CaixaForum Sevilla exceeds two million visitors
CaixaForum Sevilla has surpassed two million visitors, who have enjoyed the 45 exhibitions programmed and more than 9,000 activities organised since its inauguration in March 2017. The ‘la Caixa’ Foundation centre in the Andalusian capital, dedicated to cultural and scientific dissemination, has established itself as a key cultural and social reference point in the city.
The CaixaForum network, of which this facility forms part, was created with the aim of supporting the mission of the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation: to contribute to creating a better and fairer society by offering more opportunities for the future for everyone.
A living space at the service of people
Since the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation's cultural centre opened its doors in the city of Seville, it has always maintained a clear aspiration to be a living space at the service of people, where culture is manifested as a driving force for social transformation and a tool for promoting social cohesion and integration. For this reason, CaixaForum Sevilla has an ongoing relationship with the city's social organisations, with the aim of enabling people in socially vulnerable situations to benefit from its programme through an accessible, rigorous offering tailored to the needs of each group. In line with this, more than 89,000 people in vulnerable situations have visited the centre.
Furthermore, the wide range of activities aimed at schools has attracted more than 600 different schools to the centre since it opened. As a result, more than 255,000 children have enjoyed and learned at the centre through workshops, shows, conferences, screenings and guided tours of the exhibitions. These figures confirm CaixaForum Sevilla's commitment to education through culture and science and consolidate its position as a leading educational space.
Pharaoh: King of Egypt, the most visited exhibition
CaixaForum Sevilla was inaugurated with the aim of offering a comprehensive and innovative programme, with a multitude of initiatives, such as exhibitions, immersive experiences, reflections on major current issues, concerts, cinema, performing arts, educational and family workshops, and activities aimed at vulnerable groups.
Over the years, the exhibition halls have hosted exhibitions created by the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation and others organised in collaboration with major museums around the world, such as the British Museum, the Prado National Museum, the Centre Pompidou and the Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, among others. The exhibitions have also reflected a variety of disciplines, including painting, photography, science, music, ancient, modern and contemporary art, and cinema, among others.
The exhibitions that have been most popular with the public are: Pharaoh. King of Egypt (106,392 visitors), Mummies of Egypt (91,583 visitors) and Disney. The Art of Storytelling (67,350 visitors). Other popular exhibitions have included Nikola Tesla: The Genius of Modern Electricity, which was visited by 61,037 people; Tintin and the Moon, with 59,815 visitors; and Sorolla: A Garden to Paint, which attracted 56,012 visitors.
In recent years, CaixaForum Seville has also incorporated new formats for dissemination, such as virtual reality, with three offerings already available (Symphony, Ravel's Bolero and, currently, Postcards from Other Worlds). Between them, they have attracted 45,370 visitors.
This season, two new exhibitions will be on display at the centre: Art and Nature, an exhibition that, through a collection of pieces from the Centre Pompidou, reflects on the past and present of the relationship between art and nature, between culture and science; and Interior Berlanga, which aims to offer an intimate look at the filmmaker Luis García-Berlanga through the cataloguing and digitisation of his private archive, which is being made available to the public for the first time. These are in addition to the current exhibition, Music and Mathematics, which can be seen until 1 June.
A space for collaboration and engagement with the city
The ‘la Caixa’ Foundation understands culture as an essential tool for transforming people's lives, broadening horizons and generating equal opportunities. Through art, education and scientific dissemination, it promotes personal and collective development, making culture a driving force for social change. To this end, it seeks to develop a recurring cultural habit in people, reaching out especially to those who have not yet developed such a habit. In this regard, according to the latest data, more than 91% of visitors to the space are from the province of Seville. In addition, nearly 70% of visitors come to the centre two or more times a year. Furthermore, nearly 20% of those who have attended the exhibitions have done so as part of a guided group tour.
Over the years, the centre has contributed to the cultural fabric of the city through collaboration with entities such as the University of Seville, the Pablo de Olavide University, the Seville School of Art and Design, the PCT Cartuja, the Cartuja Business Circle and the Council of Brotherhoods and Fraternities of the City of Seville, as well as numerous civic centres, among others. In addition, the centre has joined in with important dates in the local calendar such as Noche en Blanco, the Seville Space Forum, Researchers' Night and the Seville Flamenco Biennial.
CaixaForum Seville has also become a social and cultural meeting place, providing different spaces for external activities in which 100,221 people have participated.