Palma Dotze was inaugurated on December 14, 1989, to influence and to sensitise an environment rich in artistic expression but historically dominated by literary tradition and a marked lack of art galleries.

The programme alternates exhibitions promoting young artists and the recent works of consolidated artists and great exponents of Catalonian, Spanish, and International art from the second avant-garde to the present.

Between 1994 and 2004 the gallery had a biennial theme with cycles (public exhibitions and interventions in the city) devoted to the senses as a way of examining the relationships between art and science, perception and knowledge. These exhibitions started with “La Llum” (Light) (1994 – 1995), and were then followed by seasons on sight: “Juego de Ojos” [“Eye Play”] (1995 – 1996), hearing “(d´ ) Oïda” (1997 – 1998), taste “Potlatch” (1999 – 2000), touch “Con-tact” (2002 – 2003), and awareness (2002 – 2003).

The gallery cooperates with institutions and companies in the area to execute public art initiatives. Palma Dotze’s recent and largest public project, organized together with the Estrany de la Mota gallery from Barcelona, was “Festival Arts Penedés 2000”, an artistic itinerary through 5 public spaces ceded by the town councils of Vilafranca del Penedés, San Sadurní de Anoia, Sta. Margarida, and els Monjos y Olerdola, and by 8 of the area’s most representative wineries, Cavas Hill, Celler Mas Pujó, Vallformosa, Segura Viudas, Codorniu, Raventós i Blanc, and Freixenet. This festival was held between September and November 2000 to celebrate the first vintage of the new millennium. There were conferences and round tables with speakers such as Miquel Molins and Juan Manuel Bonet, and exhibitions of the work of thirty-five artists from Spain and abroad, including Antoni Abad, Helena Almeida, Boltanski, Tàpies, Richard Long, Susy Gómez, Richard Serra, Susana Solano, Núria Canal, Hannah Collins, Perejaume, Daniel Canogar, Tony Cragg, Lawrence Weiner, and Plensa. There were more than fifty works, some of them specially created for the Festival, which examined the relationship between art and Nature, and the importance of the process of artistic creation.

With the goal of creating artistic proposals for exhibitions in very different spaces such as chapels, markets, cloisters, hospitals, and other places in the city, the gallery works hard to be a cultural agent for the area and help Vilafranca become one of the decentralised centres –together with other towns such as Vic, Mataró, or Reus- for cultural activity, which is usually monopolised by Barcelona.

Palma Dotze also holds conferences, round tables, concerts, and teaching workshops for students and the general public. One of the most recent initiatives were the “Tecura” (art therapy) computerised plastic expression workshops run by Evru in 2003 for 8 groups of physically and psychologically disabled people in the city.

Right from the start the gallery has also held exhibitions and activities related to other cultural, artistic, and festive events in its town, region, and country, such as “Videt” Video Exhibition – Art in Vilafranca del Penedés; “La Kinzena Poètika”, “La Fira del Gall”, “La Primavera Fotográfica”, “Año Gaudí”, and the town’s main festival. During this festival, the gallery put on a music, dance, and theatre show in the street, like the 2005 show by Pascal Comelade’s toy instrument orchestra accompanied by the poet Enric Casasses.