Utopia is possible. ICSID. Eivissa, 1971

In 1971, during the final years of Franco’s dictatorship, the International Council of the Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) held its 7th Congress in Eivissa. On the island that year, what had previously been an eminently professional event became something more akin to a multimedia festival. As the congress progressed, a series of artistic interventions, concerts and conversations took place that were not just related to design, but also to architecture, urbanism, artistic production and a range of diverse philosophical issues. The congress deliberately dissociated itself from the kind of venues were it was usually held in favour of hotel rooms, and it reached out to the locals of the Bay of Sant Miquel. Many of the people who went to the island convinced that “something” was happening there ended up staying at Instant City, an ephemeral, inflatable architectural element that ended up becoming a test bed for new forms of communal living.

Teresa Grandas and Daniel Giralt-Miracle, the curators of the exhibition at MACBA, have embarked on the task of reviewing the documentation and testimonies related to this singular event, which can now be interpreted with a renewed relevance. This round table is an opportunity to share the research that has been carried out by the curatorial team (of which the exhibition is just a small sample) in order to analyse the particular challenge that curators face when trying to present an event with as many levels of complexity as the ICSID in an exhibition format. Teresa Grandas and Daniel Giralt-Miracle – who will talk about his experiences as a member of the organising committee of the Congress – will be joined by José Díaz-Cuyás, professor of Aesthetics at the University of Laguna and curator of the exhibition The Pamplona Encounters 1972. The End of the Party for Experimental Art, which was held at the MNCARS, Madrid, in late 2009.

Participants: Teresa Grandas, Daniel Giralt-Miracle and José Díaz-Cuyás

participant

Teresa Grandas

Teresa Grandas is a curator, researcher and writer who curates exhibitions at the MACBA. Her research has often focused on the artistic practices of the 1970s and particularly on the work of female artists and the countercultural scene, as well as their echoes and connections with art today.

As a curator, she has been in charge of various collective and individual shows, including The Passion According to Carol Rama (MACBA, 2014; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 2015; Espoo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Espoo, Finland, 2015-2016; Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin, 2016; Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Torino (GAM), 2016-2017), Hard gelatin. Hidden stories from the 80s (MACBA, 2016; Hiriartea Centro de Cultura Contemporánea, Pamplona, 2018), Brossa Poetry (MACBA, 2017; Artium, Vitoria, 2018; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes y Centro Cultural Kirchner (CCK), Buenos Aires, 2019; MUAC Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, 2021-2022) and Fina Miralles: I Am All the Selves that I Have Been (MACBA, 2021; Index – Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation and Marabouparken konsthall, Stockholm, 2022; Museo d’arte contemporanea Donnaregina (MADRE), Naples, 2022-2023).

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La utopia és possible. ICSID. Eivissa, 1971. Taula rodona entorn l’exposició [Reportatge fotogràfic activitat]

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2014

La utopía es posible. ICSID. Eivissa, 1971. Mesa redonda en torno a la exposición [Enregistrament audiovisual activitat]

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