Bueño’s Artistic Centre has become a reality. This new cultural centre has opened its doors to the public three years after its construction project came up on top in the first edition of EDP Foundation’s Public Art contest.

Many personalities have come to the inauguration of this new public space: the president of the Principality of Asturias, Adrián Barbón; Portugal’s ambassador in Spain, João Mira-Gomes; the minister of Taxes and European Funds of the Principality of Asturias, Guillermo Peláez; the mayor of Ribera de Arriba, Tomás Fernández; the president of the EDP Foundation, Manuel Menéndez; the director of the EDP Foundation, Vanda Martins; and cultural producer of the Lisbon Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT, by its initials in Portuguese), Fernando Ribeiro. All agreed on the success of this project and the need to keep promoting initiatives to support rural areas and their inhabitants.

This new space, product of a collaboration between the EDP Foundation and the Local Government of Ribera de Arriba to promote socioeconomical growth and to bind people to the territory, aims to offer a multifunctional artistic context capable of creating an innovative and socially inclusive environment in rural areas. The participation of the Portuguese embassy and the MAAT has also managed to build a formidable link between the municipality and Portugal that will boost the centre’s cultural offer and contribute to its international reach.

The idea of an Artistic Centre in Bueño, presented by three architecture students from the University of Zaragoza ―Marta Molins, Diego Catena and Claudia Gadea―, was selected at the Public Art contest because of the innovation, creativity and eagerness of the proposal.

The complex’s construction began in 2022 and it has offered these young people a chance to turn their work into a reality by taking part in the whole process and working together towards the improvement of Bueño’s facilities. “The contest inspired us from the get-go: a captivating project and a captivating site. Best of all: if we won, the project would be carried out, this time for real; it would be built. That was our biggest encouragement”, they acknowledged.

With a surface of 3,000 square metres, Bueño’s Artistic Centre is integrated in the surroundings of the town square, and it is designed after an “hórreo”, an emblematic architectural construction in the area. The usage of concrete stands out in the building’s construction at 1,250 tons used for the weight bearing walls surrounding the space, alongside 52 tons of steel for the structure of the main room.

The facilities are made up of a 180 degrees stage, that makes it possible to hold shows of up to 3,000 people in its space, and a single 155 square metre room where exhibitions and various types of artistic and cultural events can be carried out.

João Pimenta Gomes, anaudio-visual artist, has carried out the first ever show in the exhibit room, his performance “Love Cry”. This first work will remain in the new space until the 17th December 2023, open from Tuesdays to Sundays, free to the public. As for the stage, placed over the exhibit room, the music group Algaire and the fado singer Carminho have been the first artists to play on it.

During the event, Bueño’s House of Arts has also seen the opening of the exhibition “Calma y movimiento” ("Stillness and motion"), by the renowned Asturian sculptor Herminio Álvarez.

By setting Bueño’s Artistic Centre in motion, the EDP Foundation reinforces its commitment to people and the surroundings of those territories where the EDP Group has a presence, involving the community, stimulating the development of these areas and boosting their transformation. Through its Public Arts contest, the Foundation also offers a chance for all young creators in Spain to see their first big project come to fruition; a legacy that will last long in the territory.