Vilafamés Museum of Contemporary Art: the story of a stroke of genius

During a visit to Vilafamés in the late 1960s, the art critic Vicente Aguilera Cerni (Valencia, 1920-2005), a key figure for understanding the artistic evolution of recent decades, had a flash of inspiration. It was 1968. The Valencian region still lacked a solid network of modern and contemporary art, and the idea of creating a museum to house this artistic strand in a small village in the interior of Castellón was nothing short of revolutionary.

Aguilera Cerni, who was president of the Consell Valencià de Cultura (CVC) (a portrait of him, on display at the MACVAC, was lent by that institution and is the work of Rafael Armengol), had the vision of combining a village with charm and the exhibition of contemporary art. There was also the backing of the municipal authorities of the time. In time, a suitable venue was found: the Palau del Batlle, an imposing 15th-century building in Valencian Gothic style, with enough space across its four floors to house an art collection that began with a few dozen works at the Museo del Vino and gradually grew.

And so, in an unexpected place, the first museum of contemporary art in Valencian lands was born. It also became a centre of creativity, as many artists, including Aguilera Cerni himself, bought homes in Vilafamés. Names such as Joaquín Michavila, José Palanca, Nassio Bayarri and Teresa Eguibar, among others, acquired houses in the old town, which had been abandoned by residents who were looking for better accessibility in the lower part of the village.

In this context, it became easier to add heritage to the collection. After drafting a first set of statutes in 1970, Aguilera Cerni began contacting artists to present the idea and request loans and donations of works, receiving a very positive response. The first major exhibition, with eighty works, was held at the Municipal Library. Its success boosted the acquisition, with the support of the Diputación de Castellón, of the Palau del Batlle.

In August 1972, the current venue opened its doors, strengthening the synergies between Vilafamés and the world of art that endure today, which have had a fundamental social and economic impact on the village and have given rise to initiatives such as the creation of the Centro Internacional de Documentación Artística. Under different names over time, the museum has housed not only an important collection and temporary exhibitions, but has also been the stage for first-class cultural activities. This track record has been recognised with various awards and distinctions, both within the Valencian region and beyond.

An exceptional art collection

The MACVAC currently holds an extraordinary collection of some 1,000 works, displayed mainly across its 29 rooms, with rotations and in exhibitions held outside the institution. This is an extraordinary heritage considering that the museum is nourished by donations or loans from artists, not by purchases. This collection allows for a very satisfying and illustrative journey through the avant-gardes from the 1920s to the present day. Thus, from the period before the Civil War, we can find works by leading artists such as Joan Miró, Juli González and Josep Renau.

From the artistic upheaval of the 1950s, made possible by a certain interested opening by the Franco regime, we have evidence of movements such as Informalism and Social Realism, represented by works by Grup Parpalló, Joan Genovés and Rafael Canogar. The flowering of the following decades is also represented by fundamental names in Valencian art, such as the recently deceased Artur Heras, Manuel Boix and, of course, l'Equip Crònica and l'Equip Realitat. Meanwhile, the rich output of trends such as abstraction and geometry is shown at the MACVAC through Eusebio Sempere, Miquel Navarro, Soledad Sevilla, Amparo Marco and Olga Adelantado.

A characteristic of the collection, as of the museum itself, is its international reach from a local base, a philosophy that brings together works by Picasso, Andy Warhol and Dalí with figures from the region such as Amat Bellés, Pepe Agost, Wences Rambla and Luis Prades, or with artists who, following the museum's opening, made Vilafamés their artistic home, as is the case with Beatriz Guttmann and Uiso Alemany. A complete and highly illustrative collection that surprises visitors who are unaware of the museum's scale.

Temporary exhibitions

Además de mostrar su colección, el MACVAC es sede de diferentes exposiciones temporales, al tiempo que genera muestras en otros espacios mediante colaboraciones. Entre las exposiciones vigentes se encuentra «Horizonte. El paisaje como construcción de memoria», visitable hasta enero de 2027, o la muestra de este 2026 «Fashion Art», de Manuel Fernández, coordinada con MARTE Feria de Arte Contemporáneo.

Mientras tanto, en la sede de la Fundación Caixa Rural de Vila-real, también hasta enero de 2027, puede visitarse «Magna. Un siglo de Arte Contemporáneo en el MACVAC». Otras colaboraciones han sido con la Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche («Gramática del trazo») o con el Museo de Arte Sacro de Teruel, con «Esencia. La mística de lo contemporáneo».

Cuando la institución echó a andar, Vicente Aguilera Cerni explicaba:

«Somos un museo humilde, sin triunfalismos y considerablemente imperfecto, pero quizá podamos seguir demostrando que la cultura artística puede servir de manera decisiva a la mejora de las condiciones de vida de una comunidad humana concreta, de una parcela claramente identificable dentro de la noción abstracta del “pueblo”».

Una aspiración convertida en realidad. Una genialidad que todavía hoy, muchas décadas después, despierta admiración.