06.10.2025 - 11.01.2026

The opening exhibition of Europalia Spain explores 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 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.

The design employs a thematic color scheme that evolves with the exhibition’s narrative. Each main theme — Goya as a painter, Goya as an enlightener, and Goya in synthesis — has its own chromatic atmosphere. Freestanding walls mark transitions, displaying a work that hints at what follows. These walls share the current theme’s color, blending subtly into the next through a gradient at the base.

The result is a visual flow rather than a break: a scenographic reflection of Goya’s complexity, revealing his continual search and refusal to resolve contradictions. The shift becomes a visual passage; not a break, but a movement. These subtle gradations form the scenographic response to the complexity of Goya's oeuvre. Rather than imposing a singular vision, the colour gradients aim to reveal a continuous quest: that of a painter who transcends his time by refusing to resolve contradictions, instead laying them bare.

Client: Europalia
Location: BOZAR, Brussels / BE
Curators: Rocio Gracia Ipiña, Leticia Sastre Sánchez, icw Europalia
Artistic Direction: Dirk Vermaelen with Elsa Duhaut
Execution: Chloroform
Lighting: Colin Fincoeur lighting
Audio-visuals: Thomas Bernardet
Art handling: Fuller
Graphic design: Sara De Bondt studio
Execution of graphic design: Bulle color sprl
Assistant: Olivia De Bree
Photography: Robbrecht Desmet

Europalia España