The Reina Sofía museum in Madrid has reopened its contemporary art section with a new display featuring 403 works from the last 50 years. The collection starts with the powerful 1975 painting "Document No …" by Juan Genovés, showing a chained and bowed man under Franco's dictatorship. This marks Spain’s shift to democracy after 40 years of dictatorship. The exhibit covers many topics including the creative burst after Franco, AIDS epidemic, feminism, environmental issues, decolonization, and terrorism. Ángeles González-Sinde, President of the Reina Sofía’s board, said, "More than an exhibition reorganisation, it’s a critical reinterpretation that seeks to contextualise artistic practices in dialogue with social, political and cultural processes that have marked these five decades." The exhibit includes famous international artists like Nan Goldin and Robert Mapplethorpe alongside Spanish figures such as photographer Carlos Bosch, who captured Spain’s first gay pride march in 1977. Also on show are works connected to Spain’s underground scene, including jewellery from designer Chus Burés linked to Pedro Almodóvar’s films. Dark moments appear too, like Alberto García-Alix’s 1988 photo of his late brother’s shirt symbolizing the heroin crisis. The AIDS epidemic is represented through haunting photos by Peter Hujar and an installation by Pepe Miralles showing everyday items tied to his friend’s illness. Museum director Manuel Segade said the collection is designed to keep sparking dialogue between past, present, and future. Spain’s Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun emphasized the importance of contemporary art for reflecting on democracy and social values, ending with, "...the importance that contemporary art will play in the fight for democracy and in the defence of our fundamental values, the values of the Enlightenment."