Ibiza has always stimulated the creativity of many artists who continue to disembark on this Mediterranean island to give free rein to their imagination. That is why the island has a large number of museums and exhibition halls containing traces of their history and works of art that draw on the colours and lifestyles of the larger of the Pityusic Islands.
One of the most important museums is the one located in the walled city of Dalt Vila, the Museu d’Art Contemporani d’Eivissa (Ibiza Contemporary Art Museum) or MACE. It is one of the oldest contemporary art museums in Spain and is housed in a building that stands out for its modernist design. This museum contains a major collection of works by local, national and international artists who lived in or visited Ibiza from the 1960s onwards. Temporary exhibitions are also organised. The MACE also features archaeological remains that have come to light after a recent renovation of the building and can be seen through a glass floor on the ground floor.
The MACE and the Puget Museum, both located in Dalt Vila, offer free family visits with workshops every Saturday and Sunday of the year. This is a fun way of making the world of art and culture known to children and is a free activity in which, after visiting the museums, they can recreate the works of art they have seen.
Another way of learning about the history of the island, participating in a unique “journey through time”, is to join the dramatised visits that take place at different points of interest on the island, such as Dalt Vila, the ancient and walled city that this year celebrates the 20th anniversary of being declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. These tours in which actors present stories based on possible historical facts in situ are carried out every Saturday by prior reservation, calling (+34) 971 39 92 32 or emailing informacioturistica@eivissa.es
These dramatised visits also take place in the Puig de Molins necropolis, made up of more than 3,000 hypogeum-type excavated tombs that can be visited. An essential visit for those who are travelling with children and want to relive the funerary rites of the Punic era, on Sundays and by appointment. This site was declared a historical-artistic monument in 1931 and the Puig des Molins Archaeological Museum, which is located in the vicinity, exhibits figures of the goddess Tanit, amulets, pendants, crockery and all kinds of ceramic pieces. It is one of the most important museums of the Punic era in the world.
Another of Ibiza’s most popular galleries is La Nave Salinas, located in the outstanding setting of the Ses Salines Natural Park, which exhibits a wide range of works that will not fail to impress the beholder, paying tribute to the island and its visitors. This year the pop surrealism of the American artist Kenny Scharf has been brought to this gallery, with an individual exhibition under the title “Universalis” with 140 works made specifically for this exhibition that constitutes a whole universe of emotions.
Meanwhile, in the municipality of Santa Eulària des Riu, next to the church of Puig de Missa, in the Can Ros farmhouse, is the Ibiza Ethnographic Museum, which allows visitors to learn all about how the ancient inhabitants of Ibiza lived. Here you can find all kinds of utensils, farming implements, period costumes, traditional jewellery, musical instruments and various other items that transport visitors to the Ibiza of the second half of the 20th century, before tourism arrived.
Located on the Ca Na Negreta road, it is also home to one of the most popular art galleries in Ibiza for the variety and quality of the works it exhibits. This is the P|Art Ibiza art gallery, which has currently set up a new collective exhibition of contemporary art with the Barcelona gallery 3Punts, featuring works by Samuel Salcedo, Silvio Alino, Kiko Miyares, Gerard Mas and Alejandro Monge. An exhibition in which sculpture plays a predominant role and in which elements for understanding and improving social reality are presented.
Thus, around twenty art galleries have been established on Ibiza to exhibit and acquaint residents and tourists with the island’s culture and the works of hundreds of artists who each year take inspiration from its light and its people to offer works that are now part of the history of the white island.