Institut Ramon LLull

The Institut Ramon Llull announces the selection process to commission a project for Catalonia''s involvement at the Venice Biennale Arte 2022

Arts.  VENICE, 15/06/2021

The Institut Ramon Llull is organising a selection process to commission a project for Catalonia's involvement at the 59th Venice Biennale Arte 2022, within the programme of Eventi collaterali. This will be the seventh time that the Institut Ramon Llull presents Catalonia at the Venice Biennale Arte, which will take place from 23 April until 27 November 2022, with Cecilia Alemani as commissioner




59 Biennale Arte. The Milk of dreams

The 59th International Art Exhibition will carry the title The Milk of Dreams. This name is taken from a book by Leonora Carrington, in which, as Cecilia Alemani says:

“the surrealist artist describes a magical world where live is constantly reconsidered through the prism of imagination and where everyone can change, transform, become something or someone else. The exhibition brings us along an imaginary journey through metamorphosis of the body and the definitions of humanity”.

In the 1950s, while she was living in Mexico, Carrington dreamt and illustrated mysterious tales, firstly straight on the walls of her house, then in a little notebook called The Milk of Dreams. Told in a ?? style which seemed to ground both young and old, Carrington's stories describe a free world, full of possibilities. But they are also allegorical regarding a century which imposed unbearable pressure on this individual, which meant Carrington had to live a life in exile, shut away in psychiatric institutions

According to Alemani, this exposition is based on many conversations held with artists over the past few months. The questions which appeared appear to ?? this moment in history, in which the very survival of our species is threatened, but they also summarise doubts which plague the science, the arts and the ?? of our time. How does the definition of being human change? What is life made up of and what differentiates animals, plants, humans and non-humans? What are our responsibilities to the planet, other people and other organisms we live alongside? What would life and the Earth be like without us?

The exhibition will focus on three themes in particular: the representation of bodies and their metamorphosis; the relationship between individuals and technology; and the connection between bodies and the Earth. Cecilia Alemani's proposal looks to focus on metamorphoses of the body and the definition of humanity in a moment of revising the concept of being human and of our responsibility to the planet, other species and our species. Post-humanity or new alliances between species, the borders between bodies and objects transform under the pressure of technology, generating mutations which create new points of view, hierarchies and anatomies. Technology, the pandemic, the rise in social tensions and the climate crisis remind us that the human body is not self-sufficient, that human beings form part of a symbiotic network of interdependencies which unite us with one another, with other species and with the planet as a whole.


Selection process

The Institut Ramon Llull has nominated a committee of experts, comprised of a president, three panellists and a secretary to choose the winning proposal. The president is Mrs Hiuwai Chu (MACBA). The panellists are Mabel Palacín (artist), Anna Pahissa, (Hangar) and Carles Guerra, independent commissioner.

The selection process is divided into two phases. The first round is open to proposals from all interested professionals and businesses which meet the requirements. In this first round, which will close at 23:59 on 1 July 2021, a CV and a two-page proposal which reflects the general ideas of the project and the selected artist(s) are to be submitted. The committee of experts will choose a maximum of three final proposals to participate in the second round, which will be communicated from 6 July 2021.

The 3 finalists must submit a proposal which builds on the content, a museum design proposal and a budget, by 12pm on 13 July 2021.

The finalists will be called upon to defend their proposal in-person, in front of the committee of experts on 20 July 2021 at the Institut Ramon Llull head office in Palau Baró de Quadras. The Institut Ramon Llull reserves the right to abandon this selection process if the Committee of Experts considers that none of the proposals submitted in this phase satisfactorily meet the criteria established in the rules.

You can view the rules of the selection process here.


Deadline

Submission of candidatures until 1 July, 2021

Submission of applications

Applications are to be submitted preferably online and should be submitted by way of a generic application addressed to the Creation department. The following documentation is to be attached to the generic application

· Admission application. (ANNEX II of the rules) (PDF format)

· Declaration of responsibility for a natural person. (ANNEX III of the rules) (PDF format)

· Declaration of responsibility for a legal person. (ANNEX IV of the rules) (PDF format)

· CV. (PDF format)

· Project proposal: a proposal which reflects over a maximum of two pages the general ideas of the project and the selected artist(s), in agreement with the conceptual framework and the budget outlined in the rules. (PDF format)

However, natural persons (not including natural persons acting in a business capacity) have the possibility of submitting a paper application to the head office of the Institut Ramon Llull at Avinguda Diagonal 373, 08008 Barcelona. The reference “Comissariat per la Biennal d’Art de Venècia 2022” should be written on the envelope.

Spanish natural or legal persons must sign the online application with the digital certificate of a natural or legal person, as appropriate.

Foreign physical or legal persons must sign the online application with an accreditation, which must be applied for beforehand from the Institut Ramon Llull. The process for requesting an accreditation can take 72 hours, which must be taken into account when presenting an application before the deadline.

Proposals for the first round may be submitted until 1 July at 23:59

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