Photo: Fred Romero from Paris, France · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Tabacalera Promoción del Arte

Former tobacco factory in Lavapiés, contemporary art space of the Ministry of Culture, temporarily closed for works.

Temporarily closed

Temporarily closed. The building remains closed to the public for renovation works to convert it into a production and artist-residency centre; no reopening date has been announced.

About the museum

Tabacalera occupies the former Fábrica de Tabacos de Madrid (Madrid Tobacco Factory), a building erected between 1780 and 1792. It was founded as the Real Fábrica de Aguardientes y Naipes (Royal Factory of Spirits and Playing Cards) and, after a brief period of activity, became a tobacco and snuff factory in 1809, a use it kept until the end of the 20th century.

The Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte (Ministry of Culture and Sport) has managed the building since 2003. In 2007 it was planned as the Centro Nacional de las Artes Visuales; later the Subdirección General de Museos Estatales ran it as Tabacalera Promoción del Arte, with a continuous programme of temporary exhibitions and activities on photography, contemporary art and the visual arts.

The space included a main hall of about 1,200 m² for large-format exhibitions, the La Fragua room for emerging artists and specific projects, studios for residencies and site-specific projects, and an urban art area on the walls of the courtyard. The main hall opened to the public with the exhibition E·CO in 2010.

The building is now closed to the public while it is being converted into a production and artist-residency centre of the Ministry of Culture. After the remediation works of 2021, facades, roofs and joinery are being restored, and the garden is also expected to be recovered for public opening.