A Spanish autumn at the Louvre with Zurbarán, Rossy de Palma, Rodrigo Cuevas and Israel Galván

The Louvre is preparing what its programming director Luc Bouniol-Laffont calls a “Spanish autumn,” built around the Paris museum’s exhibition on Francisco de Zurbarán. The exhibition opens on October 7, and the accompanying programme will bring Spanish music, dance, cinema, theatre and history to the museum through January 22.

Rossy de Palma will receive a free hand to curate a film cycle, while singer-songwriter Rodrigo Cuevas will feature in the Spanish Grand Weekend planned for the first half of December. The programme will also include playwright Angélica Liddell, flamenco dancer Israel Galván, the Comédie-Française performing Tirso de Molina’s El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra, and the podcast Las Hijas de Felipe, recorded in Paris with an episode devoted to Spain’s Golden Age.

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It is no exaggeration to say that the Louvre is going to experience a Spanish autumn.

Bouniol-Laffont said the Louvre traditionally builds multidisciplinary programming around major temporary exhibitions, while keeping the connection with the exhibition flexible. In this case, the aim is to link Spain’s Renaissance and Baroque heritage with contemporary artistic creation, and to offer different generations several ways into Spanish culture.

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Great ambassadors of Spanish culture.

The parallel events begin when the Zurbarán exhibition opens. The Spanish Baroque ensemble Cantoria will launch five concerts devoted to the Golden Age, a period spanning the 16th and 17th centuries. Later performances will feature flamenco singer Arcángel with Quatuor Diotima, pianist Tanguy de Williencourt, Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XXI, and guitarist Thibaut Garcia with guest musicians.

The Zurbarán exhibition is a joint project by London’s National Gallery, the Louvre and the Art Institute of Chicago. It began in London and will move to Chicago after its Paris presentation. According to Bouniol-Laffont, the idea of creating a broader Spanish cultural season became clear when the exhibition was first proposed two years ago.

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It was evident that there was a desire to create a kind of Spanish cultural season.