"La nueva era” exhibition
The photographer Jordi Otix shows us art as a powerful transformational tool and how balance is found in LGBTIQ+ diversity.
It is through this never-before-seen Karakter Estudio production, curated by Festival Berdache, that the artist presents us with an offering he has collaborated in with a queer + group of artists.
The exhibition aims to invite reflection on the reality of diverse people on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity through 22 works, while raising awareness of respect for others, equal opportunities and non-discrimination.
The exhibition is free and can be visited at the Espai Mercè Sala.
The exhibition's central players
Ricardo Domínguez
@ricdominguez
Cali, Colombia
They have lived in Barcelona since 2017.
They are a model/actor /performer who would like diversity to be mainstream and no one to judge anyone outside the ‘norm’.
They think gender only exists in a binary world, when in actual fact it is a fiction.
The photographer captured these images spontaneously, during moments shared with Ricardo. They both had the feeling, already at that time, that they were doing something important.
Amanda Araújo
@undertravestiground
North-east Brazil
They have lived in Barcelona since 2017.
They are an artist and activist. They would like to there to be historical reparations with regard to gender.
They tell us that gender is a social construct and that transphobia is an institutional and structural event, all the more you document problems to the equation.
Amanda used these photographs to work on their most activist side. During their time in Catalonia, they took part in a series entitled La Veneno. Despite all that, they complain how they are faced by a wall when it comes to getting their documents in order and joining the labour market.
Being able to do this session with Jordi gave them the opportunity to work as an activist, because, as they put i, “we are tired of dying”.
Groupie D
@940U7i3
São Gabriel, Brazil
They have lived in Barcelona since 2018.
They spent their first year in Catalonia dedicated to sex work and they now live exclusively as an advertising model . Apart from that, they also take photos, write and compose music. Their dream would be to live exclusively off art.
They do not believe in gender: they assert that it is the invention of a society unable to understand the world’s diversity.
They were discovered as a non-binary person at the age of thirty-six, almost three years ago. They claim that labels are necessary because of gender and race repression.
The groups' initials is a consequence of the repression suffered by people who do not fall within what we (mis)understand as “normality”.
These photos were taken in two sessions, at a very important time in their life, when they were carrying out a very deep self-knowledge project. They themself describe it as a self-revelation.
They want these photos so they can better understand their own personal reality and complexities.
Exhibition "The Colours of Gratitude”
In May 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, Philip Stanton accepted TMB's proposal to create a permanent mural at a station in the city's metro network. It was to be a tribute to the healthcare workers who cared for us during the pandemic. Painted between June and July, the mural also dedicated to the city of Barcelona for its can-do spirit and resilience. In addition, it is a song to hope, positivism and happiness after months of confinement.
Stanton called on a group of nine students from the postgraduate course in Creative Illustration and Visual Communication Techniques, which he himself teaches at EINA, University Centre for Design and Art, where he has taught for more than 25 years.
The exhibition now hosted by the Espai Mercè Sala shows the process of creating the mural, with sketches, images and videos of the production of the work, as well as some testimonial texts.
Take photos and selfies featuring parts of the exhibition and share them on our social media pages, using the hashtag #ColoursGratitudeTMB.
Philip Stanton presents us with an interactive experience in situ
What have we learned after this difficult year?
What can we improve in the future? Which is the path to hope?
In this new chapter that we are starting as a society, what excites you?
We asked these questions of many people who have shared their stories to make this exhibit.
It’s been more than a year since the confinement, and it’s a good time to reflect on the past and think about the future. It is also an opportunity to thank these everyday heroes – the essential workers of health and public transportation – for their essential work.
After finishing his work and keeping in touch with some essential workers, Stanton decided to ask them for their collaboration on this project.
Beyond the making of The Colours of Gratitude , the intervention proposes an interactive experience in which the artist will create a new work in situ in the room for the duration of the show.
Throughout the two months of this exhibition, the artist will draw live some of these essential people who have inspired him.
His portraits will be superimposed on the vivid colours and organic shapes of the eight panels to form a unique and unrepeatable visual mosaic.
At the same time, the public can do their bit by sharing drawings, texts and videos on TMB's social networks with the hashtag #ColorsAgraïmentTMB.
Share the kids' drawings and enter our draw!
We have two activities for boys and girls:
Colour a hospital!
In the exhibition you will find paper where you can colour in up to eight models of hospitals that appear in the mural. They are also available here. Choose the one you like best and colour it in!
Download the hospital drawnings
Draw your hero or heroine
Who's your hero? They don't have to wear a cape... They can be a parent, a grandparent, a teacher, a healthcare worker, or work on public transport or other essential services.
Download the template to draw your hero.
Take a picture of the drawings and email them to us at tmbeduca@tmb.cat (email cannot weigh more than 20 MB).
All participants will enter a draw to win on of five colouring sets! Check out the rules.
Share your photos of the drawings on social media using the hashtag #ColorsAgraïmentTMB. We will post them on our pages!
Watch the video "Escola EINA students and the creation of The colours of gratitude mural" on YouTube (3'10")
Watch the video "The witnesses of The colours of grattitude exhibition" on YouTube (21'45")
Exhibition ‘Feminine Humanities’
‘Feminine Humanities’ represents the voices of great women of universal culture, which can be heard on a journey across the core areas of the humanities —humanistic knowledge, art, thought, literature and history—through the living word that illuminated some of the world’s greatest women.
The exhibition, which can be visited at the Ciutadella - Vila Olímpica metro station, is an initiative of the Faculty of Humanities at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. It is coordinated by Tamara Djermanovic and curated by Maria Àngels Cabré.
With this exhibition, the UPF aims to highlight the contribution of women to culture and knowledge.
With the collaboration of:
TMB Foundation
Equality Committee, Faculty of Humanities, UPF
Micromegas, BSM-UPF
Quotes by the women featured in the exhibition
Murasaki Shikibu (978?-1014?), Japanese writer: "No art or learning can be cultivated without enthusiasm".
Hildegarda de Bingen (1098-1179), German mystic: "And that is why the supreme feminine blessing exists"
Isabel de Villena (1430-1490), Valencian writer and religious devotee: "Of all the sorrows and anguish we have suffered during our painful pilgrimage, human language is incapable of explaining even the slightest part".
Aartemisa Gentileschi (1593-1654), Italian painter: "As long as I live, I will have control of my being".
Madame de Staël (1766-1817), Swiss writer and salonnière: "An injustice suffered by any citizen falls to everyone".
Lou Andreas Salomé(1861-1937), Russian writer and psychoanalyst: "The most magnificent and difficult thing to conquer on Earth is freedom, so I prefer to stay forever in the transition".
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), English writer: "There is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind".
Victoria Ocampo (1890-1979), Argentine writer and publisher: "When you do not have the courage to live as you think, you end up thinking about how you live".
Marina Tsvetàieva (1892-1941), Russian poet: "God, don’t judge! You have never been a woman here on Earth".
Claude Cahun (1894-1954), French artist: "That one, unrecognisable me who ventures further toward the metamorphosis, progressing into the night".
Marguerite Yourcenar(1903-1987), French writer: "That mighty sculptor, time".
María Zambrano (1904-1991), Spanish philosopher: "Writing is defending the loneliness in which I live".
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975), German philosopher: "No one has the right to obey".
Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), Mexican painter: "Feet, what do I need you for if I have wings to fly?"
Mercè Rodoreda (1908-1983), Catalan writer: "To want to stifle the word is to want to stop life".
Indira Gandhi (1917-1984), Indian politician: "Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave".
Eileen Chang (1920-1995), Chinese writer: "Waiting for the rain is the fate of the umbrella".
Clarice Lispector (1920-1977), Brazilian writer: "I spent my life trying to correct the mistakes I made in my eagerness to get it right".
Agnes Varda (1928-2019), French filmmaker: "My quest is to find fun ways to reinvent the real thing".
Fatima Mernissi (1940-2015), Moroccan sociologist and writer: "Being excluded from power gives women an incredible freedom of thought, unfortunately accompanied by an unbearable fragility".
Cearia Evora (1941-2011), Cape Verdean singer: "Maybe I’m not very happy, but I’m not sad either. Joy and sadness are neighbours".
Angela Davis (1944), American activist and writer: "I'm no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I'm changing the things I cannot accept".
