MADRID ABIERTO is a project within what is generically known as Public Art. In the words of its organizer, Ramon Parramon, its objective is to “stimulate creative work in determined places that relate that which is typical of the place and the time in which the creativity takes place. It is to stimulate and generate work processes which take place over time, to boost immersion in the place itself and to interact in a section of public space that has a bearing on the social environment. Madrid Abierto is a programme based on this premise of influencing the public sphere and uses different public areas of the city of Madrid as its stage, proposing new formats and using existing channels or infrastructures which get the general public involved, both in the process and in the search for other people”.
Now into its second edition which will take place in February 2005, the Madrid Abierto 2005 international invitation has received 439 projects, of which 39 are specific projects for the façade of the Fine Arts Circle building (Círculo de Bellas Artes) . The invitation has been widely accepted internationally, as can be seen in the following list of projects and the place of residence of the artists: Spain (147), Argentina (46), USA (32), Germany (22), Mexico (21), Italy (14), France (12), Brazil (10), Russia (10), UK (7), Holland (6), Portugal (6), Dominican Republic (6), Slovenia (5), Cuba (5), Poland (4), Uruguay (4), Venezuela (4), Belgium (3), Estonia (3), Peru (3), Australia (2), Austria (2), Canada (2), Chile (2), Greece (2), Honduras (2), India (2), Panama (2), Dutch Indies (1), Belarus (1), Bulgaria (1), Colombia (1), Korea (2), Denmark (1), Ecuador (1), Philippines (1), Guatemala (1), Hungary (1), Indonesia (1), Iceland (1), Israel (1), Puerto Rico (1), Romania (1), Serbia & Montenegro (1), Sweden (1), Switzerland (1), Turkey (1), Ukraine (1).
The jury, comprising Ramon Parramon (Organiser of Madrid Abierto 2005), Jorge Díez (Director of Madrid Abierto 2004), Rosina Gómez Baeza (Director of ARCO) and Bartolomeo Pietromarchi (Secretary General for the Foundation Olivetti), have selected the following projects: Espacio Móvil of the Compañía de Caracas (with Ángela Bonadies -Caracas, 1970- and Maggy Navarro – Caracas, 1961-), Museo Peatonal of María Alós (Cambridge-MA, 1973) and Nicolás Dumit Estévez (New York, 1967), Soy Madrid of Simon Grennan (London, 1965) and Christopher Sperandio (West Virginia-USA, 1964), Taxi Madrid of Anne Lorenz (Würzburg-Germany, 1971) and Rebekka Reich (Hamburg, 1969), Zona Vigilada of Henry Eric Hernández (Camagüey-Cuba, 1971). Familias Encontradas (January 1st to March 17th 1971) by Fernando Baena (Cordoba, 1962) for the façade of the Circle of Fine Arts. The jury also propose the projects Valla de Seguridad of Gonzalo Saénz de Santamaría (Madrid, 1976) in collaboration with Berta Orellana (Cádiz, 1976) and Simulacro simétrico by Key Portilla , Maki Portilla, Tadanori Yamaguchi and Ali Ganjavian will not be able to be carried out at this edition due to technical reasons.
The second edition of Madrid Abierto in February 2005 will also include the participation of José Dávila (Guadalajara-Mexico, 1974) for the façade of the Casa de América with Mirador Nómada , the colectivo Tercerunquinto (Julio Castro, Gabriel Cázares and Rolando Flores) insist on the changeable circumstances in urban planning. Both of these projects have been selected from the proposals of Carlos Ashida in virtue of the agreement of cooperation with CONACULTA in Mexico, country of honour at ARCO'05. Also invited are the project of Raimond Chaves (Bogotá, 1963) and Óscar Lloveras (Buenos Aires, 1960).
Likewise, continuing last year's work, the 451 Team will continue working on the image and web site of Madrid Abierto and as part of an associated project, the weekly programme (Metrópolis) on La 2 (Spain's second national television channel), a pioneering programme in our country on contemporary culture specialising in research and spreading of new artistic languages, will produce a self-produced monograph of all the participating projects in Madrid Abierto, thus creating a singular and independent piece to be presented in ARCO'05
The jury has also highlighted its special interest in the proposals of Il Posto, Juan Garese, Belén Cueto, Sharon Daniel, Antonio de la Rosa, Carme Nogueira, Colectivo Ambientes, Olaf Mooij, Pepe López and Carlos Sosa, Amalia Pica, Olga Kisseleva, Veit Landwehr and Tom May, and Capacete.
For this second edition, MADRID ABIERTO insists on considering artistic activity as a form of stimulation, of interaction with other agents capable of contributing to the dynamics which take place in specific environments of social complexity. It essentially understands that apart from pointing out and showing, one can transform, participate and stimulate. This is one of the main objectives of this second edition of Madrid Abierto.