Agenda Barcelona

They fly in groups. Hundreds of thousands of birds move together across the winter sky. As part of a precise choreography, they stretch and contract, glide and rise, forming large clouds; this is what is known as the "dance of the starlings". No one can predict what their next movement will be, in fact not even they themselves know where they will fly in the seconds to come. In a true aerial ballet, these birds display, like very few others, a perfect synchrony of flight. It is through these aerial dances that we approach the MACBA Collection in a doubly and directly manner, celebrating its thirtieth anniversary and reflecting on the processes of contemporary subjectivation. Just like the synchronous and choral movement of starlings, known as "murmuration", evoking the murmur that accompanies their flight, comprise volatile and changing images, so too the works in the collection adjust and regroup in their different presentations, forming knots or maps of meaning. 

The celebration of the museum's 30th birthday invites us to take a moment to reflect, to pause to look at the past on which the present of MACBA has been built, and to revisit its history. A kind of homage, but also a critical review of the different threads that have woven the museum’s present. Since its origins, the MACBA Collection has been gradually constructed, embracing the challenges of its contemporaneity and assuming the risks required for it to serve as the loudspeaker for bold and politically committed practices. This collection is organised like a murmur that grows each year, a constellation of voices that emerges from the past in a polyphonic echo that is intended to be infinite, limitless and diverse.

Although this presentation forms part of our 30th birthday celebrations, it is not a commemorative exhibition, but one that has its own identity. Thus, the murmur of the collection takes on the form of a choreography performed by the contemporary subject. Rather than a chronological exhibition, the exhibition is formed by connecting nodes where concepts are worked on this subject as a malleable entity, not constructed in isolation but like an orchestra, in dialogue with collective experiences, social struggles and intercultural contexts. These existences are intertwined and in constant transformation, the focus of many works in the MACBA Collection, offering a plural, flexible and dynamic approach. 

As a result, we will explore the concept of the hybrid subject, which challenges identities fixed by categories, such as gender, race, nationality or class. A hybridisation that arises from the continuous interaction between different worlds and that, like birds in their collective flight, allow the presentation of works that evoke an organically constructed self, from the perspective of community and nature, without neglecting the sacred relationship with the spiritual worlds, which will play an essential role. The experience of dreams, play and ritual will be key elements to demonstrate a being that connects with invisible and transcendental dimensions of existence, with delirium as a nourishing force. 

The exhibition is complemented by three relocated works, displayed at three of the city’s public educational centres. These works, by Alán Carrasco, Dora García and Tanit Plana, form part of the new edition of "Fora de reserves", a temporary reception programme of works from the MACBA contemporary art collection at schools and institutes in collaboration with the Barcelona City Council.