Marbella International Art Festival 2012: 80+ artists & 3 days of free entertainment!

One of Marbella’s fastest growing, most popular and dynamic cultural events, the FIAM Festival Internacional de Arte – the largest street art festival in Southern Spain – will be taking up residence in the Avenida del Mar, in the heart of the town from 21 to 24 June, when more than 20,000 art lovers are expected to descend on the spectacular white tented village created specifically for the event. Now in its 4^th year, FIAM will be showcasing the works of 80+ artists of around 25 nationalities, including Spanish, British, German, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Ukrainian and Cuban, whose talents span a wide variety of artistic disciplines such as figurative and abstract painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, murals, volumetric art, lithographs, collage, pencil drawing, digital graffiti and textile art. This year, too, several collectives will be taking part, including an artists’ group from Mijas, a Hispanic-Russian collective and both the AIA and Arte Groups.

Highlights will include a unique work by 3-dimensional photographer Daniel Posner, who’ll be exhibiting a 3-metre long, recently created aerial image of Marbella. Taken from an altitude of 2,500 metres, the limited edition work features the entire town all the way from San Pedro to the eastern side of La Concha mountain. Cero Arte, a new gallery on Marbella’s Golden Mile, will be exhibiting works by Nigel Cooke and Angelo Bellini, while gallery art director James Blinkhorn – a highly acclaimed British artist – will be giving away a fabulous work of his own, entitled Peggy Sue and Lilly too, as an introductory promotion. This year, Málaga’s prestigious Museo Carmen Thyssen is also collaborating with non-profit making organisation FIAM and will be bringing to the festival a gigantic artistic jigsaw puzzle which visitors can help put together. But it’s not only about art. The Gourmet Corner will be returning to the event, with a selection of restaurants offering freshly made gastronomic treats throughout the festival, while a vibrant 3-day complementary programme of quality free entertainment is guaranteed to bring the town centre alive from midday to 11pm.

The performances – including music, theatre and dance – will take place in Avenida del Mar, and with performers flying in from around the globe, there’ll be jazz, pop, opera, flamenco and swing on offer, as well as the many talents of Sotogrande International School, whose students will be putting on a Dickensian-style drama, a comedy and also taking a nostalgic look at the Beatles. The line-up of live entertainment also features:

• Broadway Musicals: bringing together the voices of Steve Shapelle, Adele Lee Peters, Gemma Lloyd & Benjamin James.
• The Mighty Pimps: A versatile blues band fronted by popular musician and entertainer Chas Burnett.
• Temo: Iconic Georgian-Russian pop singer and recording artist.
• Salome: Another exceptional young Georgian vocalist and resident of Marbella.
• Hungarian vocalist Tamas Zsigrai will be playing tribute to Michael Buble.
• Also doing some impressive covers, Jordana will be performing hits by Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse & Adele.

For more information, you can download a copy of the programme here.