ARTIUM is a museum and centre for cultural activities, engaged in the collection, production, dissemination, research and diffusion of the art of our time. Its aim is to promote art and to develop the critical awareness of society, as well as to project an image of Alava committed to art and culture.

To do this, ARTIUM has three essential tools:

An extensive, coherent and singular collection of contemporary art
An ambitious programme of temporary exhibitions the result of research done in the centre-museum or collaboration with other leading Spanish or European museums
An intensive programme of educational and cultural activities, (Spanish) appropriate for a wide range of social groups and relating at all times to contemporary thought

The Museum was created as a result of an initiative of the Provincial Council of Alava, owner of most of the works that form the Permanent Collection and proprietor of the building. The collaboration between the Provincial Council of Alava, the Basque Government, the Ministry of Culture and the Town Hall of Vitoria-Gasteiz finally led to the inauguration of the Basque Centre-Museum of Contemporary Art on April 26 2002.

Since then, ARTIUM of Alava constitutes an essential part of the cultural fabric of Vitoria, of Alava and the Basque Country, and represents one of the fundamental assets of the art scene in Spain.