Terra's tour across Europe was a success
Counting down to the 6th edition of the Triennale, we seized the occasion of the summer of 2022 for an international tour to present Terra in two European capitals. In Madrid, we were warmly welcomed by the Francisco Giner de los Ríos Foundation, a centenary institution dedicated to pedagogy and teaching that shares with us the same values of public service mission. This meeting allowed us to share the curatorial vision with several local partners who supported us in the realisation of the event. Maintaining its commitment to the dissemination of architectural culture, Acción Cultural Española was represented by Marta Rincón, coordinator of visual arts, architecture and design. Ana Severino, cultural affairs counsellor at the Portuguese Embassy, Francisco Garrett Guimarães from AICEP, and Agustina Grant and Francisco Devia, respectively communication coordinator and counsellor at the Chilean Embassy in Spain were also present.
The participation of irreverent architect Santiago Cirugeda revealed one of the most recent projects of his Recetas Urbanas studio in the informal neighbourhood of Cañada Real on the outskirts of Madrid. With the involvement of the local community and students from thirteen countries, this intervention works to improve the collective spaces of residents, and to create bonds of belonging and mitigate conflicts. The construction at controlled costs of a disassemblable community centre with the re-use of materials has put into practice a replicable circular model that responds to the challenges of similar urban ecosystems around the world.
Terra Presentation at Giner de los Rios Foundation © Julio González (AC/E)
In line with Terra's curatorial proposal, Cristina Veríssimo and Santiago Cirugeda confronted perspectives around environmentally committed strategies for action, a theme particularly addressed in two central exhibitions of the Triennale 2022: Retroactive, on display at MAAT, which presents self-proposed interventions in informal territories, and Multiplicity, at MNAC, which looks at processes in which architecture and design respond to contemporary contingencies of the Global South.
This encounter brought together students, professionals and other cultural agents from the Madrid context who operate in architecture, design and art. The audience also included the management of the Fernando Higueras Foundation, the coordination of Open House Madrid and the Práctica studio, which takes part in the Terra programme with the Rio Somes Independent Project.
The second stop of the international promotion took the Triennale to Berlin. The session combined the presentation of Terra with an open debate with a panel that brought together two large-scale festivals - the Tbilisi Biennial and the Lisbon Triennale - moderated by architect and researcher Elena Markus. Around fifty people filled the informal campus of Floating University to discuss the role of these events as catalysts for change.
The event in the German capital is part of New Temporality, a three-year programme supported by the European Commission. Organised by a consortium of eight cultural institutions, including the Lisbon Triennale, it aims to promote the involvement of society in the thinking and construction of temporal spaces. In the wake of this kick-off, the consortium met for three days to plan future actions that will take place in each member’s city, from Lisbon to Podgorica or Tirana.
We were very pleased to see how receptive the international public was to the Terra’s themes. We would like to thank everyone for their involvement in the Triennale 2022 programme and we hope to continue strengthening the bonds of international cooperation in future editions.
See some highlights of our Tour here.