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2025 Acquisition Committee of the Col·lecció Nacional d'Art Contemporani of the Government of Catalunya

 Mon, Apr 20 2026
First 2025 meeting of the commission at Santa Mònica.

Sònia Hernández, Minister of Culture of the Government of Catalonia, today announced the Department of Culture’s 2025 acquisitions: 46 contemporary artworks by 40 artists that will enter the Government’s National Collection. The Collection spans contemporary art (from the 1970s onwards), photography, cultural artefacts, comics, illustration, postwar art, and works from the second avant-garde. The acquisitions follow an extensive review of more than 700 applications, assessed by a committee across eleven two-hour meetings.

The 2025 Committee was presided over by Íngrid Llopart, Deputy Director General of Cultural Promotion; Manel Guerrero, a specialist in contemporary art at the Directorate General for Cultural Promotion and Libraries and coordinator of the commission; Marta Gustà, Director of the Visual Arts Area at the Catalan Institute for Cultural Enterprises and coordinator of the commission; Ester Martínez, responsible for support programmes for artistic creation and visual arts; Sònia Blasco, Head of the Museums and Movable Heritage Protection Service; Claudia Segura, Head of Collections at MACBA; Àlex Mitrani, Contemporary Art Curator at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC); Jesús Navarro, Director of Morera – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Lleida and representative of the Network of Art Museums of Catalonia; Gisel Noè, Director of M|A|C Mataró; Manel Margalef, Director of Museu d'Art Modern Tarragona (MAMT) of the Diputació de Tarragona; Frederic Montornés, independent curator, nominated by the CoNCA National Council for Culture and the Arts; Álvaro Hernández, Technical Officer of the Management Service of the Directorate-General for Cultural Promotion and Libraries, acting as secretary. Closing the list, Mariana Cánepa Luna of Latitudes, as an expert in contemporary art, proposed by the Plataforma d’Arts Visuals de Catalunya (PAV).

One of the online work sessions.

The 2025 acquisitions were made with a total budget of €983,677.13. In this round, the committee selected 46 works by 40 artists—20 men, 18 women, and two collectives—reflecting a broad range of practices. Just over half of the works (23) entered the collection via galleries, while the remainder were acquired directly from the artists or their rightful owners (17).

Evolution of the acquisition budget since 2018.


Works by mid-career artists such as Carles Congost, Pep Agut, Tom Carr, Pep Duran, Begoña Montalbán, Núria Güell and Oriol Vilapuig, amongst others, have been deposited on long-term loan in twelve museums across Catalunya. With the budget increase to 1 million over the last two years, it has been possible to acquire works by established artists such as Antoni Muntadas, Sílvia Gubern, Nazario, Dorothée Selz, Marga Ximénez, Teresa Gancedo, Magda Bolumar and Joan Fontcuberta, to mention a few. Works by younger generations have also been purchased by artists such as Anna Moreno, Paula Artés, Gerard Ortín, Luz Broto, Eva Fàbregas or Agnès Essonti.

The meetings for the 2026 edition of the Acquisitions are currently underway until the summer, and will be the third and final year that Mariana serves as Advisor. 

Gerard Ortín Castellví​'s “Bliss Point”​ (2023), a 26-minute film, is now on long-term loan to MACBA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona. This completes his food trilogy, which is also deposited in the museum (“Future Foods” (2021) is a long-term loan of the Barcelona City Council; and “Agrilogistics” (2022) was a 2024 purchase by the same Generalitat Committee).

Luz Broto, “Contactar cristales enfrentados” (2023), now long-term loan at the Museu de Granollers.

Nazario, Història de Turandot, (1988-1990) 47 original drawings. Now on long-term loan at the MORERA. Museu d’Art Modern i Contemporani de Lleida.


→ RELATED CONTENT:


 2025, advisor, collection, Col·lecció Nacional d'Art Contemporani, Contemporary Art, Mariana Cánepa Luna, museums
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Mariana Cánepa Luna in the 2024 Acquisition Committee of the Col·lecció Nacional d'Art Contemporani of the Government of Catalunya

 Wed, Mar 19 2025
At today’s press conference, Sònia Hernández Almodóvar, Ministre of Culture of the Government of Catalunya, presented the acquisitions made in 2024 by the Department of Culture to expand the National Collection of the Government of Catalonia.

The collection includes contemporary art, photography, cultural artefacts, comics, illustration, postwar art, and works from the second avant-garde. The announcement follows an extensive review process that involved assessing 434 applications for the contemporary art collection over long spring days, culminating in eight in-depth online sessions—each lasting three to four hours—during which the Acquisition Committee deliberated on the proposals.

First of several Teams meetings.

The 2024 Committee comprised Íngrid Llopart, Deputy Director General of Cultural Promotion; Manel Guerrero, a specialist in contemporary art at the Directorate General for Cultural Promotion and Libraries, and coordinator of the commission; Marta Gustà, Director of the Visual Arts Area at the Catalan Institute for Cultural Enterprises, coordinator of the commission; Joan Antoni Martínez, Head of the Dissemination and Artistic Cooperation Area; Sònia Blasco, Head of the Museums and Movable Heritage Protection Service; Antònia M. Perelló, Head of Collections at MACBA; Àlex Mitrani, Contemporary Art Curator at MNAC; Jesús Navarro, Director of Morera – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Lleida and representative of the Network of Art Museums of Catalonia; Christian Alonso, director of La Panera, Lleida, and representative of the Network of Art Museums of Catalonia; Frederic Montornés, independent curator, nominated by CoNCA National Council for Culture and the Arts; Álvaro Hernández, specialist at the Directorate General for Cultural Promotion and Libraries; and Mariana Cánepa Luna of Latitudes, “a person who is an expert in contemporary art, independent, and without economic interests in the sector, proposed by the Plataforma d’Arts Visuals de Catalunya (PAV)”.

The 2024 acquisitions budget significantly increased, from 599,399.51 euros in 2023 to over 1 million euros. The Committee selected 40+ artworks, which were then reviewed by a qualification board before advancing through legal departments for contract drafting, financing, and final transportation. This thorough process ensures the works are delivered to their designated depository institutions across the region—a procedure that unfolds over a year.

View of Joan Morey, "COS SOCIAL (Lliçó d'anatomia)", 2017. MACBA Collection. Government of Catalonia long-term loan. National Collection of Contemporary Art. © Joan Morey. Photo: Gasull Fotografia

In 2024, several works acquired in recent years for the National Collection were presented in the three-part “MACBA Collection: Prelude. Poetic Intention” (2022–2025) at the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona. Such as Mireia Sallarès’ photographs that are part of her larger project “Las muertes chiquitas” (2006-16); Joan Morey’s multipart project “COS SOCIAL. Lliço d'Anatomia” (SOCIAL BODY. Anatomy Lesson) (2017); Regina Giménez’s large paintings “Geo-gràfics” (2021); Sinéad Spelman’s drawings “Venes” (2020); Pedro Torres’ video installation “House of the Sun” (2020); Daniel G. Andújar “Battle Cry” (2019-2020”; Eulàlia Valldosera’s “Construcció i deconstrucció (I-VIII) (El melic del món #1; El ventre de la Terra #29)” (1991-2001); Lara Fluxà’s glass installation “Delu” (2019)”; Lucía C. Pino’s sculptures “10 Amazon Quarterly vol 03. (content)” (2022); or Lúa Coderch’s “Estil Internacional (Mur d'Ònix)” (2013-14), to mention a few.


Eugènia Balcells, “FROM THE CENTER” (1982). Courtesy Fundació Eugènia Balcells.

Looking ahead, one of the most significant recent acquisitions of 2024, Eugènia Balcells’ 12-channel video installation “From the Center” (1982), will be presented this summer in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya’s Sala Oval, where it has been placed on deposit. The installation premiered at the 1983 Donostiako Nazioarteko Bideo Aldia, II Festival de Vídeo de San Sebastián. It was subsequently exhibited at Barcelona’s renowned Sala Metrònom (1985), Anderson Gallery in Richmond, Virginia (1986), and New York’s El Museo del Barrio (1987). 

“From the Center” is a technically complex and conceptually profound video installation described by Balcells as an “electronic Stonehenge”. Featuring twelve monolithic screens arranged in a walkable circle, it presents fragmented yet unified views of the world, filmed over two years from a fixed Manhattan rooftop. Accompanied by a twelve-channel soundscape by Peter Van Riper (1942-1998), the installation blends technology and spirituality, echoing Romantic ideals of universal connection and inviting comparisons to the mystical vision of Romanesque paintings in the MNAC’s collection.


→ RELATED CONTENT:

 2024, 2025, acquisitions, advisor, collection, MACBA, Mariana Cánepa Luna, PAAC
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