Open call for artists – Deadline August 15
“War, like the dinosaurs, must disappear”
Orson Wells puts this phrase in the mouth of the protagonist of the film Things to Come, from 1935. This film addresses the need for civilized societies to guarantee peace and find the balance between technology and nature.
In the current moment of proliferation of war conflicts and even the threat of a world war, Drap-Art echoes this statement – our planet can only be sustainable if instead of conflict, peace and love are promoted, and if technology and science are put at the service of human beings and nature, for their development and regeneration.
“We are approaching our 30th anniversary and want to reflect on the evolution of activism in the field of art and sustainability, in these almost three decades of the festival’s history. There is no sustainability without peace. We need a return to humanist values to achieve true sustainability in all aspects,” says Tanja Grass, director of the festival and the Drap-Art association since the beginnings.
This new edition of Drap-Art Al Gòtic! International Festival of Sustainable Art of Catalonia, will be held from November 21 to December 21, 2024. The exhibition of the artists selected by the open call will be held at Mucha Fibra School and Workshops at carrer d’en Copons 3. Currently the public call for artists is open and they are welcome to present their projects until August 15. The jury will be formed by Joan Abelló, Betty Bigas, Josep Anton Carulla, Margarita Farran and Tanja Grass.
For a month, the Festival programs in the central Gothic neighborhood of Barcelona an exhibition route with 60 artists (invited and selected by public call, as well as a selection of artists from the Balearic Islands) with 100 works of art in galleries and unique buildings in the historic center of Barcelona (Test Gallery, Base Elements Urban Art Gallery, the Borsí platform space, etc.) with the aim of promoting sustainability through art, reclaiming forgotten or disused objects and giving them a second life.
Accompanying the exhibitions, Drap-Art organizes numerous activities in public spaces around sustainability in all its aspects: artistic, social and environmental. One of the highlights will be the inaugural concerts in Plaza del Rey, on Saturday, November 23, and the Market of Recycling Art and Sustainable Consumption, every Saturday at Plaza Real. The objective is to create a wide-ranging and immersive sustainable cultural circuit, in which the public can enjoy the exhibitions and be part of the festival in a participatory way.
Drap-Art has already been collaborating for three years with the Third Paradise project of the pioneer of environmental art and main representative of Arte Povera, Michelangelo Pistoletto and his organization Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto, which celebrates Rebirth Day around the world on December 21, with the winter solstice. This year, Drap-Art wants to commemorate the date with a massive and festive “Demonstration-Procession-Parade for Universal Peace and Human Empowerment”, with the participation of renowned international artists, such as Eddy Ekete (https://eddyeketeblog.wordpress.com), Little Shilpa (http://www.littleshilpa.com, and national artists, such as Marcel·lí Antúnez Roca (https://www.marceliantunez.com). The parade will end in Plaça Catalunya of Barcelona with the collective creation of a giant heart made by the children from the schools of the Ciutat Vella neighborhood, under the supervision of the action artist HA Schult (https://www.haschult.de), another great pioneer of environmental art.
