From April 4 to July 6, 2022, across a total area of 700 square meters with an additional 500 square meters for projections, and set against the backdrop of Plaza España in the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo — the First City of the Americas — the Iván Tovar Foundation presented Tovar, Surrealism Alive . The artist's work and his psychology proved ideal for carrying out this immersive experience, developed for the first time in the Dominican Republic. The immersive exhibition of Dominican visual artist Iván Tovar is an initiative of the eponymous foundation, presided over by Daniela Tovar Castillo, the artist's daughter. Businessman and collector Héctor José Rizek Sued, president of Grupo Rizek and a member of the Iván Tovar Foundation, served as the project's principal patron through Inversiones FRG, SAS. The event was supported by the Dominican Republic's Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism, the National District Mayor's Office, Banco Popular, Banreservas, Listín Diario, and Kahkow. The immersive experience was guided by an advisory board composed of María Amalia León, Alberto Cruz, Ingrid Grullón, Gamal Michelén, María Teresa Ruíz de Catrain, María Castillo, and Yuri Ruiz Villalona. Over the course of several months, the team held regular meetings with the aim of delivering a unique and unrepeatable cultural offering. The body of works selected for the projections and all audiovisual material comprised approximately 400 images drawn from the collections of dozens of collectors. This process involved a team of specialists including Marianne de Tolentino, Pilar Correidora, Laura Gil, Paula Gómez Jorge, Sara Hermann, Miguel Piccini, Gamal Michelén, Gía Caro, and Nadia Lugo. The museographic design of the space had a profound effect on audiences, as every element within the installation was derived from Tovar's own artistic vocabulary — including his personal alphabet. The decision to invoke the phrase "Surrealism Alive" was driven by the desire to keep the artist's legacy active as one of the foremost representatives of the movement in the Caribbean region. His signature appeared as a distinctive mark throughout the event's branding and memorabilia, reproduced across a range of souvenir products available for purchase. The immersive experience of his work proved entirely revelatory. Art in the strictest sense has historically been absorbed by an elite, with scarce mass presence in the institutionally established spaces for its exhibition — museums, galleries, and cultural centers. By placing a tent in a public and tourist area, thousands of Dominicans and foreigners were able to discover the artist and his work. The trend toward content-driven characterization, combined with personal interpretation and interactivity, would not have been possible without the human talent and capacity to generate ideas that continuously situate and expand the existential context of Iván Tovar within the immersive projection. A review of the script reveals how the artist's inner and outer worlds were interwoven, making visible the details that comprised his pictographic universe, his motivations, and his aspirations. The audiovisual component is in itself a collection of expressions that includes poetry — both works written by the artist himself and those he was known to read, particularly by poets Federico García Lorca and Pablo Neruda. The selection also features poetry by Charles Baudelaire, José Pierre, Julio Cortázar, José Luis Borges, and Jean-Michel Gautier. Music is equally woven into the dramatic composition, incorporating French classical pieces such as Edith Piaf's Sous le Ciel de Paris and Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 . A particularly special inclusion was La Mauvaise Réputation by French singer-songwriter Georges Brassens — one of Tovar's favorites — performed alongside the Spanish artist Paco Ibáñez, whom the artist met during his years living in Paris. At the inauguration of the immersive exhibition, the artist was posthumously honored with the Order of Merit Duarte, Sánchez and Mella at the rank of Knight, through Presidential Decree No. 174-22. He was also declared an adopted son of the city of Santo Domingo, and a street in the Dominican capital was designated to bear his name. On April 22, 2022, His Excellency the Constitutional President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona, and the Multisectoral Country Brand Commission designated him as Ambassador of the Dominican Republic Country Brand. From January 18 to 20, 2023, the Dominican Republic's Ministry of Tourism presented a segment of Tovar | Surrealism Alive at FITUR in Madrid. More than 20K perimetral resolution and thirty laser projectors were integrated to bring the audiovisual project to life.
