Bilbao prepares for an extraordinary operatic event with Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece at the Palacio Euskalduna. 🎶✨

ABAO Bilbao Opera opens its 75th Season with a magnificent staging of "La Traviata", starring Jessica Pratt and Javier Camarena.

🎶 ABAO BILBAO OPERA: LA TRAVIATA

📅 From October 17 to 26, 2026

🕐 19:00 and 19:30

📍 Palacio Euskalduna, Bilbao

🎟️ 29 / 300 €

📖 Love, drama, and elegance in vibrant Paris

"La Traviata" returns to Bilbao to offer an intense emotional journey. Set against the glamorous Parisian backdrop, the opera follows an impossible love story that combines scenic elegance and heartfelt drama, standing as a timeless classic beyond fleeting trends.

Conducted by Francesco Ivan Ciampa, the Euskadiko Orkestra and the Bilbao Opera Chorus perform unforgettable melodies, ranging from the world-famous drinking song to Verdi's most delicate and heartbreaking passages.

🎶 A lavish production from Teatro Massimo di Palermo

This staging from Teatro Massimo di Palermo is directed by Mario Pontiggia, known for his theatrical grandeur. The visual design evokes the Belle Époque with Art Nouveau and Art Déco elements, featuring striking sets and sumptuous costumes by Francesco Zito.

The leading roles are brought to life by two internationally acclaimed stars: soprano Jessica Pratt and tenor Javier Camarena, who have forged a close bond with the Bilbao audience across four landmark performances.

✨ An unmissable operatic evening to launch the season with Verdi's enduring passion.

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao updates the display of its permanent collection with new acquisitions, loans, and major donations dialogue with Frank Gehry's iconic spaces. 🎨🏛️

Curated by Marta Blàvia, this selection brings together outstanding artworks from the second half of the 20th century to the present day.

🎨 Works from the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Collection

📅 From November 7, 2025 to October 31, 2026

🕐 Tuesday to Sunday: 10:00-20:00. In July and August, Monday to Sunday: 10:00-20:00

📍 Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao

🎟️ Check official website or ticket desk

📖 Expanding narratives and new acquisitions

The exhibition showcases the growth of the museum's holdings through recent acquisitions, donations from the D.Daskalopoulos Collection and the Al Held Foundation, alongside a long-term loan of around fifty pieces from the Inge Rodenstock Collection. These additions highlight figures such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Yves Klein, Jeff Koons, Antoni Tàpies, Cy Twombly, and Andy Warhol, alongside works by Hanne Darboven, Damien Hirst, Martin Kippenberger, and Robert Ryman.

With the exception of galleries 301 and 304—dedicated individually to Yayoi Kusama and El Anatsui—the spaces offer choral presentations fostering fresh dialogues across periods and styles.

🏛️ Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

The museum reaffirms its mission to explore art history from the 1950s onwards, actively integrating Gehry's architectural setting into the visitor's artistic experience.

✨ A fresh look at the evolving contemporary art collection of the Guggenheim Bilbao.

Artist Félix de la Concha arrives in Bilbao to transform our perception of the urban environment through his painting and visual reflections. 🎨🚗

Galería MÄA hosts a project dedicated to the work of the artist from León, exploring the passage of time and everyday landscapes.

🎨 PERPETUUM AUTO-MOBILE

📅 From September 3 to October 31, 2026

🕐 Mondays 18:00–21:00; Tuesday to Friday 11:00–14:00 and 18:00–21:00; Saturdays and Sundays by appointment

📍 Galería MÄA, Bilbao

🎟️ Not indicated

📖 About the exhibition

The exhibition brings together ten works from a series developed over more than three decades, focused on parked vehicles in urban settings. Through this recurring subject, the work delves into stillness, observation, and the flow of time.

The project also includes an installation that engages in a direct dialogue with Diego Velázquez's masterpiece Las Meninas, offering a contemporary visual and conceptual reflection.

🎨 Félix de la Concha and Galería MÄA

Félix de la Concha (León, 1962) is known for his extensive career defined by painting from life and long-term conceptual projects. Galería MÄA presents this selection of works at its gallery in Bilbao, accompanied by a digital catalogue.

ℹ️ Good to know: Saturday and Sunday visits are available strictly by appointment.

✨ A unique chance to experience Félix de la Concha's poetic reflections on time in Bilbao.

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao presents a major exhibition dedicated to Igshaan Adams, weaving together textile art, memory, and contemporary dance into large-scale installations. 🎨✨

Curated by Lekha Hileman in galleries 204 and 208, this presentation brings together textile works born from a collaborative dialogue between the South African artist and dancers.

🎨 Weaving Memory: The Body's Archive

📅 From May 5 to November 1, 2026

🕐 Tuesday to Sunday: 10:00-20:00. July and August: Monday to Sunday: 10:00-20:00

📍 Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao

🎟️ Check museum admission rates

📖 Movement Translated into Tapestries

The exhibition investigates movement and its traces through Adams's collaboration with the Garage Dance Ensemble in O’okiep. Dancers moved across canvases placed over painted linoleum, leaving dance imprints that register shared gestures of liberation and connection.

Originating from performances held in Athens in 2024 with South African and Greek dancers, these monotypes evolved into large-scale tapestries. Suspended in space on curved hooks, the textiles reveal both sides, accompanied by woven floating clouds.

🎨 The Material World of Igshaan Adams

Drawing on his upbringing in Bonteheuwel under apartheid segregation, Adams (Cape Town, 1982) turns rope, wire, and beads into intricate explorations of race, religion, memory, and domestic patterns, approaching weaving as a communal and bodily act of repair.

ℹ️ Good to know: Located in galleries 204 and 208. Closed on Mondays, except during July and August.

✨ An evocative exploration of memory, rhythm, and spatial empathy.

Azkuna Zentroa hosts a fascinating journey into the science-fiction universe of renowned comic artist Albert Monteys, where graphic wit combines with satire and futuristic speculation. 🎨🚀

This exhibition is part of the 17th Ja! International Festival of Literature and Humorous Art, which focuses in this edition on sci-fi as a way to reflect on reality.

🎨 El asombro cósmico

📅 October 6 to November 1, 2026

🕐 Monday to Saturday 10:00-20:00, Sundays and public holidays 10:00-14:00

📍 AZ Azkuna Zentroa, Bilbao

🎟️ Free admission

📖 A graphic journey through speculative worlds

The exhibition highlights the science-fiction dimension of Albert Monteys's acclaimed career. It brings together selected page reproductions and illustrations from iconic works such as Universes (vols. I & II), Calavera Lunar, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Carlitos Fax.

Across these pages, space exploration, time travel, parallel dimensions, and technological musings meet humor and deep curiosity about human nature. The pieces reveal the artist's remarkable visual craft and his skill in questioning the present world through imaginative storytelling.

🎨 The 17th Ja! Festival and Albert Monteys

The showcase is featured within the 17th edition of the Ja! International Festival of Literature and Humorous Art, a cultural event that explores science fiction as a creative tool to ponder the future and imagine alternative realities.

Albert Monteys has created humorous comics throughout his life, starting with projects like Mondo Lirondo and Calavera lunar before his long tenure drawing for El Jueves magazine. His recent bibliography includes El show de Albert Monteys, Solid State, and his graphic novel adaptation of Slaughterhouse-Five.

✨ A fantastic occasion to enjoy the cosmic imagination and distinctive artwork of a master comic creator.

Itsasmuseum Bilbao presents an essential exhibition looking back at the maritime and industrial heritage of Bizkaia through the legacy of Sestao's shipyard. 🎨⚓

This temporary display pays tribute to naval technological advancements as well as the thousands of workers who drove daily life along the Left Bank.

🎨 LA NAVAL. CANTERA DE TITANES

📅 From October 7 to November 7, 2026

🕐 Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM

📍 Itsasmuseum Bilbao - Basque Maritime Museum, Bilbao

🎟️ Price not specified

📖 Industrial heritage and collective labor

The exhibition examines a pivotal era in regional industrial history through vessels, specialized trades, and technological breakthroughs. A large timeline provides historical context, focusing especially on the period from the 1960s to the end of the shipyard's activity.

Visitors will explore everything from oil tankers and cargo ships to cable-laying vessels, giant dredgers, and modern ferries, starting with aerial photographs of the dockyard and highlighting the detailed design work carried out in the Technical Office.

🏛️ Itsasmuseum Bilbao

Housed on the historic docks of the former Euskalduna shipyard, Itsasmuseum hosts this tribute to the labor identity and craftsmanship that shaped generations across Sestao and Barakaldo.

ℹ️ Good to know: Closed on Mondays, except for Mondays preceding public holidays, which open during normal hours.

✨ A vital tribute to the men and women who brought genuine maritime giants to life.

Sala Rekalde presents a new exhibition by artist Maider Aldasoro as part of the Barriek exhibition series. 🎨✨

This solo show brings together the creator's recent work, structured through a range of visual and performative languages.

🎨 Barriek: Maider Aldasoro Exhibition

📅 From 8 September to 22 November 2026

🕐 Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 to 15:00 and 16:30 to 20:00; Sundays and public holidays from 11:00 to 15:00

📍 Sala Rekalde, Bilbao

🎟️ Free admission

📖 Body, play and theatricality

In her artistic practice, Maider Aldasoro combines costume design, character development, video, and sculpture as primary mediums of expression.

Through the integration of these elements, she crafts evocative atmospheres where the body, dreamscapes, the theatrical, and the playful converge. Her work explores topics such as sexuality, playfulness, and power relationships.

🎨 Maider Aldasoro and the Barriek programme

Born in Mexico in 1992, Maider Aldasoro holds a degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Basque Country, completed an Erasmus period at Norwich University of the Arts, and earned a master's degree from the Complutense University of Madrid.

She has completed artistic residencies at Paradise Air (Tokyo) through the Ertibil Bizkaia programme—where she won second prize—, as well as at Azkuna Zentroa and Bilbaoarte Foundation. Her solo exhibitions include shows at ANTI Liburudenda, Art Lacuna (London), and Azkuna Zentroa.

ℹ️ Good to know: Closed on Mondays.

✨ A great opportunity to discover the captivating visual universe of Maider Aldasoro.

The Bilbao Reproduction Museum reflects on the vital role of artistic copies as essential tools for preserving and researching cultural heritage. 🎨🏛️

Organised as part of the European Heritage Days 2026, the exhibition brings together key items from the museum's collection alongside exceptional loans.

🎨 BIZITZA PARALELOAK. THE MEMORY OF COPIES

📅 From 1 October to 29 November 2026

🕐 18:00

📍 Bilbao Reproduction Museum, Bilbao

🎟️ Free

📖 The heritage value of reproduction

The exhibition highlights the electrotype reproduction of the Hildesheim Krater, on temporary loan from the National Sculpture Museum. Made in the 19th century through innovative industrial methods, it gained exceptional historical significance after the original piece was lost following World War II.

The exhibition route also features two iconic plaster casts from Bilbao: the Winged Victory of Samothrace, which preserves historical restoration elements no longer present on the Louvre original, and the Belvedere Torso, used in archaeological research and reconstructions.

🏛️ European Heritage Days 2026

This project illustrates how artistic reproductions possess their own history and remain active instruments for studying, understanding, and reinterpreting lost or altered treasures.

ℹ️ Good to know: Four free 30-minute micro-tours are available upon telephone registration at 944150231. Tours are conducted in Basque (9 October at 18:00 and 7 November at 12:00) and Spanish (23 October at 18:00 and 14 November at 12:00).

✨ A unique chance to explore how artistic copies safeguard our shared memory.

The Dantzaldia 2026 festival brings to Bilbao the contemporary dance piece "A ojo", a duet created and performed by Carmen Fumero and National Dance Award winner Dácil González. 🎭✨

The performance is part of the Dantzaldia 2026 festival programme and is developed with the collaboration of DDCdanza – Daniel Doña, Centro Cultural Eduardo Úrculo, and Centro Coreográfico Canal.

🎭 A OJO

📅 From September 24 to December 15, 2026

🕐 19:00

📍 Sala Rekalde, Bilbao

🎟️ Free

📖 Observing with the naked eye

"A ojo" is an 18-minute dance piece reflecting on looking with the naked eye, free of optical instruments that alter observation. The creation explores how what is perceived is shaped by the subjective viewpoint of the observer, linking perception to the way things and events are experienced in space.

With continuous change as the only constant element, the choreography discovers fissures across skin and surfaces that reveal ways of understanding the world and oneself. The piece features original music and sound accompaniment by Looking For Nafara and Aurora Arteaga Álvarez, photography by Miguel Zomas, and management by Claudia Morgana – Danzas del mundo.

🎭 Compañía Carmen Fumero

Compañía Carmen Fumero is led by Tenerife choreographer Carmen Fumero and dancer Miguel Zomas. Founded in 2012 as an experimental research project after winning First Prize at the Certamen Coreográfico de Madrid, their work has toured Spain, North America, Africa, and Asia.

Their creative methodology relies on impulse and improvisation, drawing from intuition and constant transformation without rigid forms, predefined boundaries, or predetermined aesthetic goals.

✨ An intimate contemporary dance experience at Sala Rekalde.

Euskal Museoa Bilbao presents a thought-provoking sculptural project honoring Basque women involved in pottery production and water carrying. A visual and tactile reflection bridging heritage and living history. 🎨🌊

Created by artist Ra Asensi, this exhibition is hosted in the Kukula space inside the Misericordia building, organized in collaboration with Gordailua.

🎨 UHINAK

📅 From July 8 to December 28, 2026

🕐 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 10:00–19:00; Sunday 10:00–14:00 (closed on Tuesdays)

📍 Basque Museum Bilbao (Miguel de Unamuno plaza, 4), Bilbao

🎟️ Price not specified

📖 Voices, clay, and water in constant transformation

“Uhinak”, meaning waves in Basque, stems from research based on interviews with former Porcelanas Bidasoa workers and artisan Blanka Gómez de Segura. These recorded memories inspire ceramic shapes modeled after soundwaves that inhabit the gallery.

The installation uses glazed stoneware with oxides, clay gathered in Ollerías, Cantabrian algae, corten steel, and local water. These changing materials continue to evolve over the months, turning the piece into a living work in progress.

🏛️ Kukula space and contemporary heritage

Set within the Kukula space, the exhibition reflects the mission of Euskal Museoa Bilbao, supported by Bilbao City Council and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, to create contemporary readings of cultural heritage.

ℹ️ Good to know: Closed on Tuesdays.

✨ A powerful journey uncovering overlooked memories through contemporary ceramic sculpture.

A fascinating look at the evolution of medieval rural communities through Basque archaeology. 🎨🏛️

Originally produced by BIBAT, the Archaeological Museum of Álava, this exhibition arrives in Bilbao enriched with significant archaeological findings from Bizkaia.

🎨 VILLAGES, A THOUSAND YEARS ON THE LAND

📅 From September 23, 2026 to January 17, 2027

🕐 Working days: 10:00-14:00 and 16:00-19:30. Sundays and public holidays: 10:30-14:00

📍 Arkeologi Museoa, Bilbao

🎟️ Not indicated

📖 About the exhibition

The temporary exhibition Herriak mila urte lurrean / Aldeas, mil años en la tierra explores how medieval villages emerged, evolved, and shaped the territorial landscape of the Basque Country and Navarre between the 8th and 15th centuries.

Through archaeological remains, reconstructions, and materials from diverse sites, the display provides broad insight into how these rural communities organized themselves, tracing their continuity up to modern settlements like Gasteiz or Gorliz.

🏛️ The venue and curation

Curated by Iñaki García Camino, Juan José Larrea Conde, David Larreina García, and Ernesto Pastor Díaz de Garayo, the exhibition preserves BIBAT's scientific framework while incorporating key Bizkaia archaeological materials.

✨ An essential archaeological journey to understand the origins of today's towns.

The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum presents an outstanding journey into the American continent through the eyes of artists and explorers from the 17th to the 20th century. 🎨🌎

The exhibition is part of the museum's inaugural program and brings together works from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection, curated by Estrella de Diego and sponsored by the BBVA Foundation.

🎨 Visiones de Ultramar. Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros

📅 From October 6, 2026 to January 21, 2027

🕐 Wednesday to Monday from 10:00 to 20:00

📍 Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, Bilbao

🎟️ Price not specified

📖 Wonder and nature across Latin America

Featuring over 150 pieces—including paintings, drawings, prints, maps, books, and photographs—the exhibition captures the curiosity inspired by Latin American landscapes before the emergence of local late-19th-century movements.

Key figures featured include baroque painter Frans Post, represented by two remarkable landscapes, and geographer Alexander von Humboldt, showcased through original publications containing his famous Naturgemälde alongside decisive travel chronicles.

🎨 Contemporary epilogue by Asier Mendizabal

A critical epilogue entitled «El orbe según la colección J.L» by artist Asier Mendizabal recontextualizes his installation acquired by the museum in 2025, drawing links to the Inca art collection compiled in Peru in 1930 by Bilbao poet Juan Larrea.

ℹ️ Good to know: Closed on Tuesdays. Museum closed on December 25, January 1, and January 6. Special opening hours from 10:00 to 14:00 on December 24 and 31.

✨ An exceptional opportunity to explore the visual narratives of the Americas in Bilbao.

The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum celebrates the legacy and passion for art collecting with a world-class exhibition. 🎨🏛️

This exhibition pays tribute to Plácido Arango (1931–2020), a major benefactor of the institution, as part of the museum's inaugural program.

🎨 THE SEARCH FOR THE BEGINNING

📅 From October 6, 2026 to January 21, 2027

🕐 Wednesday to Monday from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM

📍 Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, Bilbao

🎟️ Price not specified

📖 A tribute to art collecting

The exhibition is centered on the long-term loan of over one hundred works from Plácido Arango's personal collection. Building on this distinguished ensemble, the project outlines diverse artistic itineraries highlighting his visionary journey and exemplary contribution as a patron.

The presentation also features exceptional guest works by master painters such as Veronese, Velázquez, Sánchez Cotán, Picasso, and Regoyos, on loan from prestigious institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hispanic Society in New York, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Museo del Prado, and the Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias.

🏛️ Bilbao Fine Arts Museum

The Bilbao institution hosts this significant tribute within its inaugural program, honoring decades of collaboration and generosity from one of its foremost benefactors.

ℹ️ Good to know: Closed on Tuesdays, as well as on December 25, January 1, and January 6. On December 24 and 31, opening hours are shortened to 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

✨ An extraordinary chance to admire acclaimed masterworks gathered in homage to a visionary patron.

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao presents a major exhibition dedicated to the work of British creator Steve McQueen. 🎨

Curated by Lekha Hileman in Gallery 105, the show brings together the practice of one of contemporary art's most influential figures.

🎨 Steve McQueen : 66–76–26

📅 From October 9, 2026 to February 21, 2027

🕐 Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 20:00

📍 Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Abandoibarra etorbidea, 2, Bilbao

🎟️ Price not specified

📖 A sculptural experience through moving images

The exhibition explores Steve McQueen’s ability to address personal and collective themes through moving images. His works distill complex emotions into precise, minimalist narratives designed to make visitors intensely aware of themselves and their breathing.

Physical conditions of viewing—projection scale, sound, light, and the relationship between the viewer and space—are fundamental components of his work, granting it a distinctly sculptural quality.

🎨 The artist and the venue

Born in 1969 and based between London and Amsterdam, McQueen has forged a celebrated path spanning cinema and visual arts. Gallery 105 of Bilbao's iconic museum hosts this presentation examining spatial environments and sensory encounters.

ℹ️ Good to know: Located in Gallery 105. Closed on Mondays.

✨ A singular opportunity to experience the visual and auditory power of Steve McQueen in Bilbao.