Gently Under the Flame at the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern

COVER’s Raquel Diazdowney visits A media lumbre (Gently Under the Flame) at the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, an exhibition exploring material knowledge and craft, set to travel across Spain throughout 2026

A media lumbre (Gently Under the Flame) opened at the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM) Centre Julio González on 18 February 2026, launching an itinerant exhibition that will travel to Casal Solleric / Es Baluard in Palma de Mallorca this summer, before continuing to the Center for Art and Nature (CDAN) in Huesca and Museu Terra in Tarragona later in the year.

Bringing together over 50 artists, the exhibition foregrounds materials and practices historically relegated to the margins of contemporary art.

From Marginal Materials and the Politics of Transmission

Ceramics, clay, wool, textiles, embroidery, esparto grass, palm, wicker and other natural fibres take centre stage, alongside sound and silence as expressive mediums. Through these elements, A media lumbre claims the value of tactile, process-driven work and the knowledge embedded within it.

At its core, the exhibition explores non-hegemonic forms of knowledge rooted in specific territories—crafts, trades and traditions intrinsically linked to the land.

Oral tradition also plays a central role. The presence of the voice evokes the filandones, which are communal night-time gatherings historically centred around the hearth, where storytelling and manual labour intertwined in the warmth of a shared fire.

Here, memory is preserved not only through objects, but through spoken word, gesture and collective experience.

Production Without Displacement

The exhibition places particular emphasis on sustainability. Alongside prioritising natural and recycled materials, it has actively rejected international transport as part of its production process.

This approach reinforces its broader ethos: a slower, more considered engagement with making, rooted in locality and care.

As the leaflet to the show states ‘This exhibition is a hymn to good living and the sovereignty of time; an invitation to stop, breathe and listen to the murmur of matter’. 

Participating artists include:

Ana Laura Aláez, Pilar Albarracín, Javier Bravo de Rueda, Saskia Calderón, Susana Cámara Leret, Ricardo Calero and Ana Esteve Llorens, among others.

As it travels across Spain throughout 2026, A media lumbre offers a rare opportunity to encounter practices that foreground material knowledge, locality and time.

Visitors are invited to engage with the exhibition at each stage of its journey, as its themes unfold across different contexts and sites.

Words by Raquel Diazdowney and Libbi Kettle