Ameur (1959, Hadjout, Algeria) has dealt with the topic of immigration and shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea through this intensely colorful body of pictorial work.

The exhibition is being held with the cooperation of the Embassy of Algeria in Spain, the Balearia Foundation and the El Yasmine art gallery.

The opening event is being held on May 30 at 7:00 p.m. We’ll be expecting you!

As an illuminator and miniaturist, Hachemi Ameur was better versed in the representation of physical beauty in the world than in that of emotions. However, he now expresses the latter in a much better way. They are emotions which tell us about his concern over a world of bitterness, terror, injustice and other evils. Nonetheless, Ameur does not take all of his discursive features from the Expressionists; though he does use their brutal forms and nearly cartoonish drawings, and he softens them with colors which are neither too brash nor shocking to the viewer’s eyes. […]

Such are the migrants, walking shadows which occupy real space and the space of the media, due to both the drama which they form part of and the brutality with which they have appeared on stage in our societies and our lives. Migration has become a worldwide phenomenon, and no continent can be considered free from its presence. But unlike the migrations by birds, which fly in both directions, the flight of men travels in one direction only, normally from South to North. It is a one-way trip that creates a rift in their relationship, a sort of divorce from the place where they were born. This can even last decades, on those occasions when the journey happens to be successful, because we must never forget just how perilous it is. Fortunate are those who possess a visa which allows them to get settled immediately, even if they do so on the sly, in a host country within the West, a place that fascinates them and ruins them all at once […]

Harrag means “one that burns,” one who burns the seas and borders, a stowaway who claims to have prepared to “be eaten by fish instead of worms,” as Hachemi Ameur reminds us, marked by both desperation and the hope which lies within the beliefs of youths willing to sacrifice their lives to reach the other shore; to escape from the troubles in their countries, which are normally a greater drama for those who decide to stay than for those who leave without knowing where they will end up, should they manage to escape being eaten by the fish at all […]”


Hachemi Ameur
Born in Mitidja, Algeria in 1959. Ameur earned his degrees in General Art Studies and as a specialist in miniatures at the National Fine Arts School of Algiers in 1984 and 1985, respectively. He later moved to Beijing to study at that city’s Central Academy of Fine Arts from 1985 through 1988. In 2011, he earned his Master’s degree in Visual Arts, specializing in the plastic arts, from the University of Strasbourg, and in 2013 he earned his PhD from the University of Paris. From 1981 to 2015, he held over thirty exhibitions around the world, of which approximately twenty focused on the art of miniatures and the illustration which Hachemi completes with such mastery. His contribution to the art of illustrating books has been very significant, having contributed a whole new vantage point based fundamentally on topics related with the present and today’s reality, and not with the past, as had been the case for miniaturists of prior generations. This series devoted to migrants bears witness to his commitment to the most current of topics, as well as the strength and cutting-edge nature of his pictorial work.

“Syria Within Me” is a musical journey by two musicians on a pilgrimage for many years along different roads and stages, allowing us to hear voices and sounds from the Middle East: Mahmoud Fares (vocals) and Wafir S Gibril (Arabic oud). Accompanying them at this special concert to celebrate the Festivity of Ramadan will be Guillermo García, “El Guille” (percussion) and well-known jazz and flamenco performer Jorge Pardo (flute, saxophone).

Concert organized with the cooperation of the International Organization for Migration (IOM)  as part of the Activities to Increase Awareness about the European Project “Commit: Facilitating the integration of resettled persons in Europe."

The Arab world has undergone transcendental changes very significantly affecting youths in recent years. The worlds of creation and culture have been exceptional witnesses to these transformations. Egypt’s Basma al Huseiny (Action for Hope and Spain’s Iñaki Gutiérrez de Terán will be analyzing current events in the Arab world from this perspective. Activity held as part of the series titled “Dialogues on Open Societies.”

The Arabian Nights are like a long-lasting kiss that stretches on to keep from dying. By emulating Scheherazade in Madrid, Héctor Urién, a professional storyteller, has been telling a different story each month at Casa Árabe, from the fictional universe created within The Arabian Nights. At this session, Héctor Urién will be reviving the magic, mystery, laughter and sensuality of an Arab night. The common thread tying together this session devoted to telling stories from the East is the idea of “living daydreams.”

Because it has been scheduled as part of the Nights of Ramadan festival, this activity will be free of charge and held in the auditorium.

Madrid is the only European capital that was founded by the Arabs. MICO Arquitectura has been inspired by this idea in its proposal to make different models using traditional Arab architectural forms, all brought together to create a new “medina” for our city. Mico Arquitectura is an interdisciplinary group of women architects and teachers that work on educational architecture, using space and games as tools for learning how to live together with our surrounding environment and heritage.

The number of participants is limited to a maximum of 20 children. Those interested must sign up in advance on this website.