EUROPALIA ESPAÑA | Resistance. The Power of the Image
8.Mar.26
As part of EUROPALIA ESPAÑA, S.M.A.K. presents the group exhibition 'Resistance. The Power of the Image', in which some twenty Spanish artists examine the role of images in the fight for democratic values.
Avelino Sala © ‘4,33 minutes of silence of minutes of silence’, 2021
This group exhibition explores how, since the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), Spanish artists have used art as a form of resistance, to demand new rights and to denounce injustice. A pivotal moment in this history was the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 World Fair in Paris, where the horrors of the Spanish Civil War were brought to an international stage through a wide range of art forms. For the occasion, Picasso created ‘Guernica’, a painting that remains an enduring symbol of resistance and of art’s role therein.
Resistance. The Power of the Image focuses on two pivotal moments in Spain’s democratization process when art emerged as a political instrument. First, the 1970s – the final years of resistance to Franco’s dictatorship (1936-1975) and the country’s transition to democracy. Second, the past decade, shaped by a new wave of protest – including the Indignados movement – in response to the banking and property crises and a broader erosion of democratic principles.
With works by: Carlos Aires, Xavier Arenós, Pilar Aymerich, Alán Carrasco, Colita, Lúa Coderch, Eli Cortiňas, Daniel G. Andujar, Ana García-Pineda, Eulàlia Grau, Núria Güell, Agustín Ibarrola, José Ortega, Joan Rabascall, Josep Renau, María Ruido, Avelino Sala, Fernando Sánchez Castillo, Diego del Pozo Barriuso and Darío Villalba.
Resistance. The Power of the Image was commissioned by EUROPALIA ESPAÑA and is curated by Spanish independent curator Marta Ramos-Yzquierdo and Sam Steverlynck, curator at S.M.A.K.
Founded in 1969, EUROPALIA once again turns the spotlight on Spain, the focus of an earlier edition in 1985. From 8 October 2025 to 1 February 2026, EUROPALIA ESPAÑA presents a multidisciplinary programme that unites heritage and contemporary art, offering new perspectives on themes that connect and challenge us. With Francisco de Goya as its focus and inspiration, the festival celebrates Spain’s cultural richness through visual arts, theatre, dance, music, performance, film, and literature. EUROPALIA ESPAÑA will feature some 150 events and more than 120 artists at venues across Belgium.
