The art of dialogue

Our last day together before Clare returns home. Yesterday's excursion left us both in need of extra sleep, but eventually we surfaced, did some shopping, cooked and ate a delicious fish lunch, then late afternoon, walked into the Old Town to the Museo Carmen Thyssen, to see a current exhibition, rather than the collection of Old Masters on permanent display there. That's for another time. We had to pass through the Plaza de la Constititucion to get there. It's now been cleared entirely of all the scaffolding and seats that converted it into a VIP tribune for the processions, and it has resumed its normal function, adding breathing space to the centre of the city.

The exhibition we went to see 'Mediterranean, an Arcadia re-invented' assembles a collection of late nineteenth and early twentieth century works from contemporary painters attracted to the beautiful environment of the Spanish and French Mediterranean coast, along with the accompanying lifestyle. It was a period in which some avant garde artists, tiring of the accent on developing new techniques by the impressionist movement explored the coastal landscape and its people.

Some, following the lead of Picasso revisited classic mythological images and sought new ways to evoke them. About a quarter of the exhibition featured a selection of Picasso's exquisite pen and ink drawings on ancient themes. Most of the Spanish artists represented were new to me. There's a lot here I must discover more of! It's marvellous to see a familiar world through a different pair of eyes in a work of art.

As we were about to leave, a youth choir started rehearsing for an evening concert in the courtyard of the former nobleman's house, transformed and extended into an art gallery. This building is next to an unusual round church, whose extensive ancillary buildings have been re-purposed as another cultural centre, for the liberal arts, with space for thought provoking exhibitions and public debates. It's called the Athenaeum, and it's definitely not a gentleman's exclusive London club, rather the antithesis in this context. If you venture beyond the many convivial domains that extend hospitality to all and sundry with their amazing Andalusian and international cuisine, there's another world of conversation and reflection to be discovered, which are part of Malaga's uniqueness as a place to visit and a place to live in.