The Alhambra and the Rodríguez-Acosta Foundation are organising activities for all the family on International Museum Day

The Alhambra and the Rodríguez-Acosta Foundation have organised a full programme of free activities to celebrate International Museum Day next Sunday 18th May. In fact the activities have already begun this morning with a visit by the Director of the Council of the Alhambra and Generalife, María del Mar Villafranca, and the President of the Foundation, Miguel Rodríguez-Acosta, to the exhibition entitled ‘Hispano-Muslim taracea and its tradition’ being held in Rooms V, VI and  VII of the Museum of the Alhambra in the Palace of Charles V.
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The exhibition, which traces the history of taracea (inlay) from its Hispano-Muslim origins through its evolution in the Nasrid period right down to the present, will show that inlay is a craft technique involving the piecing together of different coloured pieces of wood (ebony, aloe, sappan, sandalwood, lemon-wood, walnut, etc) together with pieces of ivory or bone, either in their natural colours or painted, and precious metals such as silver and even gold.
The Director of the Alhambra encouraged everyone to take a stroll up the hill to the Alhambra this weekend: “We have organised activities that will enable all the family to enjoy and discover the Heritage we have on our doorstep and find out more about the origins of the collections on display. Culture will once again be the star of the show, perhaps even more so than usual”.
The Rodríguez-Acosta Foundation has organised a free open day on Sunday from 12:00-14:00h, as well as a Gymkhana, a party with José María Rodríguez-Acosta, from 12:30 onwards, so that even the smallest members of the household can discover and find out more about the life and work of the founder of this institution, situated next door to the Alhambra.
This month’s guest exhibit from the Rodríguez-Acosta Foundation will be on display in Room II of the Museum of the Alhambra. It is a large vase (Ataifor) with figurative human decoration that dates from the Caliphate period. Since 2013 the Foundation has been selecting one piece of Muslim art from its collection as guest exhibit of the month at the Museum of the Alhambra. In addition and in order to mark International Museum Day visitors will also be able to enjoy another guest exhibit: the Almohad capital, lent by the Town Council of Otura (Granada), which is on display in Room VI. This is a Corinthian capital made of serpentine stone, which has recently been restored.
Various emblematic pieces from the Museum of the Alhambra have also been chosen. These include several pieces of jewellery from the collection dating from the Emirate to the Nasrid period. These pieces are made of gold, silver and bronze. Other pieces of glass jewellery will also be on show.
At 12 o’clock every Saturday in May we will be organising free talks/lectures about the Piece of the Month: this Saturday the expert Juana Biedma Molina will be giving a talk about the plasterwork panel from the Palace of the Generalife. On Sunday also at 12 o’clock the themed visit will be focusing on ‘Nasrid lustreware. Social significance and artistic and symbolic values’ in a lecture given by Manuel Zafra Jiménez, a volunteer at the Museum of the Alhambra.
Today Friday and tomorrow Saturday 17th May, the Museum of the Alhambra will be taking part in the programme entitled ‘Nights at the Museum’ during which it will be open from 21:00 to 23:00 h, with special visits guided by members of the Association of cultural volunteers of the Museum of the Alhambra, who throughout the weekend will also be making special visits to the permanent exhibition from 10:00h-13:30h.
This week visitors can also enjoy the virtual exhibition entitled ‘Draw and Discover’ displaying the creations of schoolchildren who visited the Museum between January and April this year and others made by those taking part in the ‘Drawing with the Family’ activity. Together with this exhibition, which is accessible via a virtual platform in the entrance hall of the Palace of Charles V and online at www.alhambra-patronato.es, there will also be a number of audio-visual resources which will enable viewers to discover more about what happened during the activities themselves.
International Museum Day has been celebrated since 1977. This initiative is supported by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), part of UNESCO, which seeks to raise public awareness of the role played by museums in the development of society and their social function as guardians of our collective memory.
The theme for this the 36th Edition is “Museum collections make connections”, which reminds us that museums are “living institutions that help create bonds between visitors, generations and cultures around the world”. www.alhambra-patronato.es www.fundacionrodriguez-acosta.com