Bombon opened in Barcelona in 2017, building on a network of artists and collaborators that Joana Roda had begun to establish during her time at Passatge Studio. The gallery remains based in Trafalgar, regularly participates in art fairs outside Spain, and, since 2025, has shared Madera33 in Madrid with the Peruvian gallery Crisis. This September, it will host Mounira Al Solh’s exhibition *Yalla Tnam, Yalla*, coinciding with Barcelona Gallery Weekend.
Gallery Profile
The Bombon Gallery opened in Barcelona in February 2017. The project grew out of Passatge Studio, an initiative by Joana Roda and artist Bernat Daviu that had served to organize exhibitions and begin working with some of the artists who would later remain associated with the gallery. Roda has said that they spent nearly a year looking for a space before settling on Trafalgar Street.
Since then, Bombon has grown without leaving that location. The gallery currently represents fourteen artists, including Eva Fàbregas, Lara Fluxà, Joana Escoval, Jordi Mitjà, Pere Llobera, and Rosa Tharrats. Their works leave little room for establishing a signature style. Fàbregas has created installations that physically transform the spaces where they are presented; Fluxà uses glass and liquids as part of circulating systems; Llobera works primarily with painting; and Mitjà often starts with objects and materials that already have a history of their own.
The program has also featured historic artists with ties to the Catalan context. This approach has allowed figures from earlier generations to be included in projects organized by the gallery. Bombon defines its program precisely through its ongoing work with local and international artists and its focus on historic artists from its region. The 2026 season provides a fairly concrete measure of this breadth. Jordi Mitjà presented MÀ BRAÇ ANSA TRUC between April and June. At the end of that month, Sealed Imprintby Estéfana Román Matesanz and an exhibition by Roc Jou Morales, Rojuu, based on a sketch diary created during a stay in Bratislava. After the summer, Mounira Al Solh arrives with Yalla Tnam, Yalla.
Outside of Barcelona, art fairs have become another part of the gallery’s activities. Bombon participates in ARCOmadrid and has been featured at Liste Art Fair Basel, ART-O-RAMA, and Basel Social Club. Some of these appearances have been dedicated to a single artist: Joana Escoval was the focus of the Liste presentation in 2025, and Enric Farrés Duran was the focus of the ART-O-RAMA presentation in August 2026. These types of projects allow the gallery to follow an artist’s work beyond the sequence of exhibitions at Trafalgar.
Madrid was added in 2025. Bombon opened Madera33 in partnership with Galería Crisis from Peru. The venue has its own programming. In 2026, the following have been presented there Sweet Spot, by Josep Maynou; Solve et Coagula, featuring Joana Escoval, Alberto Casari, and Moisès Villèlia, and Death Is a 5-Star Hotel, by Aldo Urbano. This September, Nora Aurrekoetxea, Esther Gatón, and Ana Navas will participate in That dual movement between distance and flight. Nine years later, Trafalgar remains the hub from which the project is organized. Madrid and the art fairs have added other workspaces to a gallery that retains its original headquarters in Barcelona.
Program
Why Go
Bombon kicks off the season with Mounira Al Solh, born in Beirut in 1978 and Lebanon’s representative at the 2024 Venice Biennale. Yalla Tnam, Yalla runs from September 17 to October 31 and is part of the twelfth edition of Barcelona Gallery Weekend. This year, 25 galleries are participating—23 from Barcelona and two from L'Hospitalet—featuring 38 exhibitions by around fifty artists.
The exhibition offers a glimpse into Al Solh’s work through an episode from his childhood. During the Lebanese Civil War, nighttime bombings kept him awake. His mother then suggested that he make small holes in his pajamas and embroider around them. Many years later, Al Solh revisited that practice to Nami Nami Noooom, Yalla Tnaaam, created in collaboration with women from Lebanon and the Netherlands.
The starting point sets this exhibition apart from the project with which Al Solh represented Lebanon in Venice. In *Bombon*, there is no historical reconstruction of the war. The episode is conveyed through an experience that took place inside a house and that the artist revisited decades later through a collaborative project.
The exhibition also comes at a time when Trafalgar is hosting several season openings. Bombon is located on a street where various galleries have opened in recent years—a fact that Roda herself pointed out when discussing the transformation of this area of Barcelona.
Gallery Weekend brings together all the openings over four days, but Yalla Tnam, Yalla remains open for six weeks. This means you can also visit after the opening days, when Bombon returns to its regular hours: Tuesday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
What to Expect
The exhibition curated by Mounira Al Solh is built around Nami Nami Noooom, Yalla Tnaaam, a textile installation inspired by Al Solh’s memories of those nights from her childhood. The holes in the fabric and the embroidery around them remain visible.
The work retains a characteristic of the technique her mother taught her: first, the fabric is pierced, and then it is sewn around the opening. When Al Solh resumed the practice as an adult, she brought other women into it. The process thus ceased to be solely a mother-daughter experience and was passed on to participants in Lebanon and the Netherlands.
Alongside the installation are other textile works, drawings, and paintings featuring cut-out silhouettes. The media vary throughout the room and are not arranged to chronologically reconstruct Al Solh’s childhood or the Lebanese Civil War. In some works, memories and dreams appear; in others, experience is preserved through drawing or sewing. These are techniques that Al Solh has used at other points in her career to explore personal stories shaped by migration and conflict. Here, the initial reference is to her own family.
Represented Artists
What to Do Nearby
Bombon is located at 53 Trafalgar Street. From there, the streets of Sant Pere offer a walking route that can be explored without leaving the area.n Just a few minutes away is the Palau de la Música Catalana. Lluís Domènech i Montaner built it between 1905 and 1908 for the Orfeó Català. The building is nestled among narrow streets and does not have a grand frontal view. From Sant Pere Més Alt and the side streets, different parts of the facades come into view one after another. Columns, mosaics, sculptures, and glass cover much of the exterior surfaces. You can walk around the building before entering or continue on toward Sant Pere. Located within the complex itself is the Botiga del Palau de la Música Catalana, open daily and offering publications and items related to the Palau.
Very close by, at Verdaguer i Callís 12, is Antic Teatre: Espai de Creació. It occupies a building first documented in the 17th century and listed in Barcelona’s architectural heritage catalog. Beyond the entrance from the street lies a tree-lined courtyard that serves as a bar and gathering place, as well as providing access to a separate space dedicated to the contemporary performing arts.
Another option is to take a detour to Passatge Sert, one of the small passageways that run through this part of Ciutat Vella. At number 12, you’ll find Nomad Coffee Bar (formerly Coffee Lab). The café occupies a space inside the alley and is currently open Monday through Friday; Passatge Sert itself is worth the detour because of its different scale compared to Trafalgar.
For dining, Casa Lolea Barcelonais located at Sant Pere Més Alt 49, near the Palau. It serves Mediterranean cuisine and small plates and is open every day from morning until midnight. Its location makes it easy to stop by without interrupting your walk between Bombon and Sant Pere.
