Miquel Iceta at the presentation of the Picasso year: "There are facets of his life that, in light of today, can be answered"

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The Ministry of Culture and Sports has presented the Picasso year that will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of the artist from Malaga and that puts on the table the debate about the life of "excesses" of the author of

.

"Picasso is a person who is a child of his time and with all the contradictions: he had a passionate character, he loved passion and tried to control it. All of that will be in this year, but we cannot avoid promoting his work

, just as debatable aspects cannot be ignored", said the Minister of Culture, Miquel Iceta, during the presentation.

The minister himself has pointed to Picasso as an artist capable of "defining the 20th century".

"If there is an artist who

, who represents it with all its cruelty, its violence, its passion, its excesses, and its contradictions, this artist is, without a doubt, Pablo Picasso", Iceta pointed out.

"We want to present Picasso as he was, celebrate his work but not hide facets of his life that, in today's light, can be answered. The greatness of his work overlaps other issues, but

or hide them and that is what we are going to do," added the minister.

In an act in which the painter's grandson, Bernard Ruiz Picasso, was present -"this commemoration has the support of the family", recalled Iceta-, the French Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, also recognized that

about Picasso.

A "POLITICAL AND COMMITMENT" WORK

"In the end, the life of the artist is his creative process and that process must be understood. But once the work is done, it escapes the artist and there are

of each one. We must be careful, because we cannot summarize all that work to the artist's relationship with women", the minister remarked.

Abdul Malak has recalled that Picasso's work is "very important" and with "many other aspects" that stand out.

"His work speaks of politics, democracy, commitment and the fight against Francoism.

. We must open up to all fields of the work and not cover it up with a reading that is only focused on a few aspects", he defended.

In fact, he has pointed out -with the backdrop of

that current affairs responds to those questions posed by Picasso regarding "the violence of war".

"I listen to the debates

, defending the fight for equality and gender every day, but Picasso's work should not be summed up only in this," she claimed.

In total, fifty activities are planned

.

Two conferences and 42 exhibitions have been scheduled so far: 16 in Spain, 12 in France, seven in the United States, two in Germany, two in Switzerland, one in the Principality of Monaco, one in Romania and one in Belgium.

The celebration is the result of the work between France and Spain since March 15, 2021, when a memorandum was signed to institutionalize

.

A total of 17 exhibitions will be held in Spain, in 14 different institutions such as the Prado, Reina Sofía or Thyssen national museums, among others --the first exhibition will be next October 10 at the Thyssen Museum and will close at the Reina Sofía on November 11, 2023--.

In terms of economics, Iceta has advanced that the public contribution of the State to this celebration will be

, plus the cost of insurance for the transfer of works.

In addition, a single private sponsor, Telefónica, will contribute the same amount.

The minister has also alluded to possible cost overruns for a moment of inflation in the transfer of works, stating that "there will be something, but we will know how to deal with it".

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