Aurèlia Muñoz, Ocell-estel B2, 1982. MACBA Collection. On deposit from the Generalitat de Catalunya. Aurèlia Muñoz Archive. Photo: Josep Gri
Exhibition
From 5 November 2026 to 29 March 2027
Aurèlia Muñoz. Beings
coming soon
Aurèlia Muñoz. Beings traces a comprehensive journey through the work of a figure absolutely critical to understanding contemporary textile art both inside and outside Catalonia.
Muñoz’s early collages and assemblages, with surrealist and gothic influences, and her large-scale pictorial embroideries will give way to a previously unseen selection of large macramé structures from institutional collections in Spain, Europe and the United States. The iconic kite-sculptures and the latest installations made with handmade paper will also have a feature prominently in the exhibition, which also includes a vast selection of drawings and models that have never been shown before.
Despite the artist’s initial links to movements such as the Nouvelle Tapisserie and the Catalan Tapestry School, Muñoz’s practice transcends the boundaries of weaving, fibre and craftsmanship. Combining ancestral techniques and contemporary resources, Muñoz responded to the incipient crises of the post-industrial world, paying attention to the impact on terrestrial, aquatic and aerial ecosystems, which emerge as major motifs in her output.
The title of the exhibition, Aurèlia Muñoz. Beings refers to one of the fundamental concepts in the artist’s work. The proposal covers more than fifty years of her multifaceted practice, offering unprecedented insight and opening up new perspectives on her unique legacy. The retrospective is organised by MACBA with the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS) in Madrid and has been conceived as a choral project by the research platform einaidea (Fundación Eina, Barcelona) in close dialogue with the Aurèlia Muñoz Archive. Under the scientific direction of Manuel Cirauqui, director of einaidea, the project is coordinated by Rosa Lleó, Curator and associate researcher at einaidea; Silvia Ventosa Muñoz, head of the Aurèlia Muñoz Archive and curator specialising in textiles; and Aída Roger, assistant curator at MACBA.
An innovative catalogue will accompany the show, with contributions from guest authors including Melody Jue, theorist and Professor at the University of California; and Ana Ramo, Spanish-Brazilian anthropologist and academic, as well as an updated documentary apparatus that will serve as a definitive reference for the historiography of the artist.
Aurèlia Muñoz. Beings also boasts an interdisciplinary Scientific Committee comprising Emma Ingala, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Philosophy, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; María Elena del Solar, PhD in anthropology and expert on textiles in the Andean context; Victòria Rabal, artist and director of the Molí Paperer Museum in Capellades, Lleida; Elvira Dyangani Ose, director of MACBA; and Manuel Segade, director of the Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid.
The exhibition, which will also be on view at MNCARS from 28 April to 7 September, is one of the proposals of the commemorative programme of the Year of Aurèlia Muñoz. The full programme, led by MACBA is coordinated with einaidea and the Archive of Aurèlia Muñoz and supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya.
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Exhibition organised by MACBA Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and curated by einaidea (Fundació Eina, Barcelona), under the scientific direction of Manuel Cirauqui and with the participation of Rosa Lleó, curator and researcher associated with einaidea, and Sílvia Ventosa Muñoz, head of the Aurèlia Muñoz Archive and curator specialising in textiles.
artist
Aurèlia Muñoz
Barcelona, 1926
Following her studies at the Escola d’Arts Aplicades (School of Applied Arts) and at the Escola Massana in Barcelona, Aurèlia Muñoz dedicated herself to the research and exploration of contemporary textile art, a field in which she soon became an international benchmark. Around 1960, she painted her first work on hessian, which subsequently acted as a trigger. Interested in the symbolic simplicity of the Romanesque and the rhythmic poetics of artists such as Paul Klee, for a few years she continued painting on hessian, while also making embroidery with hand-dyed wool. In the mid-seventies, she discovered macramé and other ancient knotting techniques, such as those used by fishermen in Blanes. In those years, Muñoz started to find her own language. She began exploring three-dimensionality and monumentality, her tapestries abandoning the mimicry of painting and the wall, and becoming fully autonomous. Now free from the threads and roots that anchored them to the ground, they took on verticality until they became beings suspended in the air. It is at that time, in the mid-seventies, that her emblematic winged forms of birds and kites began to appear, together with her work using the form of the book. By this time, her production was fully conceptual, incorporating new materials such as canvas and sails supported by metal structures. In her last years, the artist worked with handmade paper to create mobiles and three-dimensional forms.
Initially included in the so-called Nouvelle Tapisserie and the Catalan Tapestry School, from the mid-sixties she participated in the Lausanne International Tapestry Biennials (1965, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1977 and 1983) and in the first international exhibition of artistic textiles at the Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo in Madrid (1969). Following which, she participated in events such as the São Paulo Biennial (1973), Fiber Works, Kyoto (1976), Venice Biennale (1978), and group shows at the Art Institute of Chicago (1999), Château d’Ansembourg, Luxembourg (2001-03), Museum of Modern Art, New York (2019), CentroCentro, Madrid (2021) and the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao (2021), among many others. Solo exhibitions have been held at the Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao (1990) and Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona (2019). In 2026, a major retrospective titled Aurèlia Muñoz. Beings is being held at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, and MACBA, Barcelona. Muñoz’s work is included in numerous collections around the world, such as the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh; Fundación Juan March, Madrid; and MACBA, Barcelona.
artists
1 artists
Organised by
In collaboration with
With the support of
Aurèlia Muñoz Centenary
To mark the centenary of the birth of Aurèlia Muñoz (1926–2011), a constellation of cultural institutions across Catalonia has come together to celebrate one of the most singular artists of the 20th century.
einaidea Collaboration Grant in Graphic Design and Exhibition Graphics
einaidea Collaboration Grant in Graphic Design and Exhibition Graphics
einaidea, within the framework of the Aurèlia Muñoz Centenary promoted by the MACBA Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona is launching its second collaboration grant for graduates, master’s students, and doctoral students in design. This grant is specifically aimed at young professionals with experience in graphic design and a particular interest in applying design to the museum field and contemporary art exhibitions.