Alicante’s Department of Culture Continues Annual Art Acquisition Tradition

The Department of Culture in Alicante is set to continue its annual tradition of acquiring a curated selection of artworks for the city’s artistic heritage.

This marks the third consecutive year of the initiative, aimed at recognising contemporary artists and enhancing the municipal art collection.

The call for submissions is now open and will run until October 16.

Nayma Beldjilali, the Councillor for Culture, emphasised the department’s commitment to supporting local artists, stating, “For the third year in a row, the department is carrying out its art acquisition programme, which enhances the visibility of Alicante artists. The high level of participation in the first two calls is testament to its success.”

The works will be procured from contemporary art galleries and artists, with some flexibility to consider proposals from other sources under exceptional circumstances.

To be eligible for acquisition, the works must meet the following criteria: they must be created by an artist (or group of artists) either living or deceased, with ties to the province of Alicante and a professional career associated with the city.

Each gallery or artist is allowed to submit a maximum of three acquisition proposals, which can consist of three individual works or groups of works offered at a joint price. Artists cannot submit works both individually and through their gallery simultaneously.

The theme and production technique of the works are left to the artist’s discretion.

Alicante City Council reserves the right to exclude works that may pose assembly or durability challenges.

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The Department of Culture has allocated a maximum budget of €60,000 and retains the right not to spend the entire budget if the selection process yields no suitable candidates.

The City Council may acquire a maximum of one work from each artist or gallery, provided the artist has not been a recipient of a purchase in the past three years. Selected works will be acquired upon the formalisation of the corresponding contract and payment upon receipt of the work and presentation of the invoice.

In the 2022 call, the Department of Culture invested €62,000, acquiring various artworks, including sculptures, photographic prints, digital photographs, mixed-media pieces on fabric, and acrylic paintings, among others.

The selected artists included Isidro Blasco, Elena Aguilera, Juan Carlos Nadal, Rosana Antolí, Olga Diego, Pablo Bellot, Ana Teresa Ortega, and Ana Pastor.