The Banco Sabadell Foundation has brought together more than 40 directors and representatives of over 20 major museums and artistic centres to take part in the SumArte initiative to generate synergies and reflect, jointly, on how to take advantage of artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies to transform the cultural sector.

During the event, representatives from different museums with which the Foundation collaborates throughout Spain worked together to contribute different views on the sector, with the aim of promoting innovation and exploring how technology can be used to assist the cultural sector.

The event took place at the Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona and benefited from the dynamic input of Kubbo, an artistic company that produces art and innovation experiences, and Interacso, an IT company specialised in AI-based solutions. In addition, Data and AI experts from Banco Sabadell took part in the event as mentors, helping the institutions to develop their proposals.

Sonia Mulero, Director of the Banco Sabadell Foundation, welcomed participants to the event together with Marko Daniel, Director of the Joan Miró Foundation and Xavier Prats Monné, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Banco Sabadell Foundation. “By promoting these spaces in which participants share and join forces, synergies and reflections are generated that can help institutions in the same sector to find solutions to shared challenges. Through collaboration and the exchange of knowledge and experience among different institutions, we can help to develop their projects and maximise their impact” explained Mulero, adding: “AI is both an opportunity and a challenge. We believe that when used ethically and responsibly it can be a positive force that can enrich and promote culture and the arts in diverse forms.”

From left to right: Xavier Prats Monné, member of the board of trustees of the Banco Sabadell Foundation; Sonia Mulero, director of the Banco Sabadell Foundation and Marko Daniel, director of the Joan Miró Foundation.

Institutions that participated in the event included: Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA), the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC), the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB), the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, the Institute of Modern Art of Valencia (IVAM), the Archaeological Museum of Alicante (MARQ), the Foto Colectania Foundation, the Social Welfare Foundation of Castile and Leon (FUNDOS), the Azkuna Centre, the Egyptian Museum of Barcelona, the Sabadell Fine Arts Academy, the Antonio Gala Foundation, the Sónar Foundation, the Galicia City of Culture Foundation, the Picasso Museum Foundation, the Castell del Remei Foundation, L’Eixam Cultural Association, Photographic Social Vision, the Association of Visual Artists of Catalonia (Hangar), and the Joan Miró Foundation.

“AI will have an interdisciplinary application; It will involve all areas of activity that we have, from programming to the management of archives or collections, to the conservation and restoration of works or the new creation of artists. We are grateful that the Banc Sabadell Foundation has trusted our space to organize this meeting between museums to share time and knowledge, and reinforces the need to share knowledge among all of us and build community.” highlighted Marko Daniel, director of the Fundació Joan Miró

“These initiatives are very enriching because we can sometimes be very fragmented in our different institutions and being able to share concerns and experiences with other institutions is quite a rare thing” explained Valerio Rocco, Director of the Círculo de Bellas Artes.

Barbara Epalza, Head of Marketing at Azkuna Zentroa, was keen to highlight that: “This event is an occasion for us to get to meet, exchange views and create; it is a place where we can find the time, which we often do not have in our day-to-day lives, to think and be creative, and not be afraid to say what we think”

SumArte is a Banco Sabadell Foundation initiative that forms part of the institution’s commitment to work in partnership and generate spaces for collaboration and co-creation. In the same vein, last year, the Foundation promoted an all-day event with entities in the musical sphere, which gave rise to three new projects, currently in development. In addition, among other events organised in 2022, the Foundation organised a meeting between cultural entities and social transformation programmes.