Tabita Rezaire. Calabash Nebula
Public Program
October 8, 2024 –
January 12, 2025
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
Tabita Rezaire [Amakaba] x Yussef Agbo-Ola [Olaniyi Studio], Omi: Yemoja Temple, 2024, Installation view of the exhibition Omi Libations at the Schering Stiftung, Berlin. Photo: © Jens Ziehe
Upcoming
Programming
MNTB Madrid
EN / ES
October–December, 2024
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and other locations
The public program accompanying Calabash Nebula offers a wide variety of activities, talks, and workshops designed to offer visitors opportunities to connect more intimately with the skies, bodies of water, and ancestral traditions. It expands the scope of biological and ecological research to take a more holistic approach, interweaving Indigenous technologies and wisdom systems while highlighting and celebrating the importance of water in sustaining life.
The public program for the exhibition Tabita Rezaire. Calabash Nebula has been generously supported by the French Institute in Spain, Real Observatorio de Madrid, FECYT | Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, and BSC Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación, Educathyssen, and Organismo | Art in Applied Critical Ecologies.
*All public program events are free of charge.
Calabash Nebula
Artist talk. In English with simultaneous translation into Spanish
Auditorium, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Monday, October 7, 6:00 pm
First-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached
Artist Tabita Rezaire and curator Chus Martínez discuss the interplay between ancestral traditions, memory, scientific investigation, and digital languages.
Offerings to the Orisha Yemoja, conducted by José Ramón Hernández / OSIKÁN
Activity. In Spanish
Exhibition space (floor -1). Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Monday, October 7 opening (by invitation). Saturday, October 26, 11:00 am- 2:00 pm. Sunday, November 10, 11:00 am- 2:00 pm (no RSVP needed)
The OMI: Yemoja Temple is a space created by Tabita Rezaire in collaboration with artist-architect Yussef Agbo-Ola, dedicated to the deity Yemoja, the mother of rivers and water in West African Yoruba culture and its diaspora. In this culture, water is imbued with profound significance, and the ritual of pouring liquid is a significant form of offering.
During these sessions, visitors are invited to engage in this tradition by making an offering inside the installation, combining different elements such as indigo, honey, and coconut flakes and offering them to Yemoja. We invite you to engage to fertilize their intentions to birth, nurture, or release elements within themselves, their lives, communities, or the broader world. José Ramón Hernández is the artistic director of OSIKÁN- Vivero de Creación. His creative research explores Afro-descendant rituality, collective and individual memory, peripheral bodies, and affective cartographies, using non-fictional documents and sensitive strategies to influence social and community processes.
Calabash Nebula. Walkthrough visits
Guided tours. In Spanish
Exhibition space, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Guided visit led by Carolina Bustamante and Silvia Ramírez (La Parcería collective) (joint visit to the Colonial Memory in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collections exhibition).
Friday, October 11, 1:15 pm and 5:15 pm. Sunday, October 13, 10:30 am and 4:00 pm
Saturday night visits
Guided visit led by artistic research collective Madrid Negro (joint visit to the Colonial Memory in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collections exhibition).
Saturday, October 19, 9:00 and 10:00 pm
Registrations to hola@conciencia-afro.com (by order of arrival)
Guided visit led by artist and curator Raisa Maudit.
Saturday, November 2, 9:00 and 10:00 pm
By previous registration through the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum website
Guided visit led by astrophysicist José Antonio Caballero.
Saturday, December 14, 9:00 pm
By previous registration through the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum website.
Thematic guided tours, led by Carolina Bustamante and Silvia Ramirez (La Parcería collective), Madrid Negro, José Antonio Caballero, and Raisa Maudit at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, will offer insights into the themes of the exhibition Tabita Rezaire. Calabash Nebula. Each tour will present a unique perspective, from alternative spiritualities to astrophysical explorations and decolonial narratives.
Create Your Constellations
Workshop. In Spanish
Real Observatorio de Madrid
C. de Alfonso XII, 3, Retiro, 28014 Madrid
Saturdays: October 26, November 23, and December 14, 11:00 am
For children aged 5–8 (max 15 children, each accompanied by up to two adults). Register for this program through the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum website.
Activity in collaboration with the Real Observatorio de Madrid
This workshop, led by astrophysicists Miguel Querejeta, Marina Rodríguez Baras, and Alba Vidal García, will teach children to identify and create constellations, enriching their perception of the night sky and deepening their understanding of outer space.
Sky Readings—Part 1
Online conference. In English with simultaneous subtitled translation into Spanish
TBA21’s YouTube live
Wednesday, November 6, 6:00 pm
Activity in collaboration with Organismo | Art in Applied Critical Ecologies
A dialogue between scientist Aouefa Amoussouvi, artists Yussef Agbo-Ola and Tabita Rezaire, moderated by writer Joël Vacheron on spatial constructions and cosmogonies that unfold restorative and decolonial futures. The Western perspective has established itself as the “scientific,” and therefore “correct,” vision of outer space. This panel explores the studies of space excluded from the dominant narrative and how these can create new, decolonial perceptions of space and potential futures.
Celestial Readings: How Do We Perceive the Skies?
Conversation, workshop, and guided tour. In Spanish
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Real Observatorio de Madrid (C. de Alfonso XII, 3, Retiro, 28014 Madrid)
Friday, November 8, 5:00–7:00 pm (Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza)
Saturday, November 9, 11:00 am–12:30 pm (Real Observatorio de Madrid)
For young people (ages 12–16). Limited to 20 participants (without adult companionship). Register for this program thorugh the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum website.
Activity held within the framework of Science Week, in collaboration with the Real Observatorio de Madrid and Educathyssen
This two-sessions activity is an unique opportunity to engage with Tabita Rezaire’s universe and explore her cosmos from historical, artistic, and scientific perspectives. The first session, led by Rufino Ferreras and Marina Avia Estrada and held at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, includes a guided tour of the exhibition Tabita Rezaire. Calabash Nebula and a walkthrough of selected works from the museum’s collection related to astronomy and the ancient humans’ fascination with the cosmos. The second part will take place the following day at the Real Observatorio de Madrid, where members of the Observatorio Miguel Querejeta, Marina Rodríguez Baras, and Alba Vidal García will show the participants its stellar facilities and allow them to experiment a solar observation with a telescope.
Sky Readings—Part 2
Conference. In English and Spanish with simultaneous translation
Auditorium, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Wednesday, November 27, 2024, 6:30 pm
First-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached
Activity in collaboration with Organismo | Art in Applied Critical Ecologies
A conversation between researcher Tania Safura Adam, artist Bouchra Khalili, and physicist Diego Blas, about the historical intersections between science, culture, and religion in sky readings. Throughout history, different communities and groups have interpreted and studied the skies in innumerable ways. Looking at the sky has directly impacted the development of humans’ systems of belief and their sociopolitical structures. The conversation will explore the meaning of these readings and how they parallel contemporary artistic and scientific interpretations of outer space.
Cosmovisions. Mythology, Art, and Astronomy
Conference. In Spanish
Auditorium, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Wednesday, December 4, 6:00 pm
First-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached
Activity in collaboration with the Real Observatorio de Madrid
In this series of two mini-conferences, astronomers from the Real Observatorio de Madrid will discuss the significant role the sky has played throughout history and its various perceptions and depictions. In the first part, Marina Rodríguez Baras will delve into the historical and cross-cultural interpretations of the sky, while in the second part, Miguel Querejeta will explore the intersection between art and celestial phenomena.
Organic and Synthetic Voices (Singing with AI), with Maria Arnal and Fernando Cucchietti
Performative lecture and conversation. In Spanish
Auditorium, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Tuesday, December 10, 6:30 pm
First-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached
Activity in collaboration with Organismo | Art in Applied Critical Ecologies, facilitated by FECYT | Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology and BSC Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación. Curated by Lluís Nacenta
October–December, 2024
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and other locations
The public program accompanying Calabash Nebula offers a wide variety of activities, talks, and workshops designed to offer visitors opportunities to connect more intimately with the skies, bodies of water, and ancestral traditions. It expands the scope of biological and ecological research to take a more holistic approach, interweaving Indigenous technologies and wisdom systems while highlighting and celebrating the importance of water in sustaining life.
The public program for the exhibition Tabita Rezaire. Calabash Nebula has been generously supported by the French Institute in Spain, Real Observatorio de Madrid, FECYT | Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, and BSC Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación, Educathyssen, and Organismo | Art in Applied Critical Ecologies.
*All public program events are free of charge.
Calabash Nebula
Artist talk. In English with simultaneous translation into Spanish
Auditorium, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Monday, October 7, 6:00 pm
First-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached
Artist Tabita Rezaire and curator Chus Martínez discuss the interplay between ancestral traditions, memory, scientific investigation, and digital languages.
Offerings to the Orisha Yemoja, conducted by José Ramón Hernández / OSIKÁN
Activity. In Spanish
Exhibition space (floor -1). Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Monday, October 7 opening (by invitation). Saturday, October 26, 11:00 am- 2:00 pm. Sunday, November 10, 11:00 am- 2:00 pm (no RSVP needed)
The OMI: Yemoja Temple is a space created by Tabita Rezaire in collaboration with artist-architect Yussef Agbo-Ola, dedicated to the deity Yemoja, the mother of rivers and water in West African Yoruba culture and its diaspora. In this culture, water is imbued with profound significance, and the ritual of pouring liquid is a significant form of offering.
During these sessions, visitors are invited to engage in this tradition by making an offering inside the installation, combining different elements such as indigo, honey, and coconut flakes and offering them to Yemoja. We invite you to engage to fertilize their intentions to birth, nurture, or release elements within themselves, their lives, communities, or the broader world. José Ramón Hernández is the artistic director of OSIKÁN- Vivero de Creación. His creative research explores Afro-descendant rituality, collective and individual memory, peripheral bodies, and affective cartographies, using non-fictional documents and sensitive strategies to influence social and community processes.
Calabash Nebula. Walkthrough visits
Guided tours. In Spanish
Exhibition space, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Guided visit led by Carolina Bustamante and Silvia Ramírez (La Parcería collective) (joint visit to the Colonial Memory in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collections exhibition).
Friday, October 11, 1:15 pm and 5:15 pm. Sunday, October 13, 10:30 am and 4:00 pm
Saturday night visits
Guided visit led by artistic research collective Madrid Negro (joint visit to the Colonial Memory in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collections exhibition).
Saturday, October 19, 9:00 and 10:00 pm
Registrations to hola@conciencia-afro.com (by order of arrival)
Guided visit led by artist and curator Raisa Maudit.
Saturday, November 2, 9:00 and 10:00 pm
By previous registration through the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum website
Guided visit led by astrophysicist José Antonio Caballero.
Saturday, December 14, 9:00 pm
By previous registration through the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum website.
Thematic guided tours, led by Carolina Bustamante and Silvia Ramirez (La Parcería collective), Madrid Negro, José Antonio Caballero, and Raisa Maudit at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, will offer insights into the themes of the exhibition Tabita Rezaire. Calabash Nebula. Each tour will present a unique perspective, from alternative spiritualities to astrophysical explorations and decolonial narratives.
Create Your Constellations
Workshop. In Spanish
Real Observatorio de Madrid
C. de Alfonso XII, 3, Retiro, 28014 Madrid
Saturdays: October 26, November 23, and December 14, 11:00 am
For children aged 5–8 (max 15 children, each accompanied by up to two adults). Register for this program through the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum website.
Activity in collaboration with the Real Observatorio de Madrid
This workshop, led by astrophysicists Miguel Querejeta, Marina Rodríguez Baras, and Alba Vidal García, will teach children to identify and create constellations, enriching their perception of the night sky and deepening their understanding of outer space.
Sky Readings—Part 1
Online conference. In English with simultaneous subtitled translation into Spanish
TBA21’s YouTube live
Wednesday, November 6, 6:00 pm
Activity in collaboration with Organismo | Art in Applied Critical Ecologies
A dialogue between scientist Aouefa Amoussouvi, artists Yussef Agbo-Ola and Tabita Rezaire, moderated by writer Joël Vacheron on spatial constructions and cosmogonies that unfold restorative and decolonial futures. The Western perspective has established itself as the “scientific,” and therefore “correct,” vision of outer space. This panel explores the studies of space excluded from the dominant narrative and how these can create new, decolonial perceptions of space and potential futures.
Celestial Readings: How Do We Perceive the Skies?
Conversation, workshop, and guided tour. In Spanish
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Real Observatorio de Madrid (C. de Alfonso XII, 3, Retiro, 28014 Madrid)
Friday, November 8, 5:00–7:00 pm (Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza)
Saturday, November 9, 11:00 am–12:30 pm (Real Observatorio de Madrid)
For young people (ages 12–16). Limited to 20 participants (without adult companionship). Register for this program thorugh the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum website.
Activity held within the framework of Science Week, in collaboration with the Real Observatorio de Madrid and Educathyssen
This two-sessions activity is an unique opportunity to engage with Tabita Rezaire’s universe and explore her cosmos from historical, artistic, and scientific perspectives. The first session, led by Rufino Ferreras and Marina Avia Estrada and held at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, includes a guided tour of the exhibition Tabita Rezaire. Calabash Nebula and a walkthrough of selected works from the museum’s collection related to astronomy and the ancient humans’ fascination with the cosmos. The second part will take place the following day at the Real Observatorio de Madrid, where members of the Observatorio Miguel Querejeta, Marina Rodríguez Baras, and Alba Vidal García will show the participants its stellar facilities and allow them to experiment a solar observation with a telescope.
Sky Readings—Part 2
Conference. In English and Spanish with simultaneous translation
Auditorium, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Wednesday, November 27, 2024, 6:30 pm
First-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached
Activity in collaboration with Organismo | Art in Applied Critical Ecologies
A conversation between researcher Tania Safura Adam, artist Bouchra Khalili, and physicist Diego Blas, about the historical intersections between science, culture, and religion in sky readings. Throughout history, different communities and groups have interpreted and studied the skies in innumerable ways. Looking at the sky has directly impacted the development of humans’ systems of belief and their sociopolitical structures. The conversation will explore the meaning of these readings and how they parallel contemporary artistic and scientific interpretations of outer space.
Cosmovisions. Mythology, Art, and Astronomy
Conference. In Spanish
Auditorium, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Wednesday, December 4, 6:00 pm
First-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached
Activity in collaboration with the Real Observatorio de Madrid
In this series of two mini-conferences, astronomers from the Real Observatorio de Madrid will discuss the significant role the sky has played throughout history and its various perceptions and depictions. In the first part, Marina Rodríguez Baras will delve into the historical and cross-cultural interpretations of the sky, while in the second part, Miguel Querejeta will explore the intersection between art and celestial phenomena.
Organic and Synthetic Voices (Singing with AI), with Maria Arnal and Fernando Cucchietti
Performative lecture and conversation. In Spanish
Auditorium, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Tuesday, December 10, 6:30 pm
First-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached
Activity in collaboration with Organismo | Art in Applied Critical Ecologies, facilitated by FECYT | Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology and BSC Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación. Curated by Lluís Nacenta
The public program counts with the generous support of:
