The MACA hosts the 'Black cinema: audiovisual resonances from Africa and the diaspora' cycle, inspired by Kara Walker
07.11.2025
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Alicante (MACA) will host from November 18 to 21 the film cycle 'Black cinema: audiovisual resonances from Africa and the diaspora', inspired by the work of artist Kara Walker and curated by Beatriz Leal, a researcher specializing in contemporary African art and cinema. The sessions will take place on all four days of the cycle, at 6:00 p.m., with free admission.
This film cycle is programmed and inspired by the work of Kara Walker and the exhibition 'Burning Village' which was shown at MACA from February to September of this year and which will be on display until February 2026 at the IVAM, Centre Julio González in Valencia.
The five fiction titles that make up the cycle are the work of two female directors and two male directors of African and African American origins, pioneers in a vanguard and critical art that frees itself from European references and seeks its own grammar and references. In line with Kara Walker's research into form and mastery of artistic techniques that she employs to delve into the historical and psychological aftermath of slavery and social injustice, the films have been selected for their thematic, poetic, historical and geographical connections with the artist's production.
Moving forward, Looking back, Avanzando, mirando atrás, es la segunda exposición organizada a partir de la extensa colección donada por Michael Jenkins y Javier Romero al MACA, reuniendo en esta ocasión el trabajo de cincuenta y seis artistas de diferentes nacionalidades, trabajando en muy diversos medios artísticos, y trazando un equilibrio igualitario entre mujeres y hombres artistas. Esta muestra aborda planteamientos que pueden aplicarse por igual al trabajo artístico, a la labor de las instituciones dedicadas al arte contemporáneo y también, a la tarea como coleccionistas de Michael y Javier, quienes consideran la relevancia de testimoniar el presente, pero entendiendo la necesidad de mantener la vista en el pasado para construir y comprender el momento actual y también para vislumbrar el futuro. Conocer el pasado artístico es fundamental para contar lo que sucede hoy en arte. Ese conocimiento permite contar la historia del arte no como episodios aislados, sino interconectados, siguiendo el rastro de lo que acontece, buscando las semillas iniciales y los entrelazados con el fin de completar una lectura más precisa de la compleja y extensísima producción artística contemporánea.Para muchos artistas, el trabajo en el estudio es una tarea que viene acompañada de forma continua por revisiones y análisis del trabajo previo, de lo hecho antes, como un impulso a su vez de nuevas ideas. Una mirada atrás que, a menudo, no se limita al trabajo propio, sino también al trabajo de otros artistas como fuente de inspiración. En esta exposición conviven obras de artistas consagrados o de generaciones distintas buscando así los inicios de unas prácticas o ideas que no siempre surgen de forma nueva y sin sustento, ya que el trabajo de numerosos artistas actuales se enraíza a menudo en la obra de los predecesores, que a su vez también miraron atrás (para entenderlo, copiarlo, seguirlo, transformarlo o atacarlo y negarlo). Y esa mirada hacia atrás no impide sino que impulsa el registro de lo rabiosamente presente y permite imaginar algunas de las propuestas futuras o de los caminos que el propio arte y los artistas abren. La selección de trabajos mostrados aquí nos permite también ampliar nuestro conocimiento sobre las múltiples investigaciones estéticas y formales que existen en el arte contemporáneo, así como hacia las investigaciones que se adentran y reflexionan sobre muy diversos asuntos urgentes de nuestra realidad, en lo social y lo político.
One more year, we continue working tirelessly to make the MACA, Museum of Contemporary Art of Alicante, accessible for EVERYONE. In this year 2023 we celebrate the seventh edition of TOD@S MACA, artistic and multidisciplinary events with the purpose of making visible and empowering people with disabilities. Our objective persists because, unfortunately, it is still necessary: we want all people to be able to participate in usual creative processes, access artistic circuits and be present in all educational and professional fields, promoting social, political and human equity. As long as this need for change exists, we will be here, one more year since 2017, celebrating these encounters and exchanges filled with emotion and inclusion at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Alicante around the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which is celebrated every December 3rd. With TOD@S MACA our purpose is to bring contemporary art closer to a diverse audience, fostering interest in culture, the arts, participation, creativity and respect towards all sectors of society. We want to build bridges between people, turning our differences and diversities into opportunities for mutual learning and collective creation. Everyone contributes if everyone participates. The TOD@S MACA program offers numerous artistic and cultural activities during the weekend of December 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 2023, transforming the museum into a space to awaken the interest of spectators from all backgrounds and establishing a dialogue with the public to integrate the museum into the social life of the city, making it accessible FOR ALL PEOPLE. TOD@S MACA is not directed exclusively at a particular social group. It is not exclusive to people with disabilities or in situations of social exclusion. Our target audience is ALL OF SOCIETY. We cannot build a more inclusive, tolerant and empathetic world without counting on all the people who make it up. That is why the program of activities is open to everyone, without distinction. If you have made it this far and this dossier is before your eyes again, it is because we count on you again so that, for the seventh year, it is a success of involvement, participation and emotion. Because WE ARE ALL CREATORS. Because CULTURE must be for everyone and for all PEOPLE.
