Exhibitions in Barcelona
May 2026
May 2026 at a glance: 4 exhibitions opened, 0 closed, and 13 more were on view across the city.
Opened in May
Sim Acquisition, Drawing and War7 MayMuseu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC)
Nearly 100 newly acquired drawings by José Luis Rey Vila (Sim), a key visual chronicler of the Spanish Civil War: quick pencil and charcoal sketches of soldiers, bombings and civilians.
Wounded Militiaman: The Recovery of an Irredeemable Painting7 MayMuseu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC)
Francisco Mateos's Civil War propaganda painting, irreversibly deteriorated, is shown alongside AI-generated imagery that recovers its original visual impact.
The Cult of Beauty21 MayCCCB – Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona
How ideals of beauty were built, from Antiquity to the cosmetics industry, and a case for the bodies they leave out. Adapted from a Wellcome Collection show.
Ricard Viñes a París. Diari d’un pianista28 MayMuseu de la Música de Barcelona
Drawing on his diary and unpublished documents, this show follows pianist Ricard Viñes from arriving in Paris aged 12 to championing new French music in the Belle Époque.
Was on view in May
El poble gitano de Catalunya: història i culturato 13 SeptMuseu d'Història de Catalunya
A landmark show on six centuries of Catalonia's Roma people: origins in India, the journey through the Balkans, persecution in Europe, and the voices of today's Gitano communities.
Kapwani Kiwanga. Changing Statesto 13 SeptFundació Joan Miró
The first major Spanish retrospective of 2025 Joan Miró Prize winner Kapwani Kiwanga: refined installations probing architecture, materials and power.
Antoni Tàpies: The Perpetual Movement of the Wallto 27 SeptMuseu Tàpies
Tàpies in the 1950s, told through four very different shows he staged that decade, linking his work to debates on modern architecture, industry, design and urban life.
Àngel Jové. De intactuto 27 SeptMuseu Tàpies
First major retrospective of Àngel Jové (1940-2023), an enigmatic Catalan artist moving between arte povera, informalism and conceptualism in drawing, photography and objects.
Like a Dance of Starlings: MACBA Collection — Thirty Years and Infinite Ways of Beingto 27 SeptMACBA – Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona
The MACBA Collection's 30th-anniversary presentation: a non-chronological display that sets works from the collection in dialogue with new ways of being and acting in the world.
«Recuperado del enemigo» (Recovered from the Enemy). Deposits at the MNAC under Franco's dictatorshipto 4 OctMuseu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC)
How artworks safeguarded by the Republic during the Civil War became Francoist deposits at the museum, and the MNAC's own role in protecting and then administering them.
Montserrat Torrent. Ready for the organto 11 OctMuseu de la Música de Barcelona
Centenary show on Barcelona organist Montserrat Torrent: archive writings, images, recordings and instruments tracing nearly 2,000 concerts and her legacy as a teacher.
Archive Drops: "We are the Shipyards"to 20 NovMuseu Marítim de Barcelona · Free
A small display of documents about the Royal Shipyards from the museum's archive, with Braille and audio-described material.
Invisible Animalsto 10 JanMuseu Blau – Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona
Myth, life, extinction, de-extinction: animals we rarely see, from legendary beasts and extinct species to little-known living ones vital to healthy ecosystems.
Spiral of Time – Plaça dels Àngels – MACBAto 11 JanMACBA – Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona
Edwin van der Heide's site-specific sound work, recording the ambient sounds of Plaça dels Àngels since July 2024 and playing them back as a shifting sonic portrait of the square.
Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme. Prisoners of Love: Until the Sun of Freedomto 17 JanMACBA – Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona
First exhibition in Spain by Palestinian duo Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, centred on their audiovisual installation Prisoners of Love and its layered stories of resistance.
Anna Moreno. The Third Twistto 17 JanMACBA – Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona
Recent works by Anna Moreno on utopian architecture, centred on The Terminal Beach, a road-movie film about Ricardo Bofill's unfinished 1979 settlement in the Algerian Sahara.
Instrumental Baschet. La utopia ressonantto 31 JanMuseu de la Música de Barcelona
The sound sculptures of Bernard and François Baschet, 1950s inventors who built electricity-free instruments from steel, aluminium, cardboard and inflatable cushions.
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A short note now and then when something new opens worth your time.