For over 30 years, ACCIONA Cultura has been at the intersection of creativity, technology, and artistic sensivity in developing museographic, exhibition, and interior design projects and events. We aim to promote more resilient and caring societies through cultural experiences that allow us to emotionally connect and transcend.
Cinema was invented 36,000 years ago. This is a reflection by the German filmmaker Werner Herzog in his documentary film "Cave of Forgotten Dreams", as he gazes in astonishment at the figurative rock art that covers the interior of the caves at Chauvet in the south of France. The ochre and black strokes, denoting individual artistic styles, took advantage of the relief of the rock and the shadows cast by the prehistoric fire to evoke the movement and dynamism of the animals drawn.
Today, people lucky enough to gain access to the site can see bears, rhinoceroses, mammoths, lions or deer jumping, running, fighting and featuring in scenes on the ancient walls of the caves like a primitive cinema. It is considered the first great masterpiece of mankind.
We do not know for sure if these paintings had a liturgical, magical, decorative or didactic purpose, but when they come together in this space they constitute one of the world's first major exhibitions. It is an example of how space and the surrounding environment condition and determine the perception of a work of art. It is also a reminder that, while the artistic aspiration is basically the same, the great revolution of the last few decades has been based on exhibition techniques and in the way of experiencing and participating in culture.
At ACCIONA Cultura we have witnessed this revolution and played an active part in it since our first major project thirty years ago: organising shows and designing and providing museum content for the pavilions of Expo'92 in Seville, one of the most acclaimed and memorable universal exhibitions in recent history. It was the first of nine in which we have participated.
Since then, our role has been to find new technological and creative channels to integrate artistic and cultural expression into the contemporary world, and to experience it in more than two thousand projects on a daily basis. Something of that primordial admiration for what makes us human is awakened in every event and exhibition we organise. Read on to find out how we create culture to live it in our various fields of action.
"ACCIONA Cultura's role has been to find new technological and creative channels for integrating cultural expression on a daily in more than 2,000 projects”.
Alongside work in areas such as infrastructure, renewable energy and water management, it was inevitable that we would also focus on human cultural heritage, because it is culture that gives meaning to material progress. This effort, which began with work on a universal exhibition in Spain and its associated events, was consolidated with our participation in museum projects around the world such as the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center in Ekaterinburg (Kenneth Hudson Award 2017), the House of European History in Brussels (European Museum of the Year Award 2019 - Special Mention), and the recent Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) on the esplanade of the pyramids at Giza, another of the great ancestral feats of human culture.
At the same time, we began to collaborate with brands to create events that conveyed the identity and philosophy of companies and institutions such as Banco Santander, Coca-Cola, Dior, Xiaomi or UEFA with a radically original vision. From the message we transmit, to where and how we do them, our events leave an emotional and cultural imprint that lives on in people despite their temporary nature
The next stage combined our technological and artistic expertise in immersive exhibitions such as Life and Work of Frida Kahlo, the first experience of its kind featuring a woman that has toured Europe, South America and Asia. Recently, we have been involved in the creation of unique and culturally relevant interior spaces, both for people to enjoy them and for the benefit of the communities where they are located.
In these last thirty years we have worked with the most advanced technologies, from projections to mapping buildings of cutltural interest, interactive installations in World Heritage Sites, the implementation of AI and AR technologies or 3D printing of large concrete pieces in exhibition spaces all over the world.
However, the most important thing is that, by working closely with our clients, we have managed to give internal cohesion to the content so that technology becomes a vehicle for emotions and learning. This is the purpose of all the processes of conception, development and implementation of the initiatives in which we participate.
For example, at the National Museum of Qatar, designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel, we designed, produced and implemented 150 audiovisual and interactive pieces to contextualise and narrate the historical, geographical, economic and social development of the country and its people. Through recordings at historical sites, interviews and a collection of 5,000 images, we brought the history of this small emirate and its people to life.
ACCIONA marks a milestone in the construction industry with the raising of a building using women-only labor.
