posters, stickers, and even pieces of painted cardboard. With the economy on the up and more shops opening, you’re beginning to see more commissioned street pieces, where shop owners have graffiti artists paint murals on their shutters.

Good sources for what’s going on in Madrid include esMadrid (in English and Spanish), Angloinfo (in English) and CineyTV (in Spanish).

In history buff, explorer Tags museum explorer, explore, learn, collection, europe, spain
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Scout Adventure #10 // Uncovering 10,000 Years of Spanish Prehistory in Cantabria

February 21, 2014 Sean McLachlan
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Spain is one of the world’s most popular destinations, yet its northern coast, especially Cantabria, is generally overlooked. Cantabria is a small region to the west of Spain’s Basque Country and offers some incredible archaeological attractions.

Above: The ceiling of Altamira, showing the painted bison highlighted by the natural relief of the cave. Photo courtesy Museo de Altamira and D. Rodríguez via Wikimedia Commons.

The big draw is the famous Altamira painted cave in Santillana del Mar with its brilliant paintings of animals, hunters, and hands dating from 13,000 to 22,000 years ago. Sadly, Altamira is closed to visitors in order to protect the paintings. Selected individuals have been able to visit, but the waiting list can last years. I know several people on it and none of them have ever made it inside. The general public has to make do with a fine museum and reproduction of the cave at the site.

This January, the government of Cantabria caused a local media sensation when it announced that Altamira would reopen for visitors. Every day, five visitors to the imitation cave will be selected at random to visit the real one. Opposition politicians immediately accused the local government of putting on a stunt that could endanger the cave. Others have pointed out that Altamira was supposed to have reopened back in 2011 and never did. There’s been much sniping in the local papers ever since. From what I’ve seen of Spanish politics, it’s hard to tell who’s telling the truth and it’s best not to bank on getting into the real Altamira anytime soon.

Luckily there are several prehistoric painted caves in Cantabria you really can visit. The best are the Monte Castillo caves in Puente Viesgo. It’s actually a set of four caves, of which two are open to the public: El Castillo and Las Monedas. Last year scientists discovered that some of the images in El Castillo date from 35,600 to 40,800 years ago. That makes them the oldest cave paintings in the world and suggests they may have been made not by modern humans, but by Neanderthals.

The archaeology museum in Santander has many prehistoric treasures, such as this animal head carved from bone, dating to c. 14,400-13,300 years ago. Photo copyright Almudena Alonso-Herrero.
The archaeology museum in Santander has many prehistoric treasures, such as this animal head carved from bone, dating to c. 14,400-13,300 years ago. Photo copyright Almudena Alonso-Herrero.

The archaeology museum in Santander has many prehistoric treasures, such as this animal head carved from bone, dating to c. 14,400-13,300 years ago. Photo copyright Almudena Alonso-Herrero.

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cantabria-spain-archaeology-3

The “Venus of Pendo”, made of deer antler about 17,000 years ago. Photo copyright Almudena Alonso-Herrero.

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cantabria-spain-archaeology-4

The stele of San Vicente de Toranzo. These monuments are thought to be funerary markers for aristocrats from the period just before the arrival of the Romans. Photo copyright Almudena Alonso-Herrero.

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cantabria-spain-archaeology-5

The Visigoths invaded Spain in the 5th century AD and took it from the Romans. They produced elegant jewelry such as this belt buckle. Photo copyright Almudena Alonso-Herrero.

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cantabria-spain-archaeology-6

The museum in Santander has several interactive displays, like this touch screen that allows you to do your own archaeological excavation. Photo copyright Almudena Alonso-Herrero.

A newer attraction is the Museo de Prehistoria y Arqueología de Cantabria in Santander. Opened in the winter of 2013, it has an extensive collection of artifacts and interactive displays showcasing Cantabria’s past. Included are many Paleolithic bone carvings, showing that early people had a range of artistic expressions. Later periods such as the Iron Age, Roman Period, and Middle Ages are also well represented.

Part of the Roman remains at Julióbriga.
Part of the Roman remains at Julióbriga.

Part of the Roman remains at Julióbriga. Photo courtesy Jesús Ángel García Arnay via Wikimedia Commons.

The best Roman ruins in the province are those of the city of Julióbriga near the modern village of Retortillo. Founded during the Cantabrian Wars of 29-19 BC when the Empire brought the region under its control, it served as the main urban center. The remains of several buildings are clearly visible, and the site’s museum gives an overview of the city and Cantabria’s Roman period.

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cantabria-spain-archaeology-8

The author next to a menhir at Yelso de Hayas. Photo copyright Almudena Alonso-Herrero.

Cantabria offers countless scenic hikes in its rugged mountains. Several hikes will take you past medieval estates of the landed gentry, and there are prehistoric standing stones called menhirs scattered around the landscape. There are also tumuli, stone tombs covered with earth to make small artificial hills. Set up by the pastoral people who lived in the mountains 4,000 years ago, they stand as mute testimony to the long prehistory of Cantabria.

Cantabria is best seen with a car as the sites are scattered around the region and there is little public transportation between smaller towns. If you plan on visiting one of the painted caves, it’s best to call and book your tickets in advance.

In storyteller, history buff Tags scout adventures, explore, learn, museum explorer, europe, spain, photo essay
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