Alicante City Council’s Cultural Department will again purchase contemporary artworks for a third consecutive year, allocating sixty thousand euros to artists and galleries from the Alicante province. Following the 2021 initiative to acquire works from local creators, these funds will enrich the city’s cultural heritage and be stored in various municipal offices.
Purpose of the program: to illuminate the work of living contemporary artists while expanding municipal collections. The deadline to submit works for potential acquisition starts this Wednesday and closes on October 16.
Works will be compared with offerings from contemporary art galleries and individual artists. In exceptional cases and for justified reasons, the committee may consider proposals from other sources. Acquired pieces must meet these criteria: created by a living or deceased artist or artist group, born and/or residing in the Alicante province, with a professional career connected to the city.
Additionally, any gallery or artist may present up to three offers for purchase. Three works or groups of works to be evaluated in this way must be offered at a single, common price. Artists cannot submit works both directly and through their galleries at the same time. The theme, discipline, and production technique of the works are at the libre discretion of the creator. Works must be produced at the proposal stage, not at the draft or project phase.
Council member Nayma Beldjilali emphasized that the department is continuing its program for a third year, acquiring art that increases visibility for Alicante artists. She added, “We believe this serves as an incentive for artists to have their works included in a collection as important as the municipal collection. The strong participation in the first two calls proves this.”
All information and necessary documents are available at: City Council, Cultura.
The Ministry of Culture will invest up to sixty thousand euros and reserves the right not to spend the entire budget if the selection of works is abandoned in whole or in part.
The City Council may purchase a maximum of one work from each artist or gallery; purchases cannot involve artists whose works were bought in the past three years. Selected works will be purchased after the appropriate contract is formalized, with payment made upon receipt of the artwork and submission of the invoice. The municipality reserves the right not to evaluate works that could present installation or durability problems.
Previous calls
Last year, the Ministry of Culture invested sixty-two thousand euros to acquire four sculptures, a photographic print, a digital photograph, a mixed-media piece on fabric, and acrylic on canvas. More than a hundred pieces were presented, and the selected artists included Isidro Blasco, Elena Aguilera, Juan Carlos Nadal, Rosana Antolí, Olga Diego, Pablo Bellot, Ana Teresa Ortega, and Ana Pastor.
In the first year, a total of 248 works from 150 artists were submitted, with nine selected for acquisition totaling sixty-two thousand three hundred euros. Names among the participants included Aurelio Ayela, Miguel Bañuls, Ana Esteve Reig, Daniel G. Andújar, Susana Guerrero, Aurelia Masanet, Luisa Pastor, Colectivo ORGIA, and Jesus Zuazo.
By 2022, the initial acquisitions were showcased at an exhibition at the Alicante Fish Market. The Ministry notes that the newly acquired works are likely to be exhibited in 2024.