“The CAAM at the crossroads of contemporary art in the Canary Islands”
10^th and 17^th April 2008

As a continuation of the debate concerning the problem of museums and art centres within the context of the Code of Good Practices, José Jiménez, director general of Fine Arts at the Ministry of Culture, will be completing the national season about modernisation plans. The season signals the start of a professional and social debate about contemporary art announced by the regional government’s Department of Culture. Three debates will be steered, respectively, by Octavio Zaya, art critic and exhibition curator, director of the Atlántica magazine, Federico Castro Morales, coordinator of the Visual Arts in the Gran Canaria Island Government and CAAM’s managing director, and Alfonso Crujera, a plastic artist and President of the AICAV (Canary Islands Visual Artists Association).

These debates are open to everyone who wishes to express an opinion aimed at creating new platforms for the visual arts on the Islands. On the 10th, the discussion will focus on the role of curators, critics and periodical publications in the programming and social communication of contemporary art. On April 17th, it will address the network of art centres in the Canary Islands, their management models and activity programming activities, with participants including the representatives of different public and private institutions. The season will end with a discussion about the expectations of visual artists, gallerists and collectionists.