Exhibitions, theatre, dance, the Biophest festival and DEMM: major highlights of the first half of the year at Matadero Madrid

• Nave 10 Matadero hosts All the Angels Took Flight from today, the production with which La Zaranda marks 48 years on stage
• The Abierto x Obras programme welcomes Mónica Mays with a site-specific installation tracing traces of memory from Ribera de Curtidores to Nave 0, followed in June by Navarrese artist Greta Alfaro
• Centro Danza Matadero opens the year with La mort i la primavera by La Veronal, and Cineteca Madrid will host a new edition of the Documenta Madrid festival in May
• Following last year’s success, the Biophest festival returns with a new edition focused on biophilia, the arts and critical thought
• The European Music Day at Matadero (DEMM) will once again bring together leading names in indie rock and electronic music over two days of concerts

Matadero Madrid, a centre for contemporary creation under the Department of Culture, Tourism and Sport of Madrid City Council, is preparing a wide-ranging programme for 2026 featuring new exhibitions by internationally renowned artists, festivals dedicated to biophilia, music and cinema, open days, and a rich array of events and activities for all audiences. Dance in its many forms and the performing arts will also continue to fill the stages of Centro Danza Matadero and Nave 10 Matadero.

The spaces of Matadero Madrid, which was recognised last year by the Observatory of the Fundación Contemporánea as one of Spain’s four essential cultural centres, welcomed more than 1.1 million visitors in 2025 (1,107,127).

January: exhibition by María Jerez, La Veronal and La Zaranda

Under the title It Takes a Village to Move a Desert, María Jerez presents the second instalment of her exhibition series devoted to childhood: an invitation to enter a soft landscape that transforms with every step. Growing dunes, giant suns that turn visitors into celestial bodies, fabrics leading to subterranean worlds and soft stones that welcome the arms. This environment will be activated in Nave Una from 16 January to 8 February, through the interaction of children and adults via movement and the sounds of what they touch.

From 15 to 25 January, Centro Danza Matadero opens the year with La mort i la primavera, based on the novel of the same name by Mercè Rodoreda. Directed by Marcos Morau (Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts 2025), La Veronal—one of the Spanish companies with the strongest international presence—brings to this municipal venue its distinctive blend of contemporary dance, theatre and poetic symbolism.

Meanwhile, Nave 10 Matadero begins the year by welcoming Spain’s longest-running active theatre company, La Zaranda, which celebrates 48 years on stage. All the Angels Took Flight gives voice to the marginalised, presenting characters who, beyond prison walls or the limits of the outskirts, know that their sentence is their own existence—though hope and even humour are also present.

February: Mónica Mays in Abierto x Obras, sORDA and Three Nights in Ithaca

Abierto x Obras is the exhibition programme hosted in Nave 0 of Matadero Madrid, a space that once served as a cold storage chamber in the former municipal slaughterhouse, featuring site-specific projects by leading contemporary Spanish artists.

Ahead of ARCOmadrid 2026, the Spanish-American artist Mónica Mays takes over from Cristina Mejías in this programme. Mejías’ exhibition Lengua en coro remains open to the public until 1 February. Curated by Cristina Anglada, Mays’ work—combining sculpture, installation and archival practices—will be on view from 26 February to 24 May, presenting a new series of sculptures tracing memory from Ribera de Curtidores to Nave 0.

The first world premiere of the season at Centro Danza Matadero arrives on 7 and 8 February with sORDA, by Jone San Martin Astigarraga. This autobiographical piece is based on research into deafness and dance, drawing on the personal experience of the dancer and choreographer—muse to, among others, William Forsythe and Jacopo Godani. In sORDA, dance enters into dialogue with seemingly opposing worlds: sound and silence.

At Nave 10 Matadero, Three Nights in Ithaca sees playwright Alberto Conejero entrust director Maria Goiricelaya with staging this text about the individual within—and outside—the family. A tragicomedy in which Alicia’s daughters, played by Marta Nieto, Cecilia Freire and Amaia Lizarralde, must uncover what happened to their mother and how she lived in distance, while also discovering who they themselves are. The production runs from 6 February to 8 March.

March: Jesús Carmona Dance Company and Mist at Nave 10

From 27 February to 8 March, Centro Danza Matadero co-produces and hosts the world premiere of the latest work by Jesús Carmona Dance Company. Tentative (based on real landscapes) is a deeply sensory and open stage experience, with choreography by Jesús Carmona, artistic direction by Luis Luque and Carmona himself, and musical direction by Manu Masaedo. The piece reflects on memory, the body and time, without renouncing conceptual research or the transformative power of flamenco.

Fernanda Orazi, this season’s guest director at Nave 10 Matadero, returns to directing with a work that explores the philosophical question of what it means to be a character, through Augusto Pérez, the protagonist of Mist, the novel by Miguel de Unamuno published in 1914. Augusto, a wealthy young man in search of himself, turns to Unamuno when his girlfriend leaves him for another—Unamuno then enters the story as a character, breaking narrative conventions at the boundary between reality and fiction.

April: Bloody Moon and Smoke at Centro Danza Matadero

The first creation by Spanish choreographer Marina Mascarell for Danish Dance Theatre—whose artistic direction she has led since 2023—comes to Centro Danza Matadero from 9 to 11 April. Bloody Moon is a powerful contemporary dance piece inspired by Eroticism, the work of philosopher Georges Bataille, celebrating desire, eroticism, liberation and madness. A vibrant, colourful creation developed with the company’s dancers, featuring music by Yamila Rios and original costumes by Nina Botkay.

From 16 to 19 April, Centro Danza Matadero co-produces the world premiere of the latest work by Rafaela Carrasco, National Dance Award 2023. Smoke pays tribute to the cigarette factory workers of the 19th century—humble, working-class women who have entered the popular imagination through figures such as Carmen by Mérimée and Bizet. Directed and choreographed by Carrasco, with dramaturgy and lyrics by Álvaro Tato, the piece uses flamenco song and dance to portray daily life in the factory, celebrating these women’s struggle and legacy.

Biophest Festival

Through its Intermediae programme, Matadero Madrid hosts the second edition of the Biophest festival from 14 to 19 April. The festival explores the relationship between biophilia—the innate love of nature—and the arts and critical thought. Curated by Eva F. Cortés and Elena Páez, and following last year’s success, the festival will once again bring together internationally renowned artists, musicians, landscape designers and scientists to imagine a fairer and more interconnected life between humans and the plant world. The programme also includes workshops, immersive experiences and guided walks with local agents, allowing audiences to discover the diversity of natural environments surrounding Matadero Madrid.

May and June at Centro Danza Matadero

From 7 to 9 May, choreographer Goyo Montero visits Centro Danza Matadero with his masterpiece Goldberg. Inspired by Bach’s Goldberg Variations BWV 988, the piece weaves the original score with new compositions by Owen Belton, creating a brilliant soundscape that underpins a deeply poetic, powerful and virtuosic declaration of love for dance. From 26 to 31 May, the Spanish National Dance Company, directed by Muriel Romero, returns to present the world premiere of new original works by Luz Arcas (Masa) and Kor’sia (TABLERO).

In June, dancer and choreographer Israel Galván presents three productions. The Golden Age (5–7 June), marking its 20th anniversary, renews a classic from his repertoire with vocals by María Marín and guitar by Rafael Rodríguez. Single Sevillanas (12–14 June) transforms the stage into a Seville Fair booth, blending performance, dance, music and humour. Do You Dance, Baby? is a creation for family audiences that invites children aged six to 18 months to dance, on 13 June.

Abierto x Obras: exhibition by Greta Alfaro

From 4 June to 26 July, Abierto x Obras presents a site-specific exhibition by Navarrese visual artist Greta Alfaro. Conceived specifically for Nave 0, the exhibition transforms the space into a structure of almost ceremonial character. The arrangement of works, light and sound creates an atmosphere of semi-darkness and concentration, where references to temples, altars or altarpieces dialogue with organic materials, moving images and objects that evoke the transformation of the body into matter.

European Music Day at Matadero (DEMM)

Festivals have become a key gateway for introducing young audiences to the music scene. On 19 and 20 June, Plaza Matadero will host the European Music Day at Matadero (DEMM), showcasing new trends in indie rock and electronic music. In recent years, top national and international artists such as Hot Chip, Sofía Kourtesis, Baiuca, La Paloma and Erika de Casier have performed on this stage.

Performative lecture at Nave 10 Matadero

From 26 to 28 June, two essential figures of contemporary culture close the season at Nave 10 Matadero. Music, literature and thought come together in a performative lecture by Niño de Elche and Paul B. Preciado, who champion visibility and research in their respective disciplines.

Cineteca Madrid

Cineteca Madrid was ranked by Time Out magazine in 2025 as the fourth most beautiful cinema in the world. While it occasionally screens commercial films, its three theatres primarily showcase works that have not reached mainstream audiences. During the first half of the year, from 26 to 31 May, it will host Documenta Madrid, regarded as the city’s most emblematic film festival and a leading European reference for non-fiction cinema.

Additionally, January will feature the programme Heinz Emigholz: Essays on Architecture; in February, coinciding with the premiere of Stories from the Good Valley, Cineteca Madrid will present a retrospective dedicated to José Luis Guerín; and in March, a programme devoted to Arab filmmakers who are redefining contemporary cinema from diverse perspectives.

Other artistic initiatives

With the aim of bringing contemporary creation closer to audiences through different formats and disciplines, Matadero Madrid’s programme is complemented by open days at the Artistic Residencies Centre (5 and 7 March), held within the framework of Art Week.

Matadero Madrid will also continue its involvement in 2026 in festivals and initiatives promoted by other city institutions, including CAN Madrid Contemporary Art Now, the Comic Fair, Madrid Design Festival, LuzMadrid and Madrid Piano City, among others.