PHotoESPAÑA 2020

Every summer, the Spanish capital hosts one of the world’s greatest international festivals of photography and visual arts. Showcasing the latest in art photography and the recent works of some of the world’s most renowned artists, it comprises exhibitions held in top museums, exhibition halls and art galleries across the city in addition to a host of activities around a theme that changes each year. The 2020 edition kicked off on 25 June and will run till 31 October, under the motto #PHEdesdemibalcón.

As part of its Official Section the 23rd edition will feature over 50 large-scale exhibitions in museums and art centres. For the first time ever it will also include new digital projects and a huge exhibition of photographs taken by citizens during the lockdown. The exhibition will be held outdoors across the whole country, and in Madrid it will be showcased in El Retiro Park.

You will be able to see major joint exhibitions, such as a selection of Japanese photography in The Gaze of Things. Japanese Photography in the Context of Provoke with works by Daido Moriyama and Takuma Nakahira; a selection of images by the authors of Magnum such as Eve Arnold and Philippe Halsman on the human body; or works by artists like Francesca Woodman, Vivian Sassen, and Richard Avedon, on fashion and art.

In July and August, you will be able to see exhibitions in places like the Círculo de Bellas Artes, the Lázaro Galdiano Museum, the Royal Botanical Garden, Tabacalera. Art Promotion and the Convent of Santa María la Rica in Alcalá de Henares.

In September and October, the venues hosting exhibitions and projects will be Casa Árabe, Casa de América, CentroCentro, Galileo Cultural Centre, Community of Madrid. Sala Canal de Isabel II, Espacio Fundación Telefónica, Fernán Gómez. Centro Cultural de la Villa, Canal Foundation, MAPFRE Foundation, Cerralbo Museum, ICO Museum, National Romanticism Museum and the Alcobendas Art Centre.

The PHotoESPAÑA programme is divided into two sections: the Official Section and the Off Festival, and presents different awards to recognise the work of some of the participating artists.  Numerous museums and exhibition halls take part in the sections in order to boost the promotion and development of the photographic market.

See programme