Arts and culture

Sir George Benjamin (composer, conductor and Henry Purcell Professor of Composition at King's College London) has been awarded the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the category of Music and Opera for "his extraordinary contribution and impact in contemporary creation in the realms of symphonic music, opera and chamber music," according to the committee.

The BBVA Foundation and Salt, a non-profit cultural institution founded by Garanti BBVA, are joining forces to launch a grant program for Turkish artists, which includes a two-week residency in Spain and the opportunity to show the work produced in Türkiye and Spain.

Garanti BBVA employees have commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye with an exhibit titled ‘One Hundred Years Ago, One Hundred Years Later: Mustafa Kemal Pasha's Path to the Republic in Photographs.’

NFTs are unique and verifiable representations of digital assets, such as works of art, music, videos, virtual collectibles and other types of digital content, based on blockchain technology to guarantee their authenticity and ownership. Over 64 percent of those who purchase NFTs do so for profitability, while 12 percent are simply collectors.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Music and Opera has gone in this fourteenth edition to Philip Glass “for his extraordinary contribution to musical creation and opera, with a major impact in the music history of the 20th and 21st centuries,” in the words of the award committee.

Garanti BBVA is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its support for the Istanbul Jazz Festival, one of Turkey's longest-running festivals, without interruption.

Technology will continue to redouble the capacity of digital businesses in 2022 and will bring opportunities to the world to liberalise data, mitigate climate change, look after people's health, advance education and even create parallel universes.

Founded by Garanti BBVA in 2011 to support the production of knowledge, culture, and arts, SALT's 10th year anniversary activities continue with Ardışık (The Sequential) video screenings to be held at Madrid’s Museo Reina Sofía on 19-20 November. The two-day program, which will start with the participation of artists Fatma Belkıs and Onur Gökmen and the presentation of SALT Research and Programs Director Meriç Öner, will feature the works of six artists from Turkey.

Founded in 2011, the platform by Garanti BBVA has received more than three million visitors in ten years thanks to its original offer of content and activities. The entity encourages participation and learning and preserves collective memory, which it makes available to future generations through freely accessible archives and research resources, as well as exhibits and programs.

Garanti BBVA has been developing social investment programs for years with the aim of creating common values. With this in mind, the non-profit organization SALT was founded in 2011, which is now Garanti BBVA´s most important cultural and artistic initiative.

BBVA invested 77.6 million euros in knowledge, education and culture activities in 2019, about 68 percent of the Group’s social investments. These initiatives, carried out as part of BBVA’s Community Investment Plan, benefitted 7.2 million people.

Garanti BBVA founded SALT in 2011 as an autonomous non-profit entity devoted to the dissemination of culture and the development of independent and sustainable content production environments.

BBVA Foundation recognizes the Estonian composer with the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Category of Music and Opera for cultivating an original language, which has led to the creation of a unique sound world. In its citation, the jury underscores that Arvo Pärt’s creations are “a fresh approach to spiritual music, especially in his choral oeuvre, that reduces the musical material to the essence.”

BBVA Global Wealth (GW), the BBVA Group private global banking unit has entered into an agreement with art advisory firm We Collect to expand its art advisory services to customers in Spain and Switzerland. One of BBVA GW’s goals is to promote non-financial art-related issues, incorporating new opportunities for customers throughout 2020.

On Sunday, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston opened its latest in a long line of collaborations with BBVA USA: The traveling exhibition Glory of Spain: Treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library.

AVA Digital Awards recently recognized the BBVA Music Sessions for the second consecutive year, highlighting the unique concert series that features rising artists in multiple popular genres. These exclusive BBVA Music Sessions are part of the bank’s multiyear agreement with AEG to create one-of-a-kind opportunities for customers in the form of innovative events, concerts and brand activations.

SALT is a unique, constantly growing cultural organization and plays an important role in raising awareness about Turkey's cultural heritage and creating collective memory.

The exhibition ‘Sound Art?’, sponsored exclusively by the BBVA Foundation, addresses the issue of sound in art and raises the possibility of this aesthetic category. The art show explores the presence of sound elements in 20th Century visual arts. Curated by the expert Arnau Horta, the exhibit is open to visitors at the Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona from October 26, 2019  through February 23, 2020.

Pop/R&B artist Iyla performed on September 19 at one of the award-winning BBVA Music Sessions concerts for free at the Brick at Blue Star.

BBVA and AEG, as part of its multi-year agreement, are jump starting the second round of BBVA Music Sessions starting on August 30 in Houston, celebrating the 183rd year since Houston was founded with a free concert in the heart of downtown. Powered by AXS, the kickoff of the award-winning concert series is headlined by platinum-certified singer-songwriter Alec Benjamin, who started taking over playlists with his now RIAA platinum certified single “Let Me Down Slowly” from his critically acclaimed debut mixtape “Narrated For You.” Most recently, the young artist released his spellbinding and biographical new single “Jesus in LA” alongside an official video that tackles the highs and lows in the city of Angels. Joining Alec will be MAX, who is fresh off his iHeartRadio Music Awards nomination as 2019's Best New Pop Artist and known for his global hit 'Lights Down Low'.

Some organizations foment innovation in the contexts that dictate the present. But innovation is intimately tied to the future and variations of the future. Thus, inspiring creativity is also offering ideas about what is possible and forthcoming. Perhaps this is the key to true realism.

According to BBVA, knowledge, education, and culture are fundamental drivers for the creation and development of opportunities for individuals. In 2018 alone, the bank invested €75.5 million in these areas, helping 3.8 million people.

Art as an investment is gaining momentum as a way to help diversify wealthy customers’ portfolios. BBVA’s global private banking unit, Global Wealth, has an agreement with the consulting firm The Fine Art Group to offer its customers comprehensive art advisory services. The goal is for high net-worth customers to understand and manage art as an investment.

The BBVA Foundation has recognized composer John Adams with the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Music and Opera category. The jury’s citation underscores Adam’s tremendous communication skills and his determination to engage with the public. Although the North-American maestro’s works span every genre, it is in opera that he has come fully into his own.

Access to the arts can play a major role in a city’s quality of life, its tourism efforts and its overall cultural and economic health. Because most organizations that offer that access -- through art museums, symphony orchestras, ballet companies and others -- are typically non-profit, they must rely heavily on the support and collaboration of patrons and corporate donors who share their vision.

The exhibition “Thing Indescribable” by Jenny Holzer will be open to the public until September 9th. Sponsored by the BBVA Foundation, the exhibition consists of a wide range of artwork created specifically for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. BBVA Foundation Director Rafael Pardo, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Director Juan Ignacio Vidarte, the artist Jenny Holzer and curator Petra Joos attended the opening event.