Mare Nostrum Art Design. A history of the Mediterranean, its waters, and its treasures
October 17 - 20, from 10 am to 7 pm
Terrace of FX Barcelona Film School, Carrer de Pujades 112
MARE NOSTRUM ART DESIGN
A history of the Mediterranean, its waters, and its treasures
by Mariona Rubio Sabatés for TERRAZSA BCN 2024
in collaboration with A-FAD
A selection of over fifty artists and designers aimed at safeguarding and renewing the Mediterranean heritage through craftsmanship and design. From emerging talents to established figures, with the support of the most relevant functional art galleries in the Spanish scene (Il·lacions, Llop Madrid, Side Gallery, and Vasto Gallery), and A-FAD, with the technical support of Puraluce, the exhibition-market offers a rich source of inspiration for professionals creating terrace and outdoor space projects, with pieces also custom-made for the exhibition.
ASTERISQUE Estefanía ph. Alicia Peiró
According to Isidore of Seville (7th century AD), the Mediterranean is named because it is, literally, a “sea in the midst of lands.” It’s no surprise that in antiquity, the Seven Wonders of the Known World were Mediterranean; however, these "Wonders" only belonged to the domains of architecture and sculpture.
At the same time, the Mediterranean was inventing other Wonders, in knowledge, thought, and more generally, human life; in some cases, it contributed to their diffusion. These discoveries reached far beyond the Mare Nostrum, attaining a universal destiny. Since antiquity, it has been a center of innovation, feeding civilizations with inventions like the alphabet and the concept of time. Its cultural heritage spans philosophies, sciences, and religions, with a legacy that remains present in today's societies.
Our sea is a true melting pot of cultures, the cradle of much of the World's Heritage. The Mediterranean region is one of the areas of the world with the greatest cultural diversity in a relatively small space. Historically, the region has seen the birth, growth, and decline of many civilizations over centuries and millennia, from Ancient Egypt to the spread of Islam, among many others.
Through its coasts, the Mediterranean has served as a bridge, facilitating cultural and commercial exchanges between diverse communities. Through these journeys, processes of migration, exchanges, and cultural fusions occurred, allowing us to speak today of Mediterranean culture, its cuisine, character, and way of understanding life, offering us an ideal of life and an ethical model, a timeless metaphor for the good life.
However, the Mare Nostrum faces serious environmental challenges. Plastic pollution, poor waste management, mass tourism, and rampant urbanization are threatening this vital ecosystem. It is estimated to be the most polluted sea in the world, and experts warn that urgent action is needed to restore its health. The rich history and cultural diversity of the Mediterranean must be protected so that they continue to influence future generations.
TERRAZSA BCN 2024 and, in particular, the exhibition-market MARE NOSTRUM ART DESIGN curated by Mariona Rubio Sabatés and organized in collaboration with Todobarro and A-FAD, Fomento de las Artes y del Diseño - that will take place from October 17th to 20th on the terrace of FX Barcelona Film School, at Carrer de Pujades 112, as an OFF event of Barcelona Design Week - encourages visitors to discover artists and designers who, through craftsmanship and research, revive our roots, folklore, and techniques using traditional languages. Among them, there are “design artists” who adapt these techniques to create more contemporary and innovative languages, a group of creatives born from an emerging post-industrial society that seeks to express the need to build a better, more sustainable, more democratic, less consumerist community, closer to and in harmony with nature and the landscape.
The provocative exhibition that reflects on the future of water, the generosity of the Mediterranean, and that encourages action, will become a viral phenomenon: 'Mare Nostrum Design Art' — act or disappear?
A selection of over fifty artists and designers responsible for safeguarding and renewing the Mediterranean’s legacy throught craftsmanship and design. From emerging talents to established figures, this exhibition offers a rich source of inspiration for professionals to create the best terrace and outdoor space projects.
TERRASZA BCN 2024 brings together in the MARE NOSTRUM DESIGN ART exhibition the most relevant functional art galleries in the Spanish scene: Bombon Projects, Il·lacions, Llop Madrid, Pott Gallery, and Vasto Gallery.
Prominent names such as Mariadela Araujo, Eliurpi, Júlia Rocosa de Circular Ars, Marta Moreno, Gabriel Escamez, Yoyo Balagué, among others, explore the culture of the Mediterranean Sea and its future with custom-made pieces for the exhibition.
MARE NOSTRUM DESIGN ART is organized in collaboration with A-FAD, the Promotion of Arts and Design, the Barcelona association of professionals and companies linked to design, architecture, and artistic creation. Accompanying ten of its members, Carol Fleischman, President of the A-FAD Board, stated: “At A-FAD, we are very pleased to participate in and support the TERRASZA BCN 2024 project in its second edition from October 17 to 20 at the FX Barcelona Film School terrace in Poble Nou. The innovative initiative of TERRASZA to present the Mare Nostrum Art Design exhibition is aligned with the principles of our association, which consists of artists and artisans who advocate for art and craftsmanship; together, they question and propose to invigorate the relationship between mind and hand. In this case, with the curation of Mariona Rubio Sabatés, we will see the participation, among others, of a group of A-FAD members in this great Mediterranean celebration that, in their own words, promotes an ideal of life and an ethical model of creation, as well as a timeless metaphor for the good life and happiness!”
Craftsmanship is undoubtedly a way to reclaim our cultural identity and intangible heritage, as well as tell stories through constant experimentation. They safeguard, give value, and ensure the continuity of these crafts that seemed lost but today are elevated to a higher category: art.
As Voltaire said, the virtues of care and patience developed through gardening serve as an antidote to the frenzy, greed, discontent with oneself, and consumerism of our time. In other words, horticultural therapy or, in our case, craftsmanship can be a remedy against the rampant profit obsession of our world, as it proposes a relationship with nature not based on exploitation or greed.
From textile to glass, ceramists, potters, basket makers, mosaic artists, carpenters, cabinet makers, furniture designers, and many other artisans, in short, there is a new generation of artists seeking to democratize the world and tell their own stories. A selection of artists who design and create pieces that draw from our environment and culture, with the intention of reclaiming our landscape, identity, and a better, more logical way of living, more inherent to the human condition that progress has taken away from us.
Meritxell Duran
The exhibition aims to highlight the great cultural value of the Mediterranean, a way of living and understanding the world, and what such a rich, beautiful, and diverse landscape can offer us, while also showing what could happen if we do not take care of it. As biologist Manu San Félix says in the National Geographic documentary "Save Our Mediterranean": “We can bring the Mediterranean back to life with a realistic yet hopeful message, as we still have time to save it, but it’s now or never.”
Text by Mariona Rubio Sabatés
Josep Maynou by Bombon Projects gallery
Artists and Designers, and Gallerie
The following artists are exhibiting their creations:
A-FAD: Bussoga, Nuria Carrascal, Carrillo Studio, Circular Ars, Rosa Cortiella, Carol Fleischman,
Cris Noguera, Francesca Piñol, Pròsper Riva, Andrea Sender Studio, Tossuda Studio
Bombon Projects: Josep Maynou
Il·lacions: Ricard Carbayó, Ferran Collado, Rosa Cortiella, Meritxell Durán, Cristian Herrera Dalmau, Joshua Linacisoro, Josep Vila Capdevila, Sanna Völker
Llop Madrid: Asterisque, Yoyo Balagué, Jor Cermaics, Icaro Maiterena, Pi Studio, Caterina Roma, Guillermo Shelley
Pott Gallery: Sofía Aguas, Sergio Basi, Ramon Fort, César Rivas
Trenat: Marc Morro
Vasto Gallery: Berta Blanca, Forever studio, Emily Lisi, Sara Regal
Mariadela Araujo | Mariona Cañadas y Pedro Murúa | Eliurpi | Gabriel Escamez | Fango | Nazara Lázaro | Los Objetos Decorativos | Laura Micheletti | Malva Office | Xavier Mañosa | Marta Moreno | Pablo Octavio | Elena Rocabert | Turbina Studio | Valeria Vasi | Chidy Wayne
Arturo Alvarez
Mariona Rubio Sabatés | Bio
Curator, art and design advisor. She writes about new talents, design, and trends in various national and international media, in addition to executing art direction and curatorial projects with disruptive purposes for prestigious brands and organizations such as the Best of Spain by AD magazine, the Lexus Art Car Awards, and the Madrid Design Festival. In her more theoretical facet, she collaborates with entities such as the Terracota Museu de la Bisbal de l’Empordà and the Madrid Design Festival, where she analyzes design through its aesthetics and how it evolves in society, seeking to understand the past and visualize the future. She also identifies brilliant, unexpected connections between the known and the unexplored and discovers bold designs that go beyond standards. Mariona's goal is to propose new and better ways of living through design that go beyond the obvious.