Matadero Madrid Kicks Off the New Season with L.E.V. Matadero, an Exhibition by Carlos Aires, and a Special Programme by Choreographer Damien Jalet

• The 8th edition of L.E.V. Matadero runs from September 17 to 20, fostering a meeting point for the most innovative sound, audiovisual, and digital creation.
• Nave 0 will host Carlos Aires’ site-specific creation, Dance, Dance, Otherwise We Are Lost, from September 11 to January 24, featuring a dancefloor inside a braced space.
• Cineteca Madrid and Centro Danza Matadero present a cycle dedicated to Damien Jalet from September 5 to 12, featuring Madonna's choreographer and a collaborator of Marina Abramović and Thom Yorke.
• The Back to the Book literature and publishing festival takes place from September 11 to 13, featuring Julieta Venegas, Paco Roca, and Lucía Solla Sobral.

Matadero Madrid, a cultural venue under the Department of Culture, Tourism, and Sport of the Madrid City Council, is putting the finishing touches on its autumn/winter season opening programme for September. This lineup marks the return of major annual events such as L.E.V. Matadero (Visual Electronics and Extended Realities Festival), running from September 17 to 20, and Animario (Madrid International Contemporary Animation Festival), organized by Cineteca Madrid from December 10 to 13.

From September 11 to January 24, Matadero Madrid's Nave 0 will host the exhibition Dance, Dance, Otherwise We Are Lost (Bailad, bailad, malditos) by artist Carlos Aires, as part of the Abierto x Obras programme. Curated by Jose Luis Romo, the installation invites audiences onto a dancefloor set within a structurally braced space. Functioning as a cohesive sculptural ensemble, this site-specific work prompts viewers to navigate complex emotions ranging from euphoria to deep unease.

One of the season’s highlights is the special cycle organized by Cineteca Madrid and Centro Danza Matadero dedicated to the "choreographer of the stars," Damien Jalet, which includes screenings of his camera-based works from September 5 to 12. Also in September (11–13), Matadero Madrid and Casa del Lector will host the independent literature and publishing festival Back to the Book, featuring singer-songwriter Julieta Venegas presenting her debut novel, Norteña.

Meanwhile, Medialab kicks off the season with its collaborative research laboratory LAB 5: ‘The Mechanics of Truth’, tackling one of today’s most pressing topics: the technological production of the real. In addition, the Intermediae programme launches its new season by deploying the three projects selected for the second edition of the Intermediae Distribuido call. Similarly, the Centro de Residencias Artísticas (CRA) will welcome a new cohort of resident artists to develop their projects, opening its doors to the general public on November 21 to showcase their creative processes.

Families and children will also enjoy a rich array of spaces and activities designed to explore manual crafts through collective creation.

L.E.V. Matadero: Visual Electronics and Extended Realities Festival

Curated by the Datatron platform and organized by Matadero Madrid, L.E.V. Matadero celebrates its eighth edition from September 17 to 20, cementing its status as a benchmark for exploring the intersections of art, science, and technology. The festival brings together cutting-edge sound, audiovisual, and digital creation through a programme featuring live concerts, audiovisual performances, installations, stage pieces, and extended reality (XR) experiences. As a prelude, the XR Camp professional gathering—linked to the European network RIT: Realities in Transition—will take place from September 16 to 18.

Dance, Dance, Otherwise We Are Lost: Carlos Aires in Abierto x Obras

Taking over the Abierto x Obras space from September 11 to January 24, artist Carlos Aires (Ronda, 1974) presents a site-specific exhibition featuring over a hundred structural props (puntales) and twenty screens inside Nave 0—the former cold-storage room of the municipal slaughterhouse. The visible scars of a past fire and the memory of its violence serve as the conceptual starting point for this immersive installation.

The creator invites viewers onto a resilient dancefloor built within a heavily braced environment. Ruin, darkness, and euphoria merge into a sensory piece that envelops visitors in a metal forest populated by mysterious figures and an unsettling soundscape. This exhibition marks Aires's first institutional solo show in Madrid.

Damien Jalet: Choreographer and Video Artist Cycle

From September 5 to 12, Cineteca Madrid and Centro Danza Matadero explore the fascinating dialogue between movement and the moving image created by choreographer Damien Jalet. The retrospective spans horror, musicals, music videos, avant-garde cinema, and documentaries, showcasing Jalet’s diverse talents. Additionally, the artist will lead a practical dance masterclass on September 12, open to dancers, choreographers, and filmmakers.

Renowned for his visually striking and contemporary style, the Franco-Belgian creator has garnered international acclaim for his choreography in Jacques Audiard’s musical film Emilia Pérez, as creative advisor and choreographer for Madonna on The Celebration Tour and her recent Confessions II project, and for directing the choreography of viral music video STORM by rapper Yung Lean. He has also collaborated closely with artist Marina Abramović and musician Thom Yorke.

Animario: 9th Madrid International Contemporary Animation Festival

From December 10 to 13, Animario returns for its ninth edition, reinforcing its position as a premier meeting place for innovative animation. Professionals and audiences alike will gather for screenings, panel discussions, networking meetings, and workshops. The festival will continue to champion contemporary creation through its two core calls for entries: the International Short Film Competition and the 9th Animario Animation Production Award.

Back to the Book: Independent Literature and Publishing Festival

Now in its third edition, Back to the Book takes place from September 11 to 13 at Matadero Madrid and Casa del Lector, placing a strong emphasis on internationalization this year. Singer-songwriter Julieta Venegas, comic artist Paco Roca, and writer Lucía Solla Sobral headline a culturally diverse lineup that also features Sara Torres, Moderna de Pueblo, Marta Sanz, María Bastarós, and Mónica Ojeda, among many others.

Family Activities: Weaving, Embroidering, and Exploring

This autumn, the family programme returns with a strong focus on textile and manual crafts. In October, alongside artist and illustrator Daniel Tornero, families will embroider a large textile canvas with colorful threads to build an imaginary landscape populated by venue characters. Threads will also intertwine on October 24 during a dedicated weaving day featuring workshops and discussions inviting visitors of all ages to pick up needles, handle wools, and discover the well-being benefits of crafting.

Cineteca Madrid will host morning avant-garde film and game sessions on September 27 and November 1, designed to spark perceptual exploration. From November 13 to 19, families can craft delightfully spooky Halloween masks or participate in a collective installation where wood, fabrics, and light effects deliver a rich sensory experience.

Medialab: Exploring the "Mechanics" of Truth in LAB 5

The fifth edition of Medialab’s collaborative research lab, LAB 5: The Mechanics of Truth, addresses the technological production of the real. Bringing together artists, designers, researchers, journalists, technologists, and scientists, the lab deconstructs these phenomena and imagines alternatives. Medialab's roadmap includes a recurring experimental workshop series (Systems Study), an AI collective reading group, a prototyping lab, an exhibition in Nave Una featuring four site-specific installations (October–December 2026), and the fifth edition of the OpenLAB festival in late November.

Furthermore, the autumn term will mark the conclusion of research residencies for artists Andrea Muniáin, Paula Ramos Mollá, Calin Segal, and Álvaro Soto, while introducing the 2027 resident cohort. Medialab’s active working groups—including Repair Café Electrónico, Costura Remake, CreaXR, Interactivas, The Things Network, and Wikiesfera—will also continue their regular sessions.

Intermediae Distribuido: Focus on Arganzuela and Usera

Intermediae inaugurates its season by launching the three projects chosen in the second edition of the Intermediae Distribuido call. This initiative supports participatory cultural projects led by artists, creators, and social collectives aiming to foster collaborative proposals in dialogue with Matadero's surrounding districts: Arganzuela and Usera.

Additionally, October will see public presentations highlighting the outcomes of two projects from the first edition: one by researcher and writer Inés Plasencia Camps exploring mourning cultures in southern Madrid, and another by artist Yuan iuan, focused on activating a community memory archive centered around Usera and the daily life spaces of the Chinese diaspora.

Open House at the Centro de Residencias Artísticas

Dedicated to supporting Madrid's creative ecosystem, the Centro de Residencias Artísticas in Nave 16 will continue hosting creators working at the intersection of environmentalism, art, education, experimental electronic music, music production, and visual arts, while introducing new film residencies dedicated to audiovisual projects in development.

Under the CRA Produce scheme—which has previously supported artists like Fernando Sánchez Castillo—María Jerez has been invited to explore motherhood, care practices, and artistic production. Public process-sharing sessions will begin in October via En boca de artista (In the Artist's Words), a conversation series where visual arts residents reflect publicly on their practices. The center will officially open its doors to the public on November 21 for a special day dedicated to showcasing the resident artists' work.