MADRID.- On September 25th 2017, at Matadero Madrid, Manuela Carmena Castrillo, Mayor of Madrid; Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, President of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo; Luìs Cueto, Coordinator of the City Council of Madrid, announced the birth of Fundación Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Madrid.

Chiara Appendino, Mayor of Turin; Carlota Álvarez Basso, Director of Matadero; and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Director of the Serpentine Gallery were also there.

The Fundaciòn reflects the aim of enlarging the horizons of both Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo’s (established in 1995 and with more than 20-years of experience) exhibition programme and education activities, and will position itself in Madrid’s art and cultural system thanks to the dialogue with the local public institutions, communities, associations and firms.

The Fundaciòn’s venue will be the Nave 9 of the Centre for Contemporary Creation Matadero Madrid, the cultural centre that is situated in the district of Arguanzuela, a former slaughterhouse área and covering a surface area of 165,415 square meters.

Nave 9’s renovation has been committed to architect David Adjaye. Designed for displaying exhibitions, education activities as well as hosting meetings, the new Fundaciòn will present (on a rotation basis) 100 works of art from the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Collection that, given on a long term loan, are at the core of the Madrid project.

“Madrid is a great European Capital, a bridge for Latin America, a continent the importance of which is widening on the contemporary art scene. I fell in love with the Matadero’s magnificent space” said Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, “with its fascinating architecture and with its community, so engaged and committed. With the birth of Fundaciòn Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Madrid we are going to experiment and to grow the model and the practices that, every day and for more than 20 years, we have been applying to support young artists and to promote the knowledge of contemporary art and its social role, bringing it closer to an ever growing public”.

“I am really happy that, from now on, we will have the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudego Collection displayed in the Matadero’s Nave 9” said Manuela Carmena Castrillo “The Fundación Sandretto Re Rebaudengo is what we need to have the collection here in Madrid, and make it grow and strengthen, just as it did in Torino. In this way, Madrid keeps on focusing even more strongly on culture”.

“Turin citizens are proud of the opportunity to export to Madrid such an international and qualified centre for the promotion of culture as Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo”- said Chiara Appendino, “an exhibition space that for more than 20 years has been attracting the attention of artists, collectors, connoisseurs and contemporary art lovers, and that has contributed to confirm the strength of the Turin creative network as a whole, characterized by a woven complex of both public and private interconnected institutions. A vocation that the Municipal Administration accomodates and encourages by supporting exhibitions, shows and events”.

“The creation of the Fundación Sandretto Re Rebaudengo is a great news for Madrid” said Luìs Cueto, “The agreement that we are presenting today will undoubtedly enrich the image of Madrid as a symbol for european culture, and it will create opportunities for artists, curators and lovers of contemporary art in our city.”

“Matadero Madrid has been, since its opening in 2007, a unique example of public-private management. This cooperation is in our DNA, and the promotion of collaborative work between the different organizations that are part of Matadero Madrid is our strength” said Carlota Alvarez Basso “With the Fundación Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Madrid, there will be ten cultural institutions working together. I am sure that we will establish a very important partnership with it, as we share the same ambitions: to socially contextualize contemporary art, promote reflections on the processes of cultural construction and to become a meeting point for artists and citizens”

This new venue strengthens Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo’s international profile. From the beginning its identity has been shaped according to a model of an institution open to prestigious collaborations with artists and curators, museums and galleries all over the world.

The project builds a bridge between Turin and Madrid: it enables the Fondazione to measure itself with the art system and the public of a great global capital and, at the same time, is perfectly in tune with Turin’s public policy of internationalization – a city that has been involved in a process of profound transformation. By bringing its expertise to Madrid, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo becomes an ambassador of the capacities and visions of its hometown too, developing the idea of Europe that founds itself on the reciprocity of places, knowledge and cultures.

To begin with a consolidated philosophy, Fondazione’s two venues will operate in close contact, along a path nourished by dialogue and reflection, by projects, by exhibitions, by the Collection. Following a community-based view, each venue will have its own phisiognomy, as a result of the society, the education system and the local art system.

In September 2015, having visited the Matadero, Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo contacted the Town of Madrid, applying for the concession and the internal renewal of the Nave 9, with the aim of developing Fondazione’s activities through the support of young artists (with a special attention to the Spanish and Latin American scenes), the permanent display of the Collection and the realization of educational projects.

The proposal was presented to the Town of Madrid’s Cultural Offices first, and then submitted to the Mayor Manuela Carmena Castrillo. In February 2016 the Coordinator of the City Council of Madrid, Luìs Cueto, officially confirmed the Mayor’s decision regarding the concession of Matadero’s Nave 9 to Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo on a long term loan. Since then, The Town of Madrid and Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo have been negotiating with the shared aim of reaching a state concession for a 50 year period. On January 10th, 2017 Fundaciòn Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Madrid was officially set up.

Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo was among the first private foundations in Italy. It was set up in Turin on April 6th, 1995 by its President, Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo. In Italy the Fondazione has two exhibition venues: Palazzo Re Rebaudengo in Guarene d’Alba (since 1997) and the Centre for Contemporary Art in Turin (since 2002). During the years, the Fondazione has become an exhibition centre internationally renowned, that has collaborated with institutions such as TATE Gallery, Philadelphia Museum of Art, MoMA, Whitechapel Gallery and Bard College. Beyond the promotion and the support of contemporary art, the Fondazione has great experience in the areas of education, training and cultural mediation.