In the new edition of the PROYECTOR Festival, we propose a tour of the shop windows of SEARA and NUA, which transform their large windows into an observation capsule: an intermediate space between the institutional interior and the public street, which functions as a metaphor for the visible and invisible control mechanisms that govern our lives.
In No More Heroes, Avelino Sala literally dismantles the figure of the classic hero, leaving only his absence carved in negative: empty boots, disembodied mounts. This image, simultaneously ironic and tragic, challenges the historical glorification of male and military leaders and reminds us that many of its monuments are built on forced silences.
KAYA & BLANK, in Intermodal, shifts the gaze to an industrial and global scale. The video captures the massive choreography of ships and cranes that sustain the contemporary consumer economy. Beneath its minimalist aesthetic lies a tension: a fascination with colossal machinery and anxiety about a system that, in the name of efficiency, renders bodies invisible and depletes resources.
Service au drapeau, by André Goldberg, ironically addresses the ceremonial gestures of power. Flags—symbols of nations, but also of exclusion—are served as if they were fine dishes at a negotiating table. The repetitive and ceremonial act highlights the theatrical, arbitrary, and often empty nature of the rituals of sovereignty and belonging.
Viewed from the street, these works invite us to look with critical—but also responsible—distance at the icons, systems, and rituals that define who we believe ourselves to be as a society. In times of symbolic crisis and systemic collapse, the shop window becomes a mirror, a showcase, and a warning.
2025 arrives filled with moving images with a new edition of the PROYECTOR Festival: New Hertzog Da Silva Awards and the 3rd Edition of VERTICAL <25
The PROYECTOR platform showcases and distributes the most experimental and cutting-edge proposals from the international scene. The Festival is known for its non-cinemanormative works—pieces that fall outside traditional formats and engage directly with space and the active viewer.
From September 10 to 21, 2025, more than twenty venues across Madrid will intersect to present new languages and formats through around 100 works of expanded cinema, performance, video art, site-specific pieces, interactive installations, and unique premieres presented for the first time at the Festival.
PROYECTOR collaborates with both independent and established spaces, spanning from the city center to surrounding neighborhoods of the capital. These venues are filled with video art proposals curated by the PROYECTOR platform as well as by the galleries and museums that form part of the OFF Circuit.
In its 18th edition, the Hertzog Da Silva Awards return! A total of 6 prizes will be awarded to works selected through the public call by this edition’s jury. Each year, the jury is made up of international professionals specializing in experimental video art. For this edition, the jury includes both artists and curators.
Thanks to Hertzog Da Silva, the VERTICAL <25 call for young creators who embrace verticality will allow the winner to enjoy a production residency in 2026 and the exhibition of their work at the next edition of the PROYECTOR Festival.
PROYECTOR continues to support Madrid’s contemporary scene, collaborating with more than 25 spaces this year and opening doors to artist studios.
The Festival is committed to equality and to the internationalization of a free and accessible culture. That’s why each year, more than half of the selected works are by women artists from up to 30 different countries, and all festival activities are free of charge.
Additionally, all events—including openings, talks, performances, and workshops—will be streamed online (via YouTube and Vimeo) to ensure international accessibility.
The platform collaborates with universities, offering younger generations the opportunity to gain training and integrate into the cultural sector. We are grateful for the support and sponsorship of associations, galleries, foundations, private companies, embassies, venues, and above all, the artists who make it all possible.
Teresa Sapey Collection (Marina Abramović, Haluk Akakce, Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla, Eugenio Ampudia, Anthony Goicolea, Tilo Baumgartel, Erick Beltrán, Candice Breitz, Hussein Chalayan, Miguel Chevalier, A. K. Dolven, Leandro Erlich, Jon Mikel Euba, Glenda León, Ruth Gómez Aragón, Dionisio González, Douglas Gordon, Barnaby Hosking, Christian Jankowski, Maria Loboda, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Julian Opie, João Onofre, Tony Oursler, James Paterson, Sergio Prego, Michael Reese, Thiago Rocha Pitta, Charles Sandison, Martín Sastre, Mary Sue, Grazia Toderi, Patrick Tutofoco, Luis Úrculo, Robert Wilson, Wendy Wischer, Jordan Wolfson.)
