Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana
Manifesta is the European Nomadic Biennial, which operates every two years from a different Host City.
Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana takes place over 12 weeks, across 12 cities in the metropolitan region of Barcelona.
Manifesta 15 aims to reshape the relations between art, culture and society by investigating and catalysing socio-ecological change. All whilst being in continuous dialogue with both local communities and international cultural producers.
Due to its nomadic nature, each edition finds itself in a new locality every two years because it is invited by a Host City. In Manifesta 15’s case, the Bid was written by the Barcelona City Council and supported by 11 cities in the metropolitan region: Badalona, Cornellà de Llobregat, El Prat de Llobregat, Granollers, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Mataró, Sabadell, Sant Adrià de Besòs, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Sant Cugat del Vallès and Terrassa.
The Bid for Manifesta in Barcelona was also driven by the city’s commitment to cultural decentralisation. Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana aims to build new ways for social and artistic communities to connect with local infrastructures. It seeks to shift cultural attention to the city’s outskirts and neighbouring areas, fostering collaboration between the metropolitan cities. Manifesta, known for its nomadic nature, emphasises creating site-specific structures that focus on local voices and memories, supported by extensive research in host cities two years prior to the biennial.
Through collaborative critical research involving local and international artists, architects and thinkers, the pre-biennial process, guided by the Manifesta 15 Team alongside First Creative Mediator Sergio Pardo and Manifesta Director Hedwig Fijen, established the conceptual foundation for the biennial. Researchers focused on selected topics — Balancing Conflicts, Cure and Care, and Imagining Futures — that link to three significant locations: the Llobregat Delta, the Collserola Mountain Range and the Besòs River.
