The Cader Institute of Central American Art
The Museo Reina Sofía’s Cader Institute of Central American Art (ICAC) cultivates research into and the dissemination of Central American art and its diaspora. The project, set in motion by Mario Cader-Frech, a collector and cultural manager from El Salvador, is part of the Museo’s Studies Department and is driven forward in collaboration with the Museo Reina Sofía Foundation and its namesake in the USA.
The Institute’s work moves and develops in different directions: on the one hand inwardly, towards the inside of the institution, consolidating knowledge on artistic practices from the region and developing their presence in study programmes and in the holdings of the Museo Reina Sofía Collection and Library and Documentation Centre. And outwardly, on the other, in being a space of reference in the study of Central American practices, scenes and art history.
Ultimately, the Institute strives to be an instrument which lends an infrastructural dimension to the work carried out over time in and about the region, to then connect it through international networks and alliances.
ICAC’s actions unfold in a series of working strands which are outlined below:
The ICAC Research Residency
ICAC’s core programme invites a guest researcher of Central American origin to occupy the Institute’s annual residency, with the said candidate selected jointly by the Museo Reina Sofía and Mario Cader-Frech.
The 2025 ICAC resident researcher is Patricio Majano, a curator, artist and lecturer from El Salvador.
The main goals of this nine-month residency are:
- To develop in-house research which explores in greater depth strands which define and run through Central American scenes and art history. This research will be supervised and supported by the Museo’s Study Centre, with different tools made available to the researcher.
- To encourage active exchanges with the team of the Museo Reina Sofía Collection.
- To work with the Museo Reina Sofía Library and Documentation team in order to enhance bibliographic holdings and documentation on Central American art.
Central American Art in the Museo Reina Sofía Collections and Library
Within the sphere of the Museo Reina Sofía Collections and Library and Documentation Centre, ICAC seeks to:
- Generate research around Central American works and artists, and their diaspora, in the Museo Reina Sofía Collections.
- Put forward the acquisition of works by artists from the region, aided by the Museo Reina Sofía Foundation.
- Activate the region’s art collection by way of public programmes and in-house work seminars.
- Encourage critical, historiographic and essay writing on Central American artists in the Museo Reina Sofía Collection and on the region.
- Acquire specialist bibliographic and newspaper materials on the region, to be made available as part of the Museo Reina Sofía’s library resources.
In aiming to support training and education, ICAC awards an annual grant to students from Central America who are accepted on the MA in Contemporary Art History and Visual Culture, run jointly by the Complutense University of Madrid and the Autonomous University of Madrid, in collaboration with the Museo Reina Sofía. The grant covers enrolment on the MA and travel and living expenses.
The Central American Community in Spain
With the aim of advocating the inclusion of the Central American community in Spain, the Museo Reina Sofía’s Education departments and Tentacular Museum develop comprehensive projects inside the sphere of the Museo, including guided tours and other activities of encounter and dissemination.
Organisational chart
- The ICAC Advisory Committee
Made up of professionals working from and for the region, the ICAC Advisory Committee is conceived as a work group which operates around urgent issues and themes which arise from the territory, and is a committee from which to mutualise ideas, resources and strategic projects. It aims to foster horizontal collaboration between professionals and institutions worldwide and from Central America. - The ICAC Board
Comprised of a group of international patrons committed to ICAC’s mission, the Board guarantees the ongoing sustainability and viability of the ICAC programme.