From June 21, 2024, to January 12, 2024

This photographic project, about Barcelona seen from the suburbs that sprang up as a result of postwar migration to the city, is in line with the tradition of local photographic projects about urban development since the Olympic era. A critical and civil tradition that sees photography as a counter-discourse to advertising.

Historically, the periphery has always been the most innovative part of the city, the place where emerging tendencies first manifest themselves. Hence, a project about the periphery will work as a future prospect of the evolution of Barcelona in the next few years and offer significant documentation about the city during the current decade.

In the past, Barcelona’s suburbs have grown in two opposite geographic areas: the north and north-west zone, from the Besòs River to the hills of Collserola, and the south and south-east zone, which includes the historic centre of the Raval and the Gothic Quarter, and the back of Montjuïc, which borders with the harbour and the Zona Franca.

The project includes thirteen commissioned works, some of a transversal character spanning different neighbourhoods, and others constructed as field studies of a more specific nature. Their focus is also varied, with some purely topographic, while others address social issues:

  • Besòs. Gilbert Fastenaekens
  • Mountain ridge between Collserola and Ronda de Dalt. Manolo Laguillo
  • The memory of neighbourhood movements in Nou Barris and the emergence of new social movements at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Pilar Monsell
  • The Rec Comtal and the water system in the city. Jorge Yeregui
  • The agricultural area around La Ponderosa, in Vallbona. José Luis Guerín
  • The Baluard Health and Social Care Centre, the venipuncture surgery in the Raval. Laia Abril
  • El Carmel: Monument to Últimas tardes con Teresa. Jeff Wall
  • Turó de la Rovira: A micro-archaeology of the city. Bleda y Rosa
  • Las Casas Baratas. Gregori Civera
  • Emerging flamenco scene in Nou Barris. Pedro G. Romero
  • Park and periphery, the foothills of Montjuïc in Poble Sec. Mabel Palacín
  • Weaving dreams: Sewing workshop with Afghan women refugees in the Raval. Martha Rosler, Raquel Friera, Creadoness
  • La Marina, from last periphery to an advance of the future. Carmen Secanella

Although this is mostly a photographic project, some works in cinematic or video format have also been commissioned. The selection criteria have been: gender parity, a balanced number of local and non-local, Spanish and international artists, of different ages and generations, who have produced work in Barcelona or have links with the city, and have a relevant track record within the documentary tradition and a body of work that fits the project.

Curated by

Jorge Ribalta

Artists
Laia Abril, Bleda y Rosa, Gregori Civera, Gilbert Fastenaekens, José Luis Guerín, Manolo Laguillo, Pilar Monsell, Mabel Palacín, Pedro G. Romero, Martha Rosler/Raquel Friera/Creadoness, Carmen Secanella, Jeff Wall and Jorge Yeregui.