BARCELONA.- Today, 13 April 2026, marks the centenary of the birth of the artist Aurèlia Muñoz Ventura (Barcelona, 1926–2011). On the occasion of this anniversary and to celebrate the pioneering and visionary role of this important figure in contemporary art, MACBA is coordinating the Aurèlia Muñoz Centenary programme with the help of a constellation of cultural institutions. One of the key moments of the commemoration will be the event on 25 April at MACBA, which will bring together institutions and various organisations to present a programme of activities that extends throughout Catalonia. It will include activities in numerous cultural facilities and an international symposium, culminating with the retrospective exhibition Aurèlia Muñoz. Beings, which will open in November at MACBA. The Centenary has been declared an Official Commemoration by the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Three Birds-Kites in the MACBA Atrium

Coinciding with the start of the Centenary, from 13 April three reconstructions of sculptures from the artist’s emblematic Birds-Kites series will be installed in the Atrium of the Meier Building. Originally made in the early 1980s, at that time the pieces were exhibited at the Palacio de Cristal in Madrid, the Drassanes Reials in Barcelona and as part of the 11th Lausanne International Textile Biennial. Muñoz conceived the works to be installed high-up and in dialogue with natural light: conditions that are faithfully reproduced in the current presentation at MACBA. The production and installation are carried out by MACBA with the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Aurèlia Muñoz Archive, and the collaboration of Batlló Contemporary (Casa Batlló). The installation also establishes a symbolic dialogue with the work of Antoni Gaudí in the year of the centenary of his death.

A career spanning five decades and a forward-looking perspective

This commemoration highlights the pioneering and visionary role of an artist whose practice, fundamentally sculptural but also pictorial and graphic, explored and renewed ancestral techniques such as embroidery, macramé and papermaking, in dialogue with the artistic avant-gardes of her time, while simultaneously forging connections between disciplines such as art, architecture, theatre and engineering. Her work reveals a committed world view that anticipated ecological and social concerns such as material sustainability and interspecies relationships, as well as highlighting the importance of diversity and poetics as links between artistic production and life.

A landmark retrospective

The central axis of the Centenary, the exhibition Aurèlia Muñoz. Beings is a major retrospective produced by MACBA and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS), which will be presented at both institutions between 2026 and 2027. The project will be accompanied by an international symposium to be held at MACBA in November under the title Aurèlia Muñoz. Resonances and Confluences. It will bring together international experts from various fields to further explore the artist’s legacy. The exhibition can be visited at MNCARS 29 April – 7 September 2026, and in Barcelona 5 November 2026 – 29 March 2027. Both exhibitions will share the same body of work, but in addition MACBA will display a unique museography and include a set of late drawings from the Aurèlia Muñoz Archive.

Complementing both exhibitions will be the publication Aurèlia Muñoz. Beings, co-edited with MNCARS. In line with the exhibition proposal, this catalogue provides new documentary material and a renewed critical look at the artist’s work, with contributions by international experts and a new set of historical references.

A choral commemoration that reviews the major periods and subject matter of the artist’s production

The objective of the Centenary and, in particular, of the exhibitions and publication, is to expose the inexhaustible richness of a practice that explored multiple techniques and languages and avoided pigeonholing, both in the formal dimension of the works and in the artist’s personal trajectory.

Aurèlia Muñoz was not only a pioneer of many artistic forms, but also dedicated herself to studying the techniques, materials and spaces that articulated her works. To this end, she worked in close contact with the local artistic community, with architects, photographers, designers, artisans and critics all playing an active role in the development of her work.

Throughout her career, the artist was equally prolific in producing works and installations for museums and art centres throughout Catalonia. The aim of the commemoration is to highlight Muñoz’s presence and artistic vigour in all its facets.

Therefore, the programme will review all her major periods of production and emblematic series, including large pictorial embroideries, knotted sculptures in macramé, articulated canvas machines suspended in the air, drawings and paper constructions, while also evoking her other interests and activities, from art history to hiking and diving.

The Centenary will feature a wide programme of activities and collaborations with museums and institutions throughout Catalonia, highlighting the presence and relevance of Muñoz’s work. The initiative will connect disciplines, communities and territories, following the collaborative spirit that defined the artist’s career and reconnecting with venues that were important throughout her life.

As part of the Centenary celebration, different activities will be programmed in museums throughout Catalonia. Aside from MACBA and MNCARS, these will include the Capellades Paper Mill Museum, the Grau-Garriga Centre for Contemporary Textile Art, the Textile Museum in Terrassa, the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya, the Cathedral Treasury Museum in Girona, the Museu de Granollers, the Design Museum / DHUB in Barcelona, the Museu d’Art Modern in Tarragona and the Museu de Valls, among many others. In addition, the Casa Batlló (through Batlló Contemporary) and the Sagrada Família are also collaborating with the Centenary, highlighting Muñoz’s admiration for Antoni Gaudí and her friendship with the architect Jordi Bonet, former director of works at the Sagrada Família.