Paris has the Eiffel Tower, London has Nelson’s Column, New York has The Statue of Liberty and Malaga has the sculpture of Picasso. The statue attracts both, the tourists and locals who love to get close to Picasso, take a photo and make a unique souvenir.

TVSpain has collected some amazing and amusing photographs and produced a video “Picasso and Me” as a part of a new channel www.PicassoMalaga.tv (click play to view the video)

A full-body sculpture of Pablo Ruiz Picasso was unveiled on 5th December 2008 in Malaga in front of his Birth House Museum in Plaza De La Merced. The sculpture made by the artist Francisco Lopez Hernandez portraits Picasso sitting on a bench with a pencil and a notebook

The Exhibition and Conference Centre Malaga is hosting the 2008 edition of the Children’s Fair MIMA, from 26 December 2008 until 4 January 2009 (see www.mimamalaga.com). Once again this massive leisure and didactic park is receiving all family members at Christmas in the space covering an area of 10.000 square metres where children between 2 and 12 years old, can enjoy an ice rink, jumping area, Father Christmas, kindergarten, videogames, Karaoke, bouncy castles, funfair rides, sporting activities, and performances by clowns, storytellers, magicians and dancers.

You can watch and embed the video, view and download photographs and get more information at TVSpain - MIMA 2008, Malaga Children’s Fair.

The fair is engaging with children in need through its programme “MIMA Solidaria”, which in this edition will be offering free access to the climbing wall and the zip wire in exchange for a new toy or one in good condition.

There will also be clay, plastiline, painting, hairdressing and recycling workshops, where children can develop their skills while having fun and meeting other children of their age.
Another of the new features of MIMA 2008 is the 1st Childrenís Drawing Contest for children under 12, whose works of art will be exhibited at the house where Picasso was born (Museo Picaso Casa Natal) in the Plaza de la Merced.

Opening times:
From 26.12.08 to 04.01.09 between 11.00 and 21.00, on 31st December and 1st January the Fair is closed.

Picasso Museum in Malaga was opened on 27th October 2003 by T. M. King Juan Carlos I and Queen SofÌa of Spain. Over the last five years, visitors to “MPM - Museo Picaso MALAGA” have been able to enjoy the MPM’s own Collection, as well as seeing the fourteen temporary exhibitions devoted to specific aspects of Picasso and the work of other outstanding artists from the first half of the 20th century, when the Andalusian artist produced most of his work. To celebrate the anniversary TVSpain made a video in which the director Bernardo Laniado-Romero not only introduce the museum but also gives a fascinated talk about the aim of creating a special relation between the Picasso work and the visitors. The video, still photos and more information about the museum are available on TVSpain - PICASSO MUSEUM in Malaga

The Museo Picasso Málaga was established in response to Pablo Picasso’s desire for his work to be seen in the city where this universal artist was born on 25 October 1881. It was set up thanks to the combined efforts of Christine and Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, whose donations form the Museum collection, and the Autonomous Government of Andalusia. The latter fostered an ambitious project to build a museum devoted to an artist whose styles and techniques changed the course of modern art.

The donation made by Christine Ruiz-Picasso, widow of the artist’s eldest child, Paul Ruiz-Picasso, consisted of 14 paintings, 9 sculptures, 44 drawings, a sketchbook from the Royan series containing a further 36 drawings, 58 engravings and 7 ceramic pieces. In all, 133 works, to which Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, Paul’s son and the artist’s grandchild, added another 22: 5 paintings, 2 drawings, 10 engravings and 5 ceramics.

Examples of Picasso’s revolutionary innovations, as well as the wide range of styles, materials and techniques he used, are represented in the 155 works that initially form the MPM Collection. The selection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramics and prints illustrates the extraordinary breadth of Picasso’s prolific career, from his first academic studies to his neoclassical figures, from the overlapping perspectives of Cubism to his experiments in ceramics, from re-workings of Old Masters to his late paintings in the 1970s.

For more details see MPM website: www.museopicassomalaga.org

TRACEY EMIN “20 YEARS” is a retrospective, which looks at the full range of Emin’s work, from the rarely seen early work to the iconic “My Bed”, 1998 and the room-sized installation “Exorcism of the Last Painting I Ever Made” 1996. It includes a fabulous range of appliquéd blankets, paintings, sculptures, films, neons, drawings and prints, to provide the most complete view of Eminís work ever mounted. The exhibition which is currently held at CAC Malaga between 28.11.08 and 22.02.09, has been covered on video with Emin’s insights into the show and photographs and are available on TVSpain - TRACEY EMIN, Twenty Years, CAC Malaga, video .

Tracey Emin is “Britainís best known but least understood artists”, an international figure, recognised with a show at last year’s Venice Biennale and sought after for photo-shoots, celebrity features and comments on the arts.

Tracey Emin rtrospective in Malaga is the second exhibition worldwide. First time it was held at the the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh between August and November 2008 attracting over 40,000 visitors and breaking’s record for an exhibition of work by a living artist. This traveling exhibition will move from Malaga to to the Kunstmuseum in Bern and Switzerland in 2009.

Malaga Town Hall (Ayuntamiento de Málaga) made adjustments in staging the annual event of Christmas Lights and Festive Decoration facing the worsening economical conditions in Spain. Having announced the Christmas lights switch on for December 5th the Town Hall has changed the date to Friday November 28th to help hard pressed city centre traders hoping for more visitors in the city center. This is a spectacular display challenging the the biggest European towns. Yyou can watch and embed video, download photos and get more information on TVSpain - CHRISTMAS LIGHTS, MALAGA 08/09, video .

There are more Christmas lights in Málaga this year than last, but the use of new LED technology will see a reduction in the power used. This edition has the same budget that the last year - one million euros for decoration, lighting and children’s festivities. The Town hall installed 3,723,638 points of lights, 73,638 more than last year, but electric power is reduced to 2,672,732 watts, -477,268 less than in 2007.