Imaginary Friends

The Fundació Joan Miró presents Imaginary Friends, an exhibition that offers an accessible and fun introduction to contemporary art practices.

You might have heard of imaginary friendships, a common psychological phenomenon whereby a child creates a friend that might resemble a person, a character, or an animal—or a blend of all three—that does not exist in the real world. Through their interaction with their made-up friends, children invoke new worlds while learning about themselves as they explore the vast territory of their imagination.

Imaginary Friends is the title given to an exhibition intended to give children insights into contemporary art in a playful way while also appealing to the inner child in visitors of all ages. Curators Martina Millà, Head of Exhibitions at the Fundació Joan Miró, and Patrick Ronse, Director of the Belgian art space Be-Part, invite visitors and their imaginary friends to connect with a group of artists and some of their most iconic works. Through them, everyone can develop a personal understanding of art and of the transformative power of creative imagination. The exhibition is intended to help engage, in a spontaneous and uninhibited way, with themes addressed by contemporary artists, such as queer identities, the impact of the Anthropocene, the history of feminism, as well as the decolonization of contemporary art.

The starting point for the Fundació Joan Miró’s exhibition project for this spring is the belief that contemporary art can be a transformative personal experience, artists can be regarded as friends who widen our horizons, and that the museum can become a place for rethinking social interaction, freeing the imagination, and experiencing joy. Renowned artists Paola Pivi, Kasper Bosmans, Polly Apfelbaum, Meschac Gaba, Afra Eisma, Pipilotti Rist, Martin Creed, Erwin Wurm and Jeppe Hein present nine installations, some of them well known and memorable, and others newly created and premiering in Spain. Some of the works—displayed in the exhibition spaces of the Fundació Joan Miró and in other public areas around the museum—are interactive and invite the public to gain a new awareness of the role they play as visitors, of their bodies becoming part of the artworks, as well as of their active mediation in the museum space. The selection of works covers a broad generational and cultural spectrum, while reflecting the contemporary concerns of artists who share a common interest, which is to involve the public in their practices by making them part of the work and even co-creators of some of the pieces. As the exhibition curators put it: “Is there any better way to familiarize yourself with the art of our times than feeling yourself a part of it?”

Imaginary Friends aims to facilitate this connection between the public and the artworks. Millà and Ronse’s intention with this project is “to stimulate the mind and the senses, to encourage access to imaginative dimensions, to generate sensuality, to break down stereotypes and limiting prejudices, and to generate positive energy.” They add: “The true magic of the artworks in this exhibition resides in the way they interact with visitors to the Fundació Joan Miró.”

For this project, the museum is deploying an extensive outreach and social program of activities, with a special emphasis on families and young audiences. In addition, a catalogue has been published in the form of a children’s fold-out book designed and illustrated by Milimbo with a story by Claudia González Caparrós.