My Cartography. The Erling Kagge Collection

Sala de Arte Santander, Boadilla del Monte, Madrid

24.02.2020 > 11.03.2020
01.06.2020 >28.08.2020

1,174 visitors

The foundation organised an exhibition of works belonging to the private collection of Norwegian editor, writer, lawyer and explorer Erling Kagge at the Art Gallery in Boadilla del Monte (Madrid). Curator Bice Curiger selected 188 artworks to be displayed in the exhibition, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, installations and videos by well-known contemporary artists such as Raymond Pettibon, Franz West, Jana Euler and Eliza Douglas.

Due to the pandemic, the exhibition was only open to the public on an uninterrupted basis for two weeks. Therefore, the foundation opted to provide a virtual tour of the exhibition and a free download of the catalogue on its website. The catalogue includes information and reproductions for each of the artworks and a conversation between collector Erling Kagge and curator Bice Curiger.

The art gallery reopened from 1 June to 28 August, although for safety reasons only Grupo Santander employees were permitted to visit the exhibition.

Palacio Real, Madrid

11.11.2019 > 12.03.2020
10.06.2020 > 24.01.2021

139,344 visitors (from 1 January to 31 December 2020)

Fundación Banco Santander sponsored the exhibition ‘La Otra Corte. Mujeres de la Casa de Austria en los Monasterios Reales de las Descalzas y la Encarnación’, organised by Patrimonio Nacional at Palacio Real in Madrid.

The exhibition offered a unique opportunity to discover the artworks preserved at the Monasterios Reales de las Descalzas y la Encarnación, which are rarely accessible to the public due to the monasteries’ closed regime. The works on display included extraordinary examples of 16th and 17th centuries Spanish painting and sculpture, reliquaries, sacred ornaments and tapestries. The exhibition also revealed the important religious, political and artistic role played by the women of the House of Austria.

After being suspended on 12 March 2020, the exhibition reopened to the public on 10 June with the adoption of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as limiting visitor numbers and cancelling guided tours.

Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao

04.06.2020 > 01.01.2021

The foundation and the Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao reactivated the La Obra Invitada programme on 4 June 2020 after it was suspended as a consequence of the pandemic. For the first time, an artwork was specifically commissioned for display as part of the programme, with the added value of being closely linked to the exhibition space and the circumstances at the time.

Artist Maider López (San Sebastián, 1975) created Arnasa, a light installation whose intensity was regulated by the rhythm of visitors’ breathing and could be observed from outdoors. Between nightfall and 1am, all the rooms in the museum lit up and gradually fell into darkness at the same time, giving the sense that the building was alive and ‘breathing’. The piece interacted with the institution and encouraged viewers to reflect on the social function of art and museums.