7th March 2026: Minerals, ukiyo-e and paella (Madrid, Spain)

Posted on 25 July 2026 by JBinnacle

It might very well be that Madrid’s Expominerales is my favourite drop-in convention – free, easy-to-reach, and full of (literal) shiny stuff, most of which I can’t afford anyway, but I can gape at. For the 2026 edition, I informed my parents I was coming, and they decided to tag along. Ideas for the day included Expominerales and a Japanese wood-prints exhibition. One of my parents decided to add lunch to the mix, and we had a complete plan drawn up. From my previous trainless Expogema experience, I knew that the right time to leave the ETSIME is noon, so we planned to be there around 10:30, since that put us on the most convenient train.

Expominerales is held once a year, usually on the second weekend of March, in the Mining and Engineering School Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Minas y Energía (ETSIME). The main event is a literal rock fair – vendors from all over the world (but mostly Madrid) head there to sell their items at the cloister of the university: minerals, fossils, gems, meteorites, or items related to geology, such as magnifying glasses. Sometimes there are conferences or extra activities, and it is always a great moment to visit the little mining and mineral museum Museo Histórico-Minero Don Felipe de Borbón y Grecia. I’ve come to recognise a few of the vendors by now, there is a lady who always has very random shiny things, one who sets a large stand of marine fossils, and a seller who will talk your ear off just because you say hi. One I did not know had brought some rutile (titanium dioxide, TiO₂) from Brazil. This mineral is a titanium ore and it is used as a bright white pigment, and also as an ingredient of sun lotion, as it absorbs UV light. I however was just taken by how pretty it looked – and got myself a piece.

Collage showing expominerales and close-ups of a few displays

Something else I got is a “fossilised” chiton – I’m not completely sure whether it is an actual fossil and not just a cleaned out shell, it’s very light. Chitons are marine molluscs belonging to the class Polyplacophora. There are around 900 extant and 400 fossil species, all native to salt water, usually intertidal and sub-tidal areas. Chitons have one articulated dorsal shell with eight valves, usually composed of aragonite. Early Polyplacophora appeared in the Late Cambrian or Early Ordovician (around 487 million years ago), maybe stemming from a mutated limpet. Their current form evolved during the Paleozoic, having changed little since the Mesozoic (252 – 66 million years ago). Most are herbivorous grazers, scraping algae from the rocks they live on. They can glue themselves to surfaces, or roll into a protective ball if needed.

Fossil and rutile mineral

Of course, we all know that what I really wanted was a huge megalodon teeth that cost as much as I make in three months, but that I did not fall for it. After an hour or so, we headed out towards the underground towards the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, one of the most important cultural institutions in Spain – the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

The Academia was founded by Felipe V in 1752, right in the middle of the Absolutist period. It was conceived as a “trustee of knowledge and transmitter of the artistic tastes”, to mirror the Paris Academy for the Arts. It became a vehicle to promote Neoclassicism, the “correct” ways to create art (instead of Baroque, which had fallen out of grace), the teaching of the artistic protections and the research on the distant past – including Roman history, such as Pompeii, as at that time Naples was part of the kingdom of Spain. Today, it aims to “promote artistic creativity alongside the study, spreading and protection of cultural heritage, especially painting, sculpting, architecture, music” and whatever is meant by “the new imaging arts”. To be honest, I am not too sure what they do nowadays besides organising exhibits, concerts and conferences. It was running the exhibition “Beauties of the floating world – Bijin-ga in the golden age of ukiyo-e” Bellezas del Mundo Flotante. Bijin-ga en la edad de oro del ukiyo-e.

While the Museum of Zaragoza (Saragossa) is closed down, a lot of its collections are travelling or on loan. One of the strengths of that museum is its Asian Arts collections, part of which is the personal property known as Colección Pasamar Onila (formerly Colección Víctor Pasamar Gracia).

The collection comprises almost 300 pieces of Japanese woodblock printing [木版画, mokuhanga], specialised in the bijin-ga [美人画] topic within the ukiyo-e [浮世絵] genre. Ukiyo-e – images of the floating world – flourished between the 17^th and 19^th centuries. They were produced en masse, stamping rice paper with successive ink-coated wood blocks that created the final picture. The images represented landscapes, travel scenes, mythology, the passing of the seasons, and famous people – including kabuki actors, sumo wrestlers, members of the nobility, and courtesans. The term bijin-ga [美人画], literally means “images of beautiful people”, mainly beautiful women (美 is a gender-charged kanji, kind of more similar to pretty).

The exhibition organised by the Academia hosts 77 prints that span the whole history of ukiyo-e. Most of them depict beautiful women with different focuses – noblewomen, courtesans, ladies at home, and snippets from the Tale of Genji (one of the classical works in Japanese literature). One of the important details about the collection is that a lot of the prints were originally published by female artists, making it unique in Europe.

My favourite piece of the exhibition was a print from 1823 (Edo Period) by Kikugawa Eizan [菊川英山筆] Momiji no ga [紅葉賀] (“Atumn leaves”, one of the chapters in the Tale of Genji) from the series Azuma sugata Genji awase [東姿源氏合] Eastern Figures Matched with the Tale of Genji, which just shows a woman reading the book looking absolutely absorbed in the story. However, a lot of the prints were extremely impressive, especially considering how rare it is to see so many together, spanning all the ukiyo-e golden age. It does make me wonder the need to announce that the exhibition “contains explicit images” as there are… a whole two erotica wood-prints.

Japanese blockprints depicting ladies doing different activities in traditional clothes

The exhibition is located next to the Goya collection Gabinete Francisco de Goya. Francisco de Goya was one Spain’s most important painters, and he also did several collections of prints in aquatint and etching. The plates that he originally engraved are preserved in the Academia. Unfortunately, these happened in his era of being disappointed by any and everything, so they are gory at best, disgusting at worst – they show humanity at its lowest, to the point that the witchcrafts motifs might be the less disturbing ones.

Afterwards, we crossed over towards Galerías Canalejas, which now features a not-so-small art gallery selling contemporary art. There were no prices, but nothing I would feel drawn to… except some… doughnut-like art with people presented as ants… which was weird, but colourful. Hey, it was cold and rainy, so it was just a pastime out of the winter weather.

We headed to La Casa Gallega for lunch. This is a place that my parent likes, which is always tricky due to family dynamics. In the end, I got away with a dish I wanted, empanada gallega (tuna pie). We also ordered some smoked cod carpaccio carpaccio de bacalao ahumado and one of the Spanish rices they prepare paella marinera, with seafood (prawns, mussels, squid and clams). It was really good, and I enjoyed it much better than the steakhouse we tried in January.

Paella - large pan with cooked rice with mussels and prawns

Finally, we headed back towards the railway system and headed home. Or nap on the train while digesting the rice.

11th December 2024: CBA, hotpot and lights (Madrid, Spain)

Posted on 25 January 2025 by JBinnacle

Since I was meeting my sibling for the yearly event of Naturaleza Encendida in Madrid in the evening, I decided get there early and make the most out of the day. As I arrived, I headed to the Círculo de Bellas Artes (literally “Fine Arts Circle”). The CBA is a sort of NGO dedicated to culture and the arts. Its headquarters host many activities such as exhibitions, theatre plays, concerts, lectures… The building was designed by Antonio Palacios, one of my favourite architects. It has seven floors, some of them used for events, others for offices. There is even a small theatre.

The CBA was running an exhibition called “Messenger Species” Especies Mensajeras, by artist Álvaro Soler-Arpa. It is a collection of pieces created from animal bones and items found in dumps. Born in Gerona in 1974, Soler-Arpa is a multifaceted artist who does publicity illustration and creates distressing sculptures using animal bones as its medium to make the viewer to think about waste and pollution. This exhibition of modern art is described as “ecological art for reflection”. I thought that it could be either really good or a holier-than-thou approach, but my curiosity was piqued.

The exhibit collects selected pieces from four series of sculptures: “Toxic Evolution” (Evolución tóxica), “Devastated Nature” (Naturaleza devastada), “Design-methastasis” (Diseño-metástasis) and “Sculptures from the End of the World” (Esculturas del fin del mundo). It was… disturbing, but in a good way. It did not feel preachy. The idea is that nature is affected by the consumerism in current society, but not dying – adapting to it. The imagined futuristic animals are a warning sent through time – nature is resilient and it will survive. Us humans? Maybe not if we do not get any better.

Álvaro Soler-Arpa's Especies Mensajeras

There was another exhibition in the building about the consequences of war, but I decided I could not stomach that one. However, I had the access ticket, so I could take the glass lift to the famous terrace of the building – the one that kicked off a trend of opening terraces in Madrid to watch the skyline while having a drink. It was too cold and too closed to have anything, but I did get a nice view, especially of the Palacio de Telecomunicaciones and the Spanish language Institute Instituto Cervantes, both designed by Antonio Palacios too. The terrace is mostly flat, with a bar and an impressive sculpture of Minerva made in bronze by Juan Luis Vassallo. Minerva – Roman goddess of wisdom and art – is the symbol of the CBA. There is also a smaller and higher structure that looks like it could hold an even better view, but that was closed off.

Skyline from Azotea Círculo Bellas Artes

The CBA building has many cool spaces, such as the ball room (Salón de Baile) or the colonnade room (Sala de Columnas). However, my favourite part of the building are.. the stairs. They are designed as a double staircase with mirrors at the landings, and coloured windows alongside the steps. One of the sides is less bright now, because a building was erected and blocks the sun. I still find the staircase superb, so I hung around there for a while until the security guard gave me a weird look.

Stairs Círculo Bellas Artes

I left the CBA and walked down the street Calle Alcalá and stopped at Galerías Canalejas just to see what kind of decorations they had. It turned out to nutcrackers and elves inside and a huge Christmas tree outside. I still cannot afford anything they sell there.

Chrismas at Galerías Canalejas

I continued down towards the square Plaza de Oriente, where there was a classic merry-go-round – empty and ready to be ridden. Thus, since I have no shame, I went on it. The salesperson was incredibly kind, since I was the only rider – and an adult at that – and yet they directed me to a horse which moved up and down and showed me how to climb on it.

Then, I backtracked to the shop Turrones Casa 1880 in the street Calle Arenal, which hosts a small Museo del Turrón. Turrón is a typical Spanish confectionery eaten mostly at Christmas. It is mainly made out of processed almonds, and 1880 is probably the most famous brand – and it prides itself on the most expensive one. I am not a fan of turrón, to be honest, but it was almost Christmas, and if I was ever going to do it, that was the right time frame. The museum is mostly an audiovisual in a decorated cellar, with a photo-op, but the staff was really nice.

At 14:30 sharp, I met up with my sibling for a restaurant that I’ve been wanting to try for a while 壹锅火锅 Hotpot de Sichuan. Hotpot [火锅, huǒguō] is a Chinese type of stew based on a stock or soup that is kept simmering in the table itself, and you just grab the raw ingredients and dip them in the broth to cook them – imagine a fondue with broth instead of cheese. We ordered a menu for two, a pot with two broths, one mushroom-based and one meat-based. The dips were spring onion, coriander (which was not used, because I hid it), shrimp mince, thin beef slices, tofu stripes, Chinese black mushrooms, cabbage, and rice noodles, along with two sauces – one slightly spicy, and my beloved sesame and peanut sauce. The food was great, but at 15:40, the waiters popped up to tell us that they wanted to close the restaurant, and then stood up next to us until we finished and left. It was more than a bit awkward, so we hurried up to do so. While the food was great, the situation spoilt our experience a little, I think. We were still eating, not slouching around. I am not sure I would want to go back…

Afterwards, my sibling had to do some shopping, so we spent a while going up and down some shops and a department store, before we headed out to Naturaleza Encendida in the park Parque Enrique Tierno Galván. This is a yearly light show organised in Madrid parks – it used to take place in the Botanical Gardens, before it was moved to a larger area. The 2024 edition is titled Naturaleza Encendida: Life.

Naturaleza Encendida Life

To be fair, I was a little bit disappointed, as “Life” turned out to have mostly figures reused from the last few events. Though the organisers tried to build a narrative of water, land and air topics, the novelty had worn off. It was not bad, but the show keeps getting more and more expensive every year, with fewer and fewer perks for the VIP tiers. Furthermore, the new larger location does not imply more light sculptures – they’re just spread farther apart so they can fit more people without it feeling crowded, so it simply takes longer to walk it through. This has its advantages and disadvantages – it was good last year when we had to go on a weekend but this time around it just felt… colder. They also tried to give the whole thing an ecologist spin, and this time it did come out preachy… I mean, it is a show of lights, which technically could count as light pollution, without any actual… purpose… but charging you to watch pretty lights.

Naturaleza Encendida Life

That was the end of the day, and we just headed home afterwards, but aside having to wait for the train for over half an hour, nothing to report on that end.