Opening: Luz y Sombra: Goya and Spanish Realism

Exhibition design, Brussels/ BE

From 7 October 2025 to 11 January 2026, the opening exhibition of Europalia Spain will display the pioneering work of Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828) in the context of his contemporaries' and later artists' work. Through his powerful depictions of injustice and human struggle, Goya played a key role in shaping modern art within the Spanish realist tradition. Spanning from the 18th century to the present day, the exhibition features seventy artists and showcases how his expressive and conceptual legacy continues to resonate.

The scenography designed by Aslı Çiçek draws inspiration from the contrasts inherent in the artworks on display: the paintings and etchings that speak, clash, and connect. Goya’s work is characterised by a series of oppositions, including, but not limited to: classicism versus baroque, reason versus irrationality, the beauty of portraiture versus the horror of violence, and personal reflection versus political analysis. These oppositions are not ruptures, but zones of tension – and it is precisely there that Goya is situated: as painter, as enlightener, as visionary.