>> The Barceló Foundation, Casal Solleric, and Xavier Fiol-XFORUM/Garaje Son Armadams hosted the work of the young artists.
The group exhibition “Confluencias,” featuring fourth-year Fine Arts students from ADEMA, drew a large crowd to the Barceló Foundation on September 19th as part of Palma’s *Nit de l’Art*—one of the key events on Mallorca’s cultural and artistic calendar.
The opening became a meeting point for students, teachers, artists, representatives from the academic and cultural spheres, and various notable figures who wished to join the young creators on a night of special significance for contemporary art in Palma.
Throughout the day, visitors had the opportunity to view a selection of works created by students during a pivotal stage of their university education—a time when they begin to consolidate their own interests, artistic languages, and lines of research.
“Confluencias” stemmed precisely from that idea: understanding the development of an artistic trajectory not as a linear path, but as a process marked by experimentation, doubts, discoveries, shifts in direction, and a dialogue between individual and collective experiences.
>> A showcase of the students’ creative process
Curated by Mónica Galván, coordinator of the Fine Arts Degree program at ADEMA, the exhibition offered a look at different ways of approaching contemporary creation.
The works brought together at the Barceló Foundation reflected explorations concerning both materials and experimental processes and the conceptual construction of the proposals. This diversity of approaches demonstrated how the students are beginning to define their own artistic identities—albeit ones still open to further transformation and new directions in their work.
The exhibition was not conceived as the end of that process, but rather as an opportunity to pause, reflect on the path traveled, and tackle the final stage of the degree program with new tools.
For the students, participating in an event of this nature also meant taking the work done during their training into a real artistic context and subjecting it to the scrutiny of a broad and diverse audience.
Amparo Sard: “It has been a source of great satisfaction to see the public’s response.”
Both Amparo Sard, Head of Studies for the Fine Arts Degree at ADEMA, and Mónica Galván, the exhibition’s curator and the degree program’s coordinator, particularly valued the students’ participation and the reception the exhibition received during Nit de l’Art.
“It has been immensely gratifying to see the public’s response and, above all, to witness how our students have successfully presented and defended their work in an artistic setting of such significance. For them, it is a crucial experience, as they move beyond showing their projects solely within the classroom and begin sharing them with the public and industry professionals,” noted Sard.
The Head of Studies also highlighted that such experiences are integral to ADEMA’s approach to artistic training, linking academic learning with situations that provide firsthand insight into the workings of the cultural sector.
Participation in the Nit de l’Art also allowed students to experience aspects linked to professional practice: preparing an exhibition, installing the artworks, presenting them to visitors, exchanging ideas with other artists, and interacting directly with figures from the cultural sector.
For ADEMA, these experiences are part of a process that seeks to support students in the transition from university to the professional art world.
“Being able to present their work to the public, interact with other artists, and be part of the programming at key cultural venues allows them to understand how the artistic ecosystem works and begin building relationships, experiences, and a career of their own,” Sard had noted regarding ADEMA’s participation in the Nit de l’Art.
The event thus allowed students to experience firsthand an occasion that transforms Palma each year into a major gathering place for contemporary art, while also giving them the opportunity to discuss their projects and gauge the reactions their work elicited outside the academic context.
Casal Solleric and Xavier Fiol-XForum/Garaje Son Armadams
ADEMA’s presence at the 2026 Nit de l’Art also went beyond the fourth-year students’ exhibition at the Barceló Foundation.
Two alumni from the first graduating class of the Fine Arts degree program also participated in other prominent events on the schedule: Rebeca Morey, with the exhibition “Anatoformes” at Casal Solleric, and Óscar González, with the work “.JPG” as part of the group exhibition *30 Nit 30 · Una mirada íntima* at XFORUM/Garaje Son Armadams.
The presence of both current students and alumni in the same edition also made it possible to visualize different stages of an artistic career: from the final years of training to the gradual entry into professional spaces and projects.
Sard considered this continuity particularly significant, as it allows students to see how peers from previous cohorts continue to conduct research, produce work, and gain access to prominent exhibition spaces.