IRL a la Biennal
The Institut Ramon Llull is to present, for the fourth time, an original exhibition showcasing Catalan Art at the Venice Biennale of Art. The desideratum is for a project showing the contemporaneity and most avantgarde projects of Catalan Art to be included at this unmissable event, beyond the offering of the Giardini and the Arsenale.
The Institut Ramon Llull’s contribution seeks to place emphasis on the special characteristics of the Catalan visual arts on one hand and to offer its critical and innovative vision of (and in) contemporary visual arts on the other.
With regard to the Venice Biennale of Art, at the last three editions the Institut Ramon Llull presented the projects Venezia, Catalunya. The Unavowable Community, curated by Valentín Roma (2009) Catalonia and the Balearic Islands: Mabel Palacin, 180°, curated by David G. Torres (2011) and 25 %. Catalonia at Venice, curated by Jordi Balló (2013). All of these exhibitions generated great interest in the art community, attracted a large number of visitors and aroused interest from critics.
The Institut Ramon Llull also participated in the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2012 and 2014 with the projects Vogadors/Architectural Rowers curated by Félix Arranz and Jordi Badia and Arquitectures Empeltades/ Grafting Architecture curated by Josep Torrents, Guillem Carabí and Jordi Ribas.
The jury that chose the project was chaired by Marta Gili, director of the Jeu de Paume in Paris. The members were Bartomeu Marí, director of the MACBA; Joan Minguet, president of the Catalan Association of Art Critics (ACCA); Xavier Antich, president of the Fundació Antoni Tàpies; Martina Millà, project manager of the Fundació Miró; Llucià Homs, director of cultural industries of the City of Barcelona and Damià Martínez, director of the Department of Performing and Visual Arts at the Institut Ramon Llull.
The project for the Catalan Pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale of Art aims to highlight that Catalonia, and in particular its capital, Barcelona, are in the vanguard of contemporary art discourse and can make important contributions in an international context.
The jury selected three finalists who were asked to develop their projects. After the interviews were conducted, Chus Martínez and her proposal The Singularity were selected by the jury from among the finalists.
The Institut Ramon Llull is a consortium that comprises the Generalitat (Government of Catalonia) and the Barcelona City Council, and its mission is the promotion of Catalan language and culture abroad.
The IRL forms
part of the Fundació Ramon Llull, which
was established by the Government
of Andorra, the Ramon Llull Institute, General
Council of the Eastern Pyrenees, the city of Alghero,
and the group of Valencian Cities, and has its central offices in Andorra