Press

The Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) features, within the context of the Screen Festival, TWIN, a presentation of the process of the project Twin Tastes & Tongues that Miralda (Terrassa, 1942) conceived for the Barcelona Pavilion of the 9th Shanghai Biennale (October 2nd, 2012 – March 31st, 2013) with the support of Barcelona City Council and Catalan Government.

The ground floor of the MACBA’s Centre d’Estudis i Documentació (Studies and Documentation Center) will display this project until June 30th. This proposal deals with the relationship between Barcelona and Shanghai, Twin Cities since 2001. Beyond any political agreement, an extraordinary process has taken place de facto between both sites. This was the starting point of Twin Tastes & Tongues, the project that Screen Projects produced for the Barcelona Pavilion at the Shanghai Biennale. It is a visual exploration of collective imagination, traditions, rituals, policies and organisational forms by means of food. In short, taking the tongue as a guiding thread (the most public and private organ, which traditional Chinese medicine regards as an inner reflex of the body and, therefore, as a tool that is a determining factor for diagnosis), the idea was to discover a map of the flavours and knowledge resulting from the meeting of both cities, and, in this way, to go in depth into the flows of global circulation existing between them.

TWIN deploys research processes, production strategies and the narrations that gave rise to the installation of the Pavilion. More than just reproducing it, our aim now is to generate a venue for consultation about the materials and processes of Twin Tastes & Tongues, a live archive that may allow new entry and updating points of a project that by definition is ever-changing. The installation at the MACBA includes a video, pictures and a wide range of documentation.

Screen Projects has donated an edition of TONGUE CAPSULE, a piece by Miralda carried out during the creative process of Twin Tastes & Tongues, to the MACBA Foundation. It will now be part of the MACBA’s Collection. Once this presentation is over, this material will be available in a more compact format to the users of the Museum’s Archive.

Free entrance
From 6 May to 30 June
Ground floor MACBA Study Center
Opening hours from Monday to Friday 11am to 7.30 pm

► MACBA presents, for the first time, an exhibition devoted to the works on paper by one of most influential artists of our time

► Written on the Wind brings together nearly three hundred drawings spanning the last fifty years including some – such as pages from the artist’s personal notebooks – shown publicly for the first time

Title: Written on the Wind. Lawrence Weiner Drawings
Opening: Thursday, March 7, 7.30 pm
Exhibition Dates: 8 March - 24 June 2013
Curators: Bartomeu Marí and Soledad Gutiérrez
Exhibition organised by Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) and co-produced with the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam Catalogue Written on the Wind. Lawrence Weiner Drawings. Barcelona: Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), 2013

The Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) presents the first monographic exhibition devoted to works on paper by one of the most outstanding artists of the late-20th century, Lawrence Weiner (Bronx, New York, 1942). Written on the Wind comprises an exhaustive survey of Weiner’s trajectory through nearly three hundred drawings produced over a fifty-year period. The exhibition is organised as if it were a drawing itself. Weiner himself created the graphic images for the show, including posters and banners that will be distributed all over the city of Barcelona, occupying the public space. This exhibition presents for the first time an in-depth overview of Weiner’s drawings oeuvre, together with cartoons and notebooks, the origin and base of his entire production. These drawings contain his initial thoughts and ideas that are often gradually transformed into works.

Written on the Wind features drawings on paper, city maps, cigar boxes, wood and other diverse supports. Whilst in his sculpture Weiner uses language rigorously and with maximum objectivity, his drawings are imbued with great creative freedom. Drawing is a medium in which find the artist is at his most approachable. As a result, Weiner’s subjectivity, something he has always attempted to conceal, becomes apparent. The drawings are a way of representing, not only his obsessions, but also the creative context and processes.

[This text will be available in English soon]

Barcelona, 19 de febrero – Los representantes del Consorcio del Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (Departamento de Cultura de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Ayuntamiento de Barcelona, Ministerio de Cultura y Fundación MACBA) reunidos esta tarde en el Consejo General del MACBA, han acordado por unanimidad renovar el contrato del actual director del Museo, Sr. Bartomeu Marí Ribas, por un período de cuatro años. En la reunión, Bartomeu Marí ha agradecido la confianza que le han depositado las instituciones consorciadas, así como la contribución de los que han formado parte del MACBA durante estos años y el apoyo y el empuje del actual equipo.

Bartomeu Marí afronta estos próximos cuatro años con una propuesta basada, en primer lugar, en un gran reto y a la vez oportunidad. "El MACBA seguirá trabajando para conseguir posicionar el arte contemporáneo en el centro de la identidad de la ciudad y de Cataluña, un valor añadido que sume a la marca Barcelona, reconocida internacionalmente".

Este objetivo pasa por llegar a capas muy amplias de públicos locales y convertir el barrio del Raval en un foco de atracción cultural. "Tenemos que acercar el público local al centro y que el ciudadano de Barcelona se sienta orgulloso y sea el mejor embajador del MACBA". Un objetivo que deberá contar con la colaboración cómplice de otras instituciones culturales. "Entramos en una época de colaboraciones, de verdadero trabajo en red, que debe dar prioridad al uso cultural de todas las colecciones por encima de las diferentes titularidades. Trabajaremos con ambición internacional y en conseguir un impacto local".

El proyecto incluye introducir el Museo en la línea de valor de la educación en todos sus niveles. El MACBA y la Universidad han de trabajar conjuntamente y el Museo se compromete con las funciones y valores esenciales de la Universidad: educar, formar e investigar.

Por último, y consciente de las circunstancias económicas actuales, Bartomeu Marí ha explicado que ya se está trabajando en un plan de viabilidad que, a corto y medio plazo, haga posible la visión estratégica del Museo y que persigue el aumento de los ingresos propios. "El objetivo es conseguir una máxima optimización de los recursos. El MACBA fue un modelo pionero en su fundación y ahora tiene que abanderar un nuevo modelo de museo".

- The first monographic exhibition of one of the most militant Catalan voices of the seventies and eighties

Title: I Have Never Painted Golden Angels Opening: 7th February at 19.30 h Dates: from 8 February to 26 May 2013 Curator: Teresa Grandas Produced by: Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA)

Between art and activism. That is the common feature of the works of Eulàlia Grau (Terrassa, 1946), to whom the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) is devoting her first monographic exhibition. Corruption, exploitation of labour, real estate speculation, gender stereotypes, and in general the capacity of the mass media to influence our image of the world are the subjects that interest her most. Half avantgarde artist and half activist, Grau is regarded as one of the most militant voices of her generation. The exhibition includes a selection of her work, which she herself has called portraits of the reality around us. Forty years after the creation of these works, many of the situations she criticizes still exist today. This exhibition is part of MACBA’s mission to rediscover important local artists and focus on works which are little known but significant. Such has been the case of recent exhibitions of Benet Rossell, Joan Rabascall and Àngels Ribé.

I Have Never Painted Golden Angels brings together over a hundred works from the seventies and early eighties, many of them presented for the first time. They force the spectator to think about the mechanisms that our society is based on, where dominating values come from and how the systems of repression are structured. The exhibition also includes a recent work exhibited for the first time entitled Me gustaría morir en un lugar donde nadie me viera. María (I’d like to die in a place where no one can see me. María), 2011-2012, a series of photographs depicting current cases of political and financial corruption, such as Gürtel, Nóos and Millet. Eulàlia Grau announces and denounces reality by employing images from the press which she recomposes and uses as elements of analysis by contrast. The result reveals a mosaic of apparently unconnected real situations that co-exist in our socioeconomic and cultural system.

First retrospective exhibition of the palestinian photographer Ahlam Shibli, a gaze on communities fighting for their proper home

- 9 photographic series encapsulates Shibli's investigation into three different ways of understanding the word 'home'

- Death (2011-12), Shibli's latest photographic series, shows the efforts of Palestinian society to preserve the presence of those who lost their lives fighting against the occupation

- An international co-production that will travel to the Jeu de Paume, París and to the Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto

Title: Ahlam Shibli. La casa fantasmal Opening: 24 January 2013 Dates: 25 January – 28 April 2013 Curators: Joâo Fernandes, Marta Gili, Carles Guerra and Isabel Braga Coproduced by: Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona; Jeu de Paume, Paris and Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto Travelling to: Jeu de Paume, Paris, 28 May - 1 September 2013; Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto, October 2013 - February 2014

MACBA presents the first retrospective exhibition of the artist Ahlam Shibli (Palestine, 1970), co-produced with Jeu de Paume, Paris and Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto. Ahlam Shibli. Phantom Home will bring together 9 photographic series that encapsulates Shibli's investigation into three different ways of understanding the word 'home'. The exhibition also includes Death, Shibli's latest photographic series, especially conceived for this retrospective, which shows the efforts of Palestinian society to preserve the presence of those who lost their lives fighting against the occupation.

(available only in Catalan)

El Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) ha augmentat el nombre de visites en un 2,8% respecte l'any anterior. Si bé l'any 2011 l'assistència al centre va ser de 690.865 visites, durant el 2012 el públic ha crescut fins arribar a assolir les 710.435 al Museu.

Aquesta xifra no inclou les exposicions programades amb fons propis als centres CaixaForum Madrid, CaixaForum Palma i Guggenheim Bilbao durant el 2012 que sumen un total de 768.067 més.

L'exposició més visitada al MACBA ha estat Oferta pública / Public Tender de Rita McBride amb un total de 188.028 visitants, a l'espera de tancar la xifra d'assistència a la mostra en curs Episodis crítics (1957-2011) Col·lecció MACBA, que finalitzarà el juny de 2013.

Els nombre de visitants estrangers es manté destacant països com Estats Units, Gran Bretanya, França i Orient Mitjà. L'increment de públic al Museu s'ha donat en gran part gràcies a l'augment de visites de públic local que han acollit positivament accions com: El MACBA és/es viu; MACBA en família; l'ampliació d'horaris els divendres i dissabtes al vespre durant l'estiu; la consolidació de la Nit Internacional dels Museus (9.271 visitants) i la Jornada de Portes Obertes amb motiu de la celebració del 25è aniversari de la Fundació MACBA (5.372 visitants).

Un complet programa d'activitats que es seguirà ampliant i potenciant durant tot el 2013, que comptarà amb exposicions com la d'Ahlam Shibli, Eulàlia Grau, Lawrence Weiner i la presentació de la Col·lecció MACBA junt amb CaixaForum Barcelona i el Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC), entre d'altres.

- With this award, the Han Nefkens Foundation and MACBA wish to foster international, contemporary artistic creativity.
- The jury unanimously awards this Egyptian artist for "the critical maturity of her work, not so common in the artists of her generation".
- Aiming to establish complicities among the five continents, ten scouts from all over the world drew up a preliminary list.
- The members of the jury are: Han Nefkens, Bartomeu Marí, Iwona Blazwick, Adriano Pedrosa and Christine Tohmé.


Unanimously. This has been the conclusive decision of the jury of the Fundació HAN NEFKENS MACBA Contemporary Art Award upon granting it to the Egyptian artist Iman Issa (Cairo, 1979). "We are sure that the granting of this award will very positively impinge on a key moment of her career. It also entails a challenge for her artistic practice in terms of rigour and objectiveness", its members have said. This is precisely the aim of the new award established by the Fundació Han Nefkens (FHN) and the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA): to help to consolidate the career of artists with many years' experience in this field but needing a definitive backing from the international artistic community.

With this new award, addressed to artists of any age group, sex or citizenship, the Fundació Han Nefkens and the MACBA also wish to foster international artistic contemporary creation, establish complicities and networks to exchange ideas across the five continents, as well as favour the production of new works of art in Barcelona. In this regard, one of the unique aspects of this award is the defining role played by the ten scouts from all over the world. Each one of them selects three artists from their geographical area. Based on this first proposal, including about thirty candidates, the Award Committee chooses between five and ten finalists, out of which the jury chooses the final winner. The award, a biennial one, is worth a total amount of 50,000 Euros for the winner: 20,000 as emoluments and 30,000 devoted to the production of a new project in Barcelona. Iman Issa will carry out a new work in our city in 2013.

El programa de actividades del Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) de 2013 se centra en la transversalidad y la representación de aquello que es contemporáneo mediante las exposiciones, pero también a través de los Programas Públicos, el Programa de Estudios Independientes (PEI) y los servicios educativos, que se convierten en herramientas dinamizadoras del programa. Las colecciones MACBA y las coproducciones internacionales constituyen el núcleo del programa de exposiciones. La continuidad de las adquisiciones de la Fundación MACBA, el acuerdo de unión de las colecciones de la Fundación 'la Caixa' y el sustancial enriquecimiento del patrimonio contemporáneo que ha tenido lugar en 2012, con depósitos tan importantes como el de Xavier Miserachs, Joan Brossa y Art & Language, contribuyen a rediseñar la estrategia de investigación, presentación y difusión del arte y las ideas de nuestro tiempo. El programa del museo para 2013 es resultado de la relación orgánica entre las líneas de investigación, las colecciones –patrimonio contemporáneo–, las exposiciones, los programas públicos y educativos y el Programa de Estudios Independientes.

- More than 200 works by 64 artists, including Chillida, Hans Haacke, Sanja Iveković, Mike Kelley, Oteiza, Hernández Pijuan, Tàpies, Oriol Vilapuig, Susana Solano, Dorothée Selz, Jaume Plensa and Àngels Ribé, amongst others.

- New organisation of the Collection, occupying the whole Museum and, in the case of a work by Allan Sekula, entering the public space, in Plaça dels Àngels.

- The MACBA Foundation, 25 Years Building the Collection.

- The AXA Foundation, the main exhibition sponsor, renews its commitment to MACBA.

Title: Critical Episodes (1957-2011). The MACBA Collection. Official opening: Wednesday, 7 November at 7.30 pm. Exhibition: Since 8 November Organised by: Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA). Exhibition sponsor: AXA Foundation.

With an exhibition entitled Critical Episodes (1957-2011). The MACBA Collection, sponsored by the AXA Foundation, MACBA, the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, presents a new organisation of its collection. The selection suggests certain antecedents to what we now call systemic crisis. The show, which features more than 200 works by 64 artists, is organised into six 'episodes': Content Becomes Something to be Avoided Like a Plague; The Art of the First Globalisation; Fissures; Voyeurism, Fetishism and Narcissism; Work, Power and Control in a Globalised World; and Déconnage. These episodes occupy all the Museum floors and even venture out into the public space in the case of Allan Sekula's work Shipwreck and Workers (Version 3 for Kassel) (2005-2007). Part of this piece, which was shown at Documenta in Kassel in 2007, will be installed in Plaça dels Àngels, the other inside the Museum. The exhibition coincides with the 25th anniversary of the MACBA Foundation, which celebrates a quarter of a century building the museum's collection. The artists featured in these Critical Episodes include Ignasi Aballí, Lara Almarcegui, Art & Language, Judith Barry, Dara Birnbaum, Marcel Broodthaers, Joan Brossa, Eduardo Chillida, Öyvind Fahlström, Peter Friedl, Hans Haacke, Joan Hernández Pijuan, Mike Kelley, David Lamelas, Paul McCarthy, Matt Mullican, Miralda, Hélio Oiticica, Jaume Plensa, Pere Portabella, Robert Rauschenberg, Àngels Ribé, Gerhard Richter, Allan Sekula, Andreas Siekmann, Susana Solano, Antoni Tàpies and Krzysztof Wodiczko, amongst others.

The exhibition takes the form of a sequence of episodes that can be visited independently, and which place social and political transformations in the immediate context of the crises that have marked the progress of contemporary art. One of its central episodes takes up the American art critic Clement Greenberg's phrase 'content becomes something to be avoided like a plague' to revive the self-criticism of painting that began in the 1960s in response to an art that appealed strictly to individual perceptions. This section begins with interrogation of modern painting and moves towards a review of artistic practices that strive to understand contemporary social reality. The Art of the First Globalisation shows the result of this historic process. The third episode, Fissures, focuses on the idea of the subject, questioning the criteria we use to build our world vision and asking how we can unlearn what we have learned. Voyeurism, Fetishism and Narcissism, which also explores contemporary subjectivities, takes us into the new visual regime of a world accustomed to the narrative conventions of film, the screen. Finally, Work, Power and Control revolves around new lifestyles and production systems linked to advanced capitalism. This last episode features a showing of Déconnage, a video essay devoted to the Catalan psychiatrist Francesc Tosquelles on the centenary of his birth.