BAR Residency
BAR project develops a residency program in Barcelona that is conceived as a platform for the internationalization of the local context from a critical and independent perspective. BAR project receive international artists and curators to Barcelona during different periods of time and under diverse types of residencies. BAR project’s residency operates on an invitation basis. Examples of topics around which the residency has gravitated are: ways of living together in the world, alternative forms of community or the politics of control of human behavior. The selection-committee is composed by BAR project’s founding members.
BAR project is a platform which doesn’t have its own venue. The residencies are possible thanks to different partners and collaborators, who help BAR project to provide their residents with accommodation, working space, and with material and economic resources. Furthermore, numerous art centers and projects within the city – institutional and independent -, as well as a variety of agents of the local artistic scene, participate in the program’s activities.
The project’s driving force is the main focus of the platform’s priorities, that is to say, the notion of hospitality. This exchange is produced not only at a conceptual level but also in practical terms. Hospitality happens at many different levels: the residents are hosted by BAR project and the latest is hosted itself by many collaborators; been a guest and a host makes the project not only possible, but sustainable.
The variety of residencies has evolved over time. There are 1 to 3-month residencies in which artists and curators are invited to develop a specific project related to the city of Barcelona. During the residency, special emphasis is placed on exchange with the local scene through presentations and public events and a closer exchange between invited and local agents. At the end of the residency a public presentation of the artworks produced is organized at a space that is selected in order to suit the work its best. The program covers for transportation, accommodation, working space, living expenses as well as a production budget. Another type of invitations are given to groups of 3-4 curators for around a week period, during which they meet artists and agents and institutions of Barcelona. The guests are provided with a program matching their research interests. The main goal is to allow for a direct knowledge of the artistic and cultural scene of the city in order to encourage future collaborations. The residency covers for accommodation and travel expenses.
Since 2020, we have also developed residencies for local practitioners in which in order to develop and publicly present it through several occurrences during a month. The residents receive a stipend and the can sell a specific artwork at BAR project’s website.
At the moment those different formats coexist in an organic way in our program.