Coinciding with the International Day of Play, the schedule for Espacio Abierto Quinta de los Molinos, managed by the Madrid City Council, has been revealed. Artistic director Sara San Gregorio has designed a program divided into three key calendar moments: the end of the school year, the summer period, and the start of classes in September.
The season kicks off in June with scenic proposals and festive banquets, continues in July inviting visitors to inhabit the center in pajamas, and returns in September with literature, micro-publishing, and architecture projects in October.
On June 20, Espacio Abierto will host ‘Jolgorio’, an artistic festival in the park conceived by Laura Bañuelos and Maral Kekejian. This proposal transforms the everyday act of setting a table into artistic material, turning actions like kneading bread or placing a plate into choreography, scores, and sculptures. The festival will be divided into four lines: visual arts and objects, sound and music, body and movement, and play.
Several artistic stations will activate ‘Jolgorio’. Laura Millán, along with Mireya Larriba and Karmen Ameller, will propose interventions on tablecloths, building bread cities, and creating masks. Farout Artistic Research will turn the banquet into an orchestra using everyday objects, while Patricia Ruz, with Ana María Rosa and Nacho Yuste, will explore gestures of serving and placing as movement actions.
In the preceding weeks, workshops such as ‘Orquesta para un banquete’ by Farout Artistic Research, ‘Panópolis. Ficciones de pan y monstruos’ by Laura Millán, and ‘El menú coreográfico’ by Patricia Ruz will prepare the celebration. Students from the Master's in Cultural Management at Universidad Carlos III will design play stations based on popular games, culminating in a collective banquet.
Additionally, from June 25 to 28, Mundo Quinta will present Como si ya hubiera pasado, the resulting performance from the eighth edition of its documentary scenic creation project for adolescents, developed with Cross Border Project. The piece explores a temporal journey between current adolescence and that of previous generations.
During the summer, the center invites visitors to inhabit it in pajamas, with proposals focused on rest, sleep, and collective creation. The auditorium will serve as a cool room for listening, resting, and projection with Un viaje sonoro a otras estaciones by Ángel Galán and Un archivo de la cama, featuring visual and sound lullabies.
In the Urbanoteca, until July 31 and from September 3 to 11, Ana Almenara will present Donde duermen los tejidos, transforming the space into a surreal dressing room. The same artist will lead the workshop ‘Crea tu máscara del sueño’ (Create your dream mask).
Inventario will host ‘Sueños de verano’ (Summer Dreams), a proposal from the Mediation team of Espacio Abierto, which will become a cabinet of curiosities about dreams and surreal games, featuring graphic and editorial stations.
The outdoor spaces and the garden café will be the stage for a performance by clown and musicologist Fran Fuman on Saturday, July 25, as part of the Veranos de la Villa festival.
The program also includes ‘La hora del cuento’ (Story Time) and, for early childhood, ‘Arrullos’ by Arancha Cristo, which will activate play environments in Espacio+ and Espacio 0-5.
In September, the return to school brings the FLIC. Festival de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil (Children's and Youth Literature Festival) on September 20 and 21, and Tinta de los Molinos, a micro-publishing festival (September 28), co-organized with Colectivo HUL.
For the 2026/27 school year, Espacio Abierto will continue its program for educational centers, including performing arts, play installations, audiovisual mediation, and graphic creation, among other activities.
In October, coinciding with Architecture Week, the program will focus on the Quinta de los Molinos and the figure of César Cort Botí, the architect behind the project. The park, celebrating its centenary in 2026, has been recognized as a Site of Cultural Interest.
October's proposals include ‘Huerta en construcción’ (Construction Garden) by Silvana Andrés, ‘Nos dijo la lluvia’ (The Rain Told Us) by Paisanaje, ‘Arquidescubre la Quinta de los Molinos y la Casa de Arriba’ (Archidiscover Quinta de los Molinos and the Upper House) by Chiquitectos, and ‘Cartografías sensoriales’ (Sensory Cartographies) by Ana Mombiedro.
The October program will also feature ‘Cómic y arquitectura. Qué buena pareja’ (Comics and Architecture. What a Great Pair) by Enrique Bordes, screenings from the audiovisual archive ‘Crecer en la ciudad’ (Growing Up in the City), collective construction activities, a proposal on accessibility with María Gironza and Cazapeonzas, and A casa (Going Home) by the company La Ortiga.
The full schedule is available on the Espacio Abierto Quinta de los Molinos website: www.espacioabiertoqm.es.
