Challenging the myth that Valencia’s contemporary art sector is obscure and elitist, the Association of Contemporary Art Galleries of the Valencian Community (LaVAC) will be holding Abierto Valéncia– a free public event aspiring to build up curiosity in contemporary art in the city. Tina McCallan reports on the details…
As summer draws to a close after many weeks at the beach, Valencians and ex pats alike flock back to the city to take part in its varied cultural life. As an artist, one of the highlights for me is Abierto València: a weeklong event where The Association of Contemporary Art Galleries of the Valencian Community or LaVAC for short, open to the public in a bid to reanimate the sector after the summer and attract more people to the galleries. This year the dates are September 23 to 1st October with most events and activities happening this weekend. According to Rosa Santos, the president of LaVAC, the goal of this event is to make galleries more attractive and welcoming to the public as well as to create more curiosity in contemporary art thus challenging the myth that the sector is elitist and obscure. There are guided walks organised by the ARCO foundation, talks and of course, a myriad of exhibitions.
The 19 art galleries participating in the ninth edition of ABIERTO VALÈNCIA 2021 are: Luis Adelantado, Benlliure, Alba Cabrera, Galería Cuatro, House of Chappaz Flat, House of Chappaz Showcase, La Mercería, Tuesday to Friday, Galería Punto, Rosa Santos, Set Espai d’Art, Shiras Galeria, Galeria Thema, Galería Vangar, Espai Nivi Collblanc, Aural, Isabel Bilbao, The Liminal and Gabinete de Dibujos.
The opening night is Thursday 23rd September and having just got back from Barcelona Gallery Weekend which is a similar event, it’s fun to download the gallery map from the website and just wander around. All exhibitions are free and from Friday to 24th to Friday 1st of October the galleries are open from 11 am to 10 pm. As of yet, I can’t find an online interactive map with details of the exhibitions, but one might appear before Thursday on the LaVac website or the Instagram page.
Personally, I think it’s a fantastic initiative which enables the public to discover the rich variety of artistic creation that is happening in this beautiful city.