Sevilla | Upcoming
AVE DOÑANA III
La Vida
2026-2027
META Miami presents:
AVE Doñana III
Artistic residencies, exhibitions, educational activities, art and science.
Building upon the sustained collaboration developed with the Doñana Biological Station, the Biodiversity Foundation, and Henrique Faria, the AVE Doñana Project deepens the intersection of artistic inquiry, scientific research, and environmental preservation in the Doñana reserve. This third edition expands its scope through a dual artistic gaze: an immersive residency by Mariana Bunimov alongside sustained field studies by Dionisio González. Together, their works examine the vital dynamics, fragilities, and interconnected processes of a changing wetland, bringing together contemporary art, scientific dialogue, and environmental awareness to reflect on the living memory of the territory.
The Project
AVE Doñana is a cultural initiative created to build bridges between two protected spaces connected across the Atlantic—Hato El Frío in Venezuela and the Doñana National Park in Spain—using contemporary art to communicate the ecological richness and urgent state of these ecosystems.
Doñana—a Biosphere Reserve, UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of Europe’s most critical wetlands—currently faces a severe crisis. The combined pressures of climate change and water overexploitation for agriculture and tourism have depleted its aquifers to unprecedented levels, threatening local biodiversity and disrupting the migratory routes of countless species. With experts warning of imminent and irreversible degradation, the project emerges as a multidisciplinary platform uniting art, science, education, and collective memory to foster shared responsibility. Through artistic residencies, film series, panel discussions, guided tours, and the educational program Los niños pintan Doñana, what begins as an exhibition evolves into an open dialogue across diverse languages and perspectives.
While previous editions focused on the dialogue between art and nature, this third installment expands its scope to encompass the living fabric that sustains the territory: an interconnected web of people, traditions, trades, and memories that have shaped the landscape alongside the water, wind, and sand. This dynamic heritage is not preserved behind glass, but lives on through traditional crafts, local voices, classroom learning, and contemporary creation.
Within this framework stands the exhibition NIDOS: Mariana Bunimov y Dionisio González, presented at the headquarters of the Biodiversity Foundation within the historic Real Alcázar of Seville. The exhibition centers on the concept of the nest—an intrinsically simple structure where animal architecture, ecological balance, and environmental fragility intersect—reimagining the entire Doñana sanctuary as a monumental vital refuge connecting Europe and Africa.
The exhibition brings together two complementary approaches forged through direct experience in the reserve. Mariana Bunimov captures the vibration and raw energy of untouched landscapes on canvas, where apparent empty spaces hold a profound fullness. In contrast, Dionisio González introduces weightless structures that inhabit the landscape without claiming ownership over it, originating from a deeply personal process of grief and immersive exploration across the Coto. Between Bunimov’s painterly resonance and González’s spatial interventions, Doñana reveals itself as an expansive canvas where artistic creation and environmental conservation merge into a single sanctuary.
