The Joan Miró Foundation celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025
During 2025-2026 the Joan Miró Foundation (FJM) in Barcelona will celebrate its 50th anniversary. In this context, an exhibition will be organized that will review the history of the institution , reaffirming the role of the Foundation as a benchmark in contemporary art . With this celebration on the horizon, the institution launched an innovative industrial doctorate project in 2023, in collaboration with Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), which aims to explore the exhibition history of the institution and its cultural impact .
It is worth emphasizing that one of the strategic axes of this collaboration is to promote the completion of doctoral theses, facilitating the transfer of knowledge, research and the participation of doctoral students in the exhibition plan . In short, an alliance that makes it possible to combine the resources and knowledge of both the academic side and those of the Foundation, thus enhancing the quality and scope of research.
Beyond commemorating the legacy of the Catalan artist Joan Miró, the FJM also wants to open new avenues of understanding in contemporary art . Specifically, the project, which is a pioneer in its field, aims to study the temporary exhibitions of the FJM from a historical and audiovisual perspective . The study led by industrial PhD student Ramon Balcells seeks to understand how these exhibitions have had an impact both locally and internationally, offering a complete view of the Foundation's trajectory and influence over the years . All together, with the aim of highlighting the legacy of the institution and its enduring influence over time, establishing the foundations for new research and projects in the field of contemporary art.
The Foundation was created with the aim of preserving, studying and disseminating the work of Joan Miró, as well as promoting contemporary art. With a clear international and public service vocation, the Foundation seeks to consolidate itself as a global reference in the field of contemporary art . In addition, it promotes research and training in this field, offering a space for reflection and dialogue between artists, researchers and the public.
Originally conceived as a Contemporary Art Studies Center (CEAC), it opened to the public on June 10, 1975. Founded by Joan Miró himself, the institution has always acted as a great window from Barcelona to the world , exhibiting works of the new avant-garde and contemporary art, many of them never seen before in our country. This collaborative and welcoming attitude has marked the trajectory of the FJM, turning it into a dynamic space where the art of Joan Miró coexists with the most emerging artistic creation .
Ramon Balcells, PhD student and audiovisual professional
Ramon Balcells Vela is a professional who combines audiovisual production with research and university teaching. Since 2019, he has been an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF).
After being accepted into the Industrial Doctorates program in June 2023, Balcells started working at the Joan Miró Foundation: " honestly, it is being one of the most transformative and exciting experiences I have had so far ", the PhD student tells us. The Industrial Doctorates have allowed Balcells to integrate his passions for research and audiovisual creation , developing a project that merges these disciplines to explore and reinterpret the exhibition history of an iconic museum like FJM.
The research project: "Histories of a museum"
The industrial doctorate, linked to the 50th anniversary of the Foundation, has great academic and artistic potential. In addition, it is strategically key for the two institutions, according to the project members, who emphasize its innovation (it is one of the few Industrial Doctorates in cultural production and the first of the CINEMA research group of the Department of Communication of the UPF).
Balcells' research, in general terms, focuses on researching the exhibition history of the Joan Miró Foundation, analyzing its exhibitions from a transversal and creative perspective. The aim, however, is to understand exhibitions as symptoms of different political, social and cultural contexts, following the line of Exhibition Studies: "an academic discipline that is responsible for studying the history of art and society in through the exhibitions", explains Balcells himself.
The research will serve Balcells to conceive an audiovisual device that will tell the history of the Miró exhibitions from various angles, not just historiographical or artistic. The fact is that this initiative represents 50% of the thesis project and will be part of the Foundation's 50th anniversary exhibition. Balcells himself explains what this device will consist of: " it contains interventions by key witnesses, archival images and everyday footage, all combining the historical aspect with forms close to contemplative and experimental cinema ".
In particular, the work will not only document the history of the Foundation, but will also explore the artistic, cultural and social phenomena that have defined its influence over the years.
The collaboration between the Joan Miró Foundation and Pompeu Fabra University
The directors of the thesis, Manel Jiménez Morales and Ivan Pintor Iranzo, underline that this project breaks down hitherto indivisible borders , as it is a research and artistic creation project that approaches the history of art from various fields. This reinforces the transfer model between universities and cultural institutions, and consolidates the modalities of art as research and applied theses , which are emerging in the field of Audiovisual Communication in Catalonia. In addition, the project has great added value: " it hybridizes documentation and historical research with the creation of an audiovisual device, being one of the first doctoral theses applied in Audiovisual Communication at the UPF" , point out the directors of the thesis.
One of the challenges of the project from the academic side is to build a fluid relationship between the Foundation, the UPF and the doctoral student, remaining open to changes in the cultural, political and social contexts. As the two directors explain, contemporary art museums are living institutions and permeable to external dynamics , a fact that must be kept in mind in the development of the project: " we are facing a unique project with very few precedents. We have the great opportunity to be a beacon for future doctoral projects, paving the way in a type of collaborative and applied research ."
On behalf of the Foundation, Dolors Rodríguez Roig is responsible for tutoring the strategic research project. As coordinator and curator of exhibitions at the FJM, she highlights the pride that it means for the institution to be the first contemporary art museum in Catalonia to carry out an industrial doctorate project . The project will make it possible to obtain a solid understanding of exhibition history and its social and cultural impact: " we want to emphasize that the project will place us as references from the national point of view of a discipline, Exhibition Studies, with a lot of future projection in the academic field ", affirms Rodríguez Roig.
The audiovisual project "Histories of a museum" will have a direct impact on the activities of the FJM, becoming an iconic witness of its history for future generations : " that the Miró Foundation can count on innovative research that provides tangible results beyond the exhibitions, as is the future audiovisual result that Ramon will develop, it is a great incentive to continue enhancing the collaborations between Miró and not only other academic institutions, but with other centers which do not necessarily have to be linked to the academy ".
Rodríguez Roig points out that having different perspectives and transversal knowledge, such as those contributed by Ramon Balcells, opens new doors to research and allows a new approach to contemporary art . In addition, tutoring this project is a great personal satisfaction, as it is an opportunity for mutual learning: " accompanying someone like Ramon Balcells in his research and project development process allows me to change learned views and define them from new ".
In conclusion, the project will not only benefit the artistic and academic context but will also have a positive impact on society in general, providing a deeper understanding of the Foundation's exhibition history and its role as a catalyst for contemporary art . Therefore, Balcells' research represents an innovative confluence of academic research and artistic creation, which aims to project the legacy of Joan Miró and his permanent influence on contemporary art.
