Actividades

Folk Alliance International Conference 2020

22 January - 26 January 2020

Sheraton New Orleans Hotel (Nueva Orleans, Estados Unidos)

The Folk Alliance International Conference, presented by Folk Alliance International, is the world’s largest gathering of the folk music industry and community (crossing a diverse array of genres. The annual February conference (now in its 32nd year) draws 2,900 artists and industry (agents, managers, publishers, labels, festival/venue presenters, promoters, media) dedicated to folk music. Delegates who attended the 2019 conference represented 48 countries. For this 32nd edition, AC/E is covering the travel expenses, through the PICE Mobility grants, of the Spanish guests invited to take part.This support is aimed at internationalising the music sector by encouraging Spanish companies to take part in fairs and other international sector events.

World Online School Chess Tournament. Expo Dubai 2020

15 January - 31 March 2020

Call for Entry

► Competitions: April 2020 – March 2021 ► Registration period for the countries that are interested: 15 January to 31 March 2020. ► For more information about rules and entry forms: → Download dossier ► Registration: http://inscripcion.expospain2020.com/ ► More info: infochess@expospain2020.es Chess is a universal game (191 countries in the International Chess Federation) that goes back over a thousand years. It came to Europe through the Arabs, who in the 8th century brought it to the Iberian Peninsula. The chess that is played throughout the world today was created in Spain at the end of the 15th century, when the queen became the most powerful piece. From there it spread to western Europe and the Americas. Its common language allows people to communicate regardless of race, language, religion, age or gender. The Spain Pavilion in Expo Dubai 2020, in line with the theme of this universal exposition of "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future" invites all member countries to participate in an event that aims to "increase intelligence for life" and expand awareness of the potential of chess as a key educational tool, as supported by sound scientific studies. Given the unanimous opinion that education is the best tool for ensuring an intelligent future, what better than a game that consists of thinking and developing many different values? Moreover, there are also very reliable studies that consider chess the best mental gymnastics for delaying or preventing the ageing of the brain and Alzheimer's. Event organization and schedule The event we propose is unprecedented in the world of chess in terms of the potential participants involved, as it is open to all the countries (almost 200) that will participate in Expo Dubai 2020. Combined with its duration, this scope will make the competition a global model for interconnected chess via the Internet. 2.1. Age range of the school participants Any player born between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2007 can participate (categories Sub 14 and Sub16 ). The age range of the finalists means they will have fewer problems in making their journeys to Dubai, the quality of the players will be higher (better FIDE ratings), and they will find it easier to handle the computer systems used in the competition. 2.2. Participation in the Tournament A maximum of 10 teams per country can participate in the competition. All interested schools may enter, provided that they have the minimum technological requirements for participating in the competition (details below). Countries participating in Expo 2020 are asked for their support in publicizing the event; and the countries that have a team classified for the finals are asked to help by paying their teams' travel costs to Dubai and giving visibility to the presence of their teams in the Expo. 2.3. Registration and selection of the teams Each educational centre interested in participating must register by a computer application installed on the official Tournament portal. It will have to provide details on its activities related to chess. If there are more than ten applications from a single country, the application will select the ten teams to participate based on the following criteria: five of them on the basis merit (sporting results of their players, introduction of chess into the curriculum or extra-curricular activity in the school, etc.). The other five teams will be selected by lot, with no criteria of merit used. This system provides the opportunity for all the schools to take part, while also stimulating those who have incorporated chess into their activities, or want to increase its importance. When a team classifies classifies for the on-site final, the country will pay the costs of the trip and stay for its teams in Dubai, as well as ensuring the visibility of their presence in the Expo. 2.4. Participants per team Each team will be composed of: 7 first-team players 2 reserves There will also be: one captain; and an adult delegate responsible for the team during the whole competition. Section 3, the Tournament Rules, explains these requirements in more detail. Schools are urged to make their balance between male and female players as equal as possible. 2.5. Speed of the games The games will be played over 20 minutes, with 10 more seconds per move for each of the two players. The time will be controlled by an online chess clock for each game. The average duration of a game will be around 60 minutes. 2.6. Schedule and competition phases The competition will consist of three phases: • A registration period for the countries that are interested: 15 January to 31 March 2020. • Online classification phase: from 15 April to 15 December 2020. • Knock-out rounds in 2020, taking into account the school calendar. The finalists will be decided starting 15 December 2020. • The on-site final phase will take place in Dubai on 29, 30 and 31 March, 2021. 2.7. Number of teams in the on-site final phase in Dubai The number of teams that will reach the final phase in Dubai will be a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 12. They will have passed the elimination phases, with a total of 90-108 young people, depending on the number of teams that reach the final. 2.8. Technological requirements for entry To ensure the competition operates correctly, the participating schools will have to guarantee that the teams entered have access to certain minimum technological resources, as follows: > Fast fibre-optic or ADSL connection. > Computers with one of the latest Windows operating systems (Windows 8 or 10) >Ability to communicate with those responsible in the competition administration via email/ Skype/WhatsApp on the days when each team is playing.

500 años de La Habana. Habitar el gesto

06 January - 25 February 2020

La Habana (La Habana, Cuba)

Since October 2019, when the Havana Theater Festival began, the social architect Santiago Cirugeda and his team Recipientes urbanos have been working with the neighborhood community of the mythical Dulce María Loynaz house in Havana to intervene spaces around Havana . With the collaboration of neighbors of these spaces, specialists and work groups such as young architects and students, the intervened spaces will allow to articulate a collective thought and transform the selected spaces into environments capable of entering into relation to the complex human diversity and social intensity that breathes the community, the neighborhood and the city.

Residency programme Sunday Morning @EKWC and AC/E 2020

01 January - 31 March 2020

Sunday Morning @EKWC (Oisterwijk, Netherlands)

The artist selected to enjoy this residence to develop ceramic techniques in the Sunday Morning EKWC is Carlos Monleón Gendall. The dates of your stay at EKWC will be from May 28 to August 19, 2020. During this residence, Carlos Monleón is interested in developing sculptures and ceramic components in relation to other materials or techniques such as sound waves (speakers), running water (fountain) or fire / glass (ovens). During the last two years, Carlos has worked with materials such as clay, glass and bronze, mainly as storage devices. During his stay at EKWC he wants to develop a series of pieces that focus on the transmissible qualities of clay. Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) supports the participation of a Spanish candidate in this residency programme organised by Sunday Morning EKWC for creative professionals who would like to explore the possibilities of ceramics. The selected artist will have access to all facilities of the center for a period of twelve weeks, including advise, studio, accommodation, use of materials and kilns (the latter up to € 2.000), go/return flights from Spain (economy class). OPEN CALL Criteria An academic education and two years of independent professional work are required for admission to Sundaymorning@ekwc. Selection The selection will be based on documentation of the last five years’ work, a work plan and a motivation. Recently graduated applicants are advised to add one or two letters of recommendation. Sundaymorning@ekwc will assess the applications that come in through public application rounds. In general the selection takes place about one year before the residency starts, so participants have time to organize their finances, jobs, exhibitions, etc. Visa Participants are responsible for the visa procedure – if required. More info >

Artistic residency at Rijksakademie 2020-2021

01 January 2020 - 31 December 2021

Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten (Ámsterdam, Netherlands)

AC/E supports the participation of Spanish artists Marc Roig Blesa and Claudia Pagès Rabal selected by the Rijksakademie to enjoy a two-year residence (January 2020 - December 2021) in their facilities. The Rijksakademie offers residencies to around fifty artists (for one year, with year extension) with the goal of providing space for research, experiment and production. Apart from facilities such as a studio, work budget and stipend, there is a research and production infrastructure. There is no standard program, predominant style or ideology. The Rijksakademie provides time, people and possibilities.

Metal Arts in Al-Andalus

17 December 2019 - 26 April 2020

Museo Arqueológico Nacional, MAN (Madrid, Spain)

Al-Andalus is a multifaceted prism that has inspired countless approaches and revisions, from its founding to the present day. The material evidence that has survived offers insight into the principal aspects of metal in Al-Andalus, from the extraction of ore in the mines to subsequent metallurgical treatments and final manufacture, producing the most diverse objects which combine the reflection of a society, technical precision and aesthetic beauty. Metal on the Iberian Peninsula before the advent of Islam The entire peninsula is dotted with metal ore extraction deposits that have been exploited over long periods of time and are still active today, even though the intensity of mining activity has fluctuated over the centuries. Mining and metallurgical techniques Although little material evidence of mining and metallurgical activity has survived, we know a great deal thanks to treatises written by scholars, which discuss everything from mining operations and metallurgical transformation processes. The value of an object: main uses of metal The objects made of different metals and alloys are an accurate expression of the Hispano-Islamic society: even the simplest pieces tell us about their everyday life and personal habits, while the rarest and most luxurious ones illustrate the lifestyle of wealthier people. Zoomorphic bronze figures Despite the ostensible aniconism of Islam, sculpted representations of animals are quite common. Each animal was believed to have certain properties, which can be interpreted from a religious and ethical perspective or in a practical way. The Splendour of Gold and Silver Gold and silversmiths flourished in Al-Andalus, as we can tell from the pieces that have survived and the accounts of contemporary chroniclers. The richness and technical virtuosity is seen in the paucity of objects that have come down to us.

Graphic Novel Residency at the Maison des Auteurs Angouleme 2020 - Anabel Colazo

01 December 2019 - 31 May 2020

Maison des Auteurs (Angoulême, France)

The jury selects the illustrator and comic strip artist Anabel Colazo to enjoy this residence which aims to promote creation in the field of graphic novels. The selection committee has especially valued the project presented for its artistic qualities and its innovative character. Anabel Colazo, born in Ibiza and settled in Valencia, debuted in 2015 with "El cristal imposible" (DeHavilland). He has participated in the Nimio and Paranoidland fanzines. In 2017 he published "Close Encounters" (La Cúpula). See portfolio> AC/E and the Cité internationale de la bande dessinée et de l’image, with the collaboration of the French Embassy in Spain, organized this six-month residency to be enjoyed between December 2019 and May 2020. The aim of the residency is to promote creation specifically in the field of graphic novels. For this purpose it facilitates the completion of a project chosen for its artistic values and innovative nature in this field. The chosen candidate enjoys a residency at the Maison des Auteurs in Angoulême (France). The Maison is part of the Cité internationale de la bande dessinée et de l’image (International city of comic books and image), which features a comic book museum, library, specialised bookshops and cinema, among other services, together with the Festival International de la bande dessinée, making Angoulême the European capital of graphic novels. OPEN CALL Until 14 June 2019 The residency for the chosen candidate includes: - Accommodation in a 3-room apartment to be shared with another resident (two bedrooms) in the centre of Angoulême (electricity, gas and water to be paid by the candidate). - Use of a workshop (individual or collective) equipped with material for graphic creation at the Maison des Auteurs in Angoulême. - 1,000 euros per month to cover upkeep, local transport expenses, and water, gas and electricity consumption. Any expenditure on materials or shipment of works will be borne by the selected authors. - Return train or plane ticket in economy class from their place of residence in Spain to Paris, and a return train ticket from Paris to Angoulême. Residency dates From December 2017 to the end of May 2018. Application / Requirements To be considered for the residency award, candidates must submit: - A project for a graphic novel, in narrative form, with an approximate timeframe for its completion. - A description of the project they are going to work on during the residency: a text of 10,000 characters at most, accompanied by drawings, sketches and designs and three complete consecutive pages of the project (dossier to be submitted in computerised form). - A curriculum vitae, to which some of their most representative works should be annexed. - A cover letter. - A sworn statement that the candidate is the sole author of the works submitted. The application must be sent to residenciasliteratura@accioncultural.es Conditions Candidates must: - Be aged over 18 and not have previously benefited from a residency at the Maison des Auteurs in Angoulême. - Be of Spanish nationality or hold a NIE (Identification number for foreigners) issued by the Spanish Ministry of the Interior. - Submit proof they hold a European health card or medical insurance covering any possible medical needs that may arise during the residency period Selection process AC/E’s advisory committee in Spain will shortlist a number of candidates. At the second stage, the jury of La Maison des Auteurs in Angoulême will select the final candidate and formalise the residency conditions directly with the chosen candidate. The jury who make the selection will be made up of prestigious graphic artists, screenwriters and critics and their decision will be final.

Extra, fashion! The birth of the fashion press in Spain

22 November 2019 - 01 March 2020

Museo del Traje. CIPE (Madrid, Spain)

#ExtraModa | The exhibition traces the history of fashion through fashion magazines: from the France of Louis XIV, with the birth of the luxury industry, until the end of the 19th century, with the arrival and development of the fashion press in Spain . The exhibition follows different publications dedicated to fashion, with different milestones: the first, the Mercure Galant, which appears in France (1672); or the publication of the first numbers of fashion magazines that still remain today like Harper’s Bazaar (1867) and Vogue (1892), in the United States. Different cross-sectional readings related to the typologies of the magazine are presented: feminine, feminist, educational… whose aim was to create a certain model of women. Other aspects that stand out are the evolution of the silhouette, the change of attitude with the practice of sport, social life, or the incorporation of women into work and their life in the domestic sphere. "Extra, fashion! The birth of the fashion press in Spain", invites to reflect on the fashion press model in today's society since its origins. Fashion figurines, costumes and other pieces of the Museum's collection make up this exhibition along with funds from other public institutions and private collections.

Benito Pérez Galdós. The Truth of Human Nature

01 November 2019 - 16 February 2020

Biblioteca Nacional de España (Madrid, Spain)

The writings of Benito Pérez Galdós (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1843-Madrid, 1920) paint an extraordinary picture in words of Spanish nineteenth-century customs and history. This nineteenth-century novelist, a man imbued with the positivist philosophy, liberalism and anticlericalism of his time, depicted the world he saw and was interested in with a universally acclaimed art. The exhibition surveys the life of the Canary-born writer on the centenary of his death. It is organised chronologically and divided into the four essential periods in his life. The biographical and personal literary content is presented in the cultural, historical and political context of the period. All the components of the show are designed to be educational. Following the basic chronological arrangement of his life and work within the cultural context of the period, it explores several themes: the literary scene, the political environment, his travels around Europe, and the importance of music, the graphic arts and painting in his oeuvre.

Teresa Solar: Ride Ride Ride

26 October 2019 - 26 January 2020

Index – The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation (Estocolmo, Sweden)

Teresa Solar (Spain/Egypt) offers a variety of sculptural forms in bright and playful colours not avoiding the possible critical approach on consumption and desire. The concept of the museum and the imagined idea of a storage room of an amusement park defines Teresa Solar’s exhibition at Index foundation. Objects and language, movement and situation, Meaning and poetry arise not so much from the individuality of each item but from the performative relationship and the conceptual connections to the set as a whole. A previous version of this exhibition has been produced by Matadero Centre for Cultural Creation in Madrid. — Teresa Solar has presented her work in spaces such as Sculpture Park (Koln), Kunstverein Munich, La Panera (Lleida), Het Wilde Weten (Rotterdam) or Der Tank (Basel). She has had a residency at Schloss Solitude (Stuttgart) and has been a visiting teacher at the Stuttgart Kunst Akademie. This exhibition is produced in collaboration with Matadero Madrid and with generous support from AC/E and the Spanish Embassy in Stockholm.

León Felipe. Who am I?

15 October 2019 - 24 January 2020

Instituto Cervantes de Chicago (Chicago, United States)

This exhibition is made up of about 150 documents, artworks and materials related to the great poet Leon Felipe, among which are photographs, paintings, sculpture, documents, press and books. Born in Tábara, Zamora on April 11 (1884), 2018 sees the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of his death in Mexico, where he lived in exile until his passing in 1968. Felipe Camino Galicia de la Rosa, better known as Leon Felipe, was one of Spain's major poets. Although his style is very personal and difficult, he is usually ascribed to the poets of the Generation of '27. The exhibition covers his life and work, revealing the intense life and literary career of this apothecary, actor, lecturer, teacher, translator and outstanding Spanish poet. It is a great opportunity to get to know this influential personality of the Spanish letters who traveled and developed his academic work in Equatorial Guinea, the USA, Panama and finally Mexico, where he obtained a great recognition. His legacy, of which a part is presented here, was acquired by the City Council of Zamora in 2002 and is estimated at some 2,500 manuscripts, unpublished loose poems, plus 5 other book-length manuscripts that were never published, alongside correspondence, photographs, and other belongings of the poet of the "Verses and prayers of the traveler".

New Education Laboratories

09 October 2019 - 12 April 2020

Fundación Francisco Giner de los Ríos - Institución Libre de Enseñanza (Madrid, Spain)

The exhibition commemorates the centenary of the creation, by the Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas (JAE), of the Instituto-Escuela, the most ambitious "reform essay" of public education in the stages before the university developed until then in Spain and one of the most outstanding pedagogical experiences of interwar Europe. A journey through the history of the institution that brings together works by authors of modernity and historical avant-garde such as Darío de Regoyos, Picasso, Torres García, Barradas, Alberto Sánchez, Benjamín Palencia, Maruja Mallo, García Lorca, Francisco Bores, Alberti, Moreno Villa or Ángel Ferrant, who dialogue with current artists such as Darío Villalba, Eduardo Arroyo, Blanca Muñoz, Emilia Azcárate, Antonio Ballester or Chema Madoz. The Instituto-Escuela was part of a modernization project of Spanish society promoted by the Institución Libre de Enseñanza (ILE) from 1876, with the aim of generalizing a new education and promoting scientific and cultural progress as the only means capable of place Spain among the most advanced countries.

Claudia Pagés Rabal: Residency at Jupiter Woods

01 October 2019 - 16 February 2020

Jupiter Woods (Londres, United Kingdom)

AC/E supports the participation of Claudia Pages Rabal to undertake a residency at Jupiter Woods (London) aimed at developing her research on logistics, gleaning history and creolization of language. Drawing from the area JW operates within as an epicentre of logistics and distribution chains, Pages Rabal will further reflect on production processes and contemporary forms of distribution and circulation that ground her work. On-site research will be accompanied by published writing. The residency will also develop into a final, public presentation of the research undertaken, the writing process, and the results of the time spent in London. During this event Pagés Rabal will invite 2 or 3 contributors to read and perform the texts, opening this way a debate with multiple participants.

The Dream (1518-2018)

26 September 2019 - 25 January 2020

ARQVA, Museo Nacional de Arqueología Subacuática (Cartagena, Spain)

"The Longest Journey" is an exhibition and documentary programme that reflects on the attitude of man before a long trip into the unknown. It connects the first circumnavigation of the Earth with the individual challenges of the present and the collective challenges of the future. The project begins in 2018 with the exhibition following the steps of Magallanes and the preparations of the first circumnavigation with the traveling exhibition "The Dream, 1518-2018", and will continue with the celebration, in 2019, of a great exhibition in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville around the first circumnavigation of the Earth and the importance of "travel" for the evolution of mankind. The Magellan–Elcano circumnavigation was the first voyage around the world in human history. It was a Spanish expedition that sailed from Seville in 1519 under the command of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese, in search of a maritime path from Spain to East Asia through the Americas and across the Pacific Ocean, and concluded by Spanish navigator Juan Sebastian Elcano in 1522. Elcano and the 18 survivors of the expedition were the first men to circumnavigate the globe in a single expedition. Following Magellan's death in Mactan (Philippines) in 1521, Juan Sebastián Elcano took command of the ship Victoria, sailing from Borneo, the Spice Islands and back to Spain across the Indian Ocean, round the Cape of Good Hope and north along the west coast of Africa. They arrived in Spain three years after they left, in 1522.

14ª Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporânea de Curitiba 2019

21 September 2019 - 23 February 2020

Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporânea de Curitiba (Curitiba, Brazil)

In this edition, the 14th, the Curitiba Biennial of Contemporary Art is made under the concept of "open borders", showing how the word "border" can have several meanings and how art has always been involved in that concept. With the presence of other countries artworks and its representatives, it will be possible to show the public the vastity of art in different countries, contributing with new thoughts on the construction and the process of another history. AC/E supports the traveling expenses of the artist that participate in the Spanish Exhibitions at the 1 Biennial: Llorenç Barber: The musician presents an exceptional concert through the ringing of bells of the main churches of the city of Curitiba. Through the concept of sound landscape, the performance will have collaboration of local assistants. Daniel Canogar: Instalation made with a projector and a computer. "Xilem, 2016" in which its visuality is ruled by algorithms in real time of the financial operations that happen around the world. Juan Luis Moraza: presents the instalation of the laboral parties calendar, 2016, a work about the boundary of the time and the work that rule our era. Eduardo Scala: will make an architectural intervention at the Public Library, with a building poem and visual poetry content in the inside area. Curitiba Biennial of Contemporary Art was born in 1993. In 1997, it began its itinerary activities through different states of Brazil and countries of Latin America, work that it keeps to this day. Besides doing contemporary art exhibitions, cinema and literature, the Curitiba Biennial also organizes annual circuits and parallel programs. In 2013, when it completed 20 years of activity, it was consecrated as one of the most important contemporary art events in the global circuit.

The Longest Voyage

12 September 2019 - 23 February 2020

Archivo General de Indias (Sevilla, Spain)

#ElViajeMásLargo #VCentenario | "The Longest Voyage: The First Journey around the World" is an exhibition and documentary programme that reflects on the attitude of man before a long trip into the unknown. It connects the first circumnavigation of the Earth with the individual challenges of the present and the collective challenges of the future. The project begins in 2018 with the exhibition following the steps of Magallanes and the preparations of the first circumnavigation with the traveling exhibition "The Dream, 1518-2018", and will continue with the celebration, in 2019, of a great exhibition in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville around the first circumnavigation of the Earth and the importance of "travel" for the evolution of mankind. The Magellan–Elcano circumnavigation was the first voyage around the world in human history. It was a Spanish expedition that sailed from Seville in 1519 under the command of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese, in search of a maritime path from Spain to East Asia through the Americas and across the Pacific Ocean, and concluded by Spanish navigator Juan Sebastian Elcano in 1522. Elcano and the 18 survivors of the expedition were the first men to circumnavigate the globe in a single expedition. Following Magellan's death in Mactan (Philippines) in 1521, Juan Sebastián Elcano took command of the ship Victoria, sailing from Borneo, the Spice Islands and back to Spain across the Indian Ocean, round the Cape of Good Hope and north along the west coast of Africa. They arrived in Spain three years after they left, in 1522. EXHIBITION MAP

CELA #2. 2019-2023

01 September 2019 - 30 September 2023

Varias giras europeas ()

This second edition of CELA (Connecting Emerging Literaty Artists) brings together eleven European cultural institutions from ten different countries and has, once again, the support and funding of the European Union through the Creative Europe programme. AC/E supports the Spanish partner Escuela de Escritores, which in September 2019 selected the three young writers and nine translators who form the Spanish representation in this second edition of the programme. The second edition of CELA, which runs between 2019 and 2023, allows 30 writers, 80 translators and 6 professionals from the world of editing to access a training, editing and promotion program in which some of the best writing schools participate of the continent (the Scuola Holden of Turin, School of Writers), literary festivals (Krakowskie Biuro Festiwalowe (Krakow, Poland) and cultural companies led by the Dutch literary producer Wintertuin (Nijmegen, Netherlands), Huis deBuren and Passa Porta (Brussels, Belgium), Goga (Novo Mesto, Slovenia), the Association of Publishers of Romania (Bucharest, Romania), the Czech Literary Center (Prague, Czech Republic), the Municipal Chamber of Óbidos (Óbidos, Portugal) and the KROKODIL Association (Belgrade , Serbia). For more info>

Centenary of the Death of Benito Pérez Galdós (1820 - 1920)

01 February 2019 - 31 December 2020

IN 2020 we celebrate Benito Pérez Galdós, (1843, Las Palmas—1920, Madrid), a writer who was regarded as the greatest Spanish novelist since Miguel de Cervantes. His enormous output of short novels chronicling the history and society of 19th-century Spain earned him comparison with Honoré de Balzac and Charles Dickens. Born into a middle-class family, Pérez Galdós went to Madrid in 1862 to study law but soon abandoned his studies and took up journalism. After the success of his first novel, La Fontana de Oro (1870; “The Fountain of Gold”), he began a series of novels retelling Spain’s history from the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) to the restoration of the Bourbons in Spain (1874). The entire cycle of 46 novels would come to be known as the Episodios Nacionales (1873–1912; “National Episodes”). In these works Galdós perfected a unique type of historical fiction that was based on meticulous research using memoirs, old newspaper articles, and eyewitness accounts. The resulting novels are vivid, realistic, and accurate accounts of historical events as they must have appeared to those participating in them. The Napoleonic occupation of Spain and the struggles between liberals and absolutists preceding the death of Ferdinand VII in 1833 are respectively treated in the first two series of 10 novels each, all composed in the 1870s. In the 1880s and ’90s Pérez Galdós wrote a long series of novels dealing with contemporary Spain, beginning with Doña Perfecta (1876). Known as the Novelas españolas contemporáneas (“Contemporary Spanish Novels”), these books were written at the height of the author’s literary maturity and include some of his finest works, notably La desheredada (1881; The Disinherited Lady) and his masterpiece, the four-volume novel Fortunata y Jacinta (1886–87), a study of two unhappily married women from different social classes. Pérez Galdós’ earlier novels in the series show a reforming liberal zeal and an intransigent opposition to Spain’s ubiquitous and powerful clergy, but after the 1880s he displayed a newly tolerant acceptance of Spain’s idiosyncracies and a greater sympathy for his country. He demonstrated a phenomenal knowledge of Madrid, of which he showed himself the supreme chronicler. He also displayed a deep understanding of madness and abnormal psychological states. Pérez Galdós gradually came to admit more elements of spirituality into his work, eventually accepting them as an integral part of reality, as evident in the important late novels Nazarín (1895) and Misericordia (1897; Compassion).

Seal of Quality for Bookstores

2019 - 2021

Period of validity ()

Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) collaborates with the Chambers of the Book and the Spanish Confederation of Booksellers' Associations (Cegal) in this project launched by the Ministry of Culture and Sports in 2016 that provides bookstores with a Seal quality. It is an initiative that aims to help reactivate the retail channel and provide a professional structure for bookstores to meet the demands of quality and cultural reference demanded by Spanish society. The aim of this Seal of Quality is to consolidate bookstores as spaces for meeting, reflection and discussion in the communities in which they are located, through their conversion into cultural and social spaces; to promote the diversity of bibliographic heritage through the protection of a network of bookstores that offer both fast-track books and books in the background. An initiative that also establishes a mechanism to improve the economic situation of bookstores and encourage them to continue introducing improvements in customer service while expanding their cultural offer.

Activities