The Dalí retrospective sponsored by Abertis through its subsidiary in Brazil -Arteris- has ended a tour in Brazil totalling 1,500,000 visitors in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and surpassing previous records in France (Pompidou Centre in Paris) and Spain (Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid). The Rio de Janeiro edition, which could be visited from may to september 2014, received almost one million visitors (970.000); making it the exhibition of this surrealist artist with the highest number of visitors in history, the most visited exhibition of the year in Brazil, and one of the most popular in the history of this south American country. The Sao Paulo edition, lasting less than the rest (from october 2014 to january 2015), received more than 530,000 visitors.

This retrospective, which was on display at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil in Rio de Janeiro and the Instituto Ohtake in Sao Paulo, is the largest anthological exhibition of original works by Salvador Dalí ever displayed in Latin America, with examples from the three main custodians of the artist’s work: The Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation(Figueres), the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg (Florida, USA) and the Reina Sofía Museum (Madrid).

Social Corporate Responsibility in the 21st century

The success of this exhibition is an example of the contribution of companies, Abertis among them, in the promotion of culture. It is a clear example of 21st- century Social Corporate Responsibility, where private companies, the public sector and the cultural institutions, such as the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, the Reina Sofia Museum, the Georges Pompidou Centre or the Tomie Ohtake Institute, go hand in hand on an international level with the benefits of fiscal regulation frameworks that encourage cultural patronage, and consequently the development of communities.

An experience that is setting the trend in the international Social Corporate Responsibility strategy of Abertis. The Group is currently working on further patronage for the next few months, so that works of Spanish artists can travel to countries where Abertis is operating, such as France, Chile or Brazil.

Spain has also been important for Abertis with regard to cultural promotion in 2014. We can highlight, among others, the sponsorship of an exhibition of the pop artist Richard Hamilton in the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid or the retrospective on Antoni Tàpies in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya.

Educational and social actions

Cultural patronage, an action that involves a company in a community and the social fabric, as established in Abertis’ Strategic Social Responsibility Plan, in which the company understands culture as a value that enriches people and improves their quality of life.

In the case of the Dalí exhibition in Brazil, a new educational and social action has been launched with the objective of approaching the culture to children and disadvantaged people. During the editions in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, the sponsorship was accompanied by workshops and special visits, where 640 children, disabled people and neighbours from disadvantaged areas (favelas) were able to discover the work of Salvador Dalí through different activities, such as “Design your Dream” in which participants could develop their creativity designing things based on the work of this Spanish surrealist artist.