Strong Female Presence in Cultural Programming at Alicante Water Museum

With a strong female emphasis, the Alicante Water Museum has unveiled its programme for the first half of the year, featuring Alicante women in most of its proposals and activities, designed for all audiences. Highlights include a tribute to Juana Francés and a new exhibition by Sómnica Bernabéu at the Pozos de Garrigós.

This significant focus on female talent from the city and province opens a new cultural line at the Alicante Water Museum following its recently celebrated 15th anniversary. "We have intensified the quantity and quality of the proposals," proudly acknowledged its Director of Communication and External Relations, Martín Sanz.

"It is a real pleasure that the majority of participants in the activities are women," Sanz pointed out before unveiling the full programme. He emphasised that "we want the museum to continue being a meeting place as it has been so far," where the distant past coexists with the present and looks to the future "without haste," being a space of opportunities.

Ampliar

And not only in culture, but also in the environment, another strategic axis of this museum awarded the Alicantinos Award 2024 granted last December by this newspaper. Another milestone has been its incorporation, as the first in the Community, into the Association of Museums and Unique Corporate Spaces of Spain.

Thus, the Alicante Water Museum recharges its batteries to surprise the public with a new programme for the first half of 2024, which will kick off this Saturday, February 8, with a talk-tribute to the painter Juana Francés on her centenary, delivered by Natalia Molinos at 11:30 am.

The environment will blend with culture through two exhibitions at the Pozos de Garrigós. The first, 'The Thirst of the Earth' by Pilar Sala, will open on February 10 and remain on display until March 5. The second, within the sixth cycle 'Art and Environment', will be 'Siren Songs' by Sómnica Bernabéu, from June 5 to September 7, commissioned 'ad hoc' for the occasion.

Activities at the Alicante Water Museum will continue with the presentation of the official guide to Alicante's Holy Week, 'El Capuchino 2025' on March 5, Ash Wednesday; and with the concert 'Jazz in a Woman's Key' by Vera Lu to commemorate International Women's Day on March 8 at 12 noon.

Ampliar

The San Rafael Centre-Estima Foundation, together with Iván Carbonell, has organised the 'Curare' exhibition also on the occasion of International Women's Day. It will open on March 10 in the multimedia room of the Pozos de Garrigós.

Poetry will also be present in this programme at the Alicante Water Museum with the presentation of the book '¡Rienda suelta!' by Isabel Butrón on March 21, and the performance 'Like Water: Rules to Differentiate a Poem from Water' by Iria Fariñas at the Pozos de Garrigós on March 22, World Water Day.

Music will arrive at the ancient cisterns with Aresti Duo's proposal 'The Cello in the Baroque' on April 5 at 12 noon. Ten days later, the exhibition 'Reflections of the Invisible' by Miguel Ángel Sánchez and Marina Yvette will open.

The Alicante Water Museum once again supports the city's official festivities, with a new ninots exhibition of Fogueres, which in its first edition exceeded public expectations. Students from the artista foguerer and scenography course at IES Las Lomas will exhibit their ephemeral art creations from May 20 at the Pozos de Garrigós.

Mailers will return to this water infrastructure to commemorate the International Museum Day (DIM) with an acoustic concert on May 18 at noon. As a culmination of the activities, the Alicante Water Museum proposes a 'scientific show' to commemorate World Environment Day with Talleralia on June 7; with Sómnica Bernabéu's exhibition already installed in the 'Art and Environment' cycle.

After commemorating its 15th anniversary, the Alicante Water Museum reflects on its 2024. The space has hosted nearly 50,000 visitors in both its free tours and guided tours and activities, with nearly 35% being international. This brings its total number to around 300,000 attendees throughout its history, a "milestone surpassed," according to Martín Sanz.

Last year, the Museum also launched a new corporate identity, as well as the installation of the first climate shelter - with a library included from book donations - inside the Pozos de Garrigós. The agenda hosted a total of 70 activities, of which twenty are part of its cultural programme.

Thus, 18.8% were from the Museum, while 20.3% correspond to events organised by Aguas de Alicante at this mixed company headquarters. Additionally, 39.1% of the activities were organised by third parties with the space provided, while 17.4% were guided tours and 4.3% were water tastings for different groups.