Carreras
Mugica

Like a dance of starlings, it addresses the emergence of a porous entity, capable of spreading its wings and using its subjectivity as a space for liberation, opening up new ways of being and acting in the world.

They fly in groups. Hundreds of thousands of birds move together across the winter sky. In a precise choreography, they expand and contract, glide and soar, forming large clouds; this is what we know as the ‘dance of the starlings’. No one can predict their movements; in fact, not even they themselves know where they will fly in the next few seconds. In a veritable aerial ballet, these birds display, like few others, perfect synchrony in flight. It is thus, through these aerial dances, that we approach the MACBA Collection in a twofold and direct way, celebrating its thirtieth anniversary and reflecting on the processes of contemporary subjectivation. Like the synchronous and choral movement of starlings—known in English as murmuration, evoking the murmur that accompanies their flight—which forms volatile and changing images, the works in the collection also adjust and regroup in their different presentations, forming knots or maps of meaning.

The celebration of the museum's 30th anniversary invites us to pause and reflect, to look back at the past on which MACBA's present has been built, and to revisit its trajectory. It is a kind of tribute, but also a critical review of the threads that have woven the museum's history. 

 Since its inception, the MACBA Collection has been built up gradually, embracing the challenges of its contemporaneity and taking the necessary risks to make it a mouthpiece for bold and politically committed practices. A collection that articulates itself like a murmur that grows year after year, a constellation of voices that emerges from the past in a polyphonic resonance that aspires to be infinite, unlimited and diverse. 

Although this presentation is part of our 30th anniversary celebrations, it is not a commemorative exhibition, but rather has its own identity. Thus, the murmur of the collection we outline takes the form of a choreography of the contemporary subject. Far from being a chronological exhibition, the show is articulated through connecting nodes where concepts about this subject are explored, understood as a malleable entity that is not constructed in isolation, but rather collectively, in dialogue with collective experiences, social struggles and intercultural contexts. These are intertwined existences in constant transformation, around which many works in the MACBA Collection reflect and which offer a plural, flexible and dynamic approach. 

We will therefore 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 which, like birds in their collective flight, will allow us to present works that evoke an organically constructed self, from the 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 in showing a being that connects with invisible and transcendental dimensions of existence, even with delirium as a nourishing force. 

The exhibition is complemented by three delocalised works presented in three public educational centres in the city. These works, by Alán Carrasco, Dora García and Tanit Plana, are part of the new edition of “Fuera de reservas” (Out of Reserve), a programme for the temporary hosting of works from MACBA's contemporary art collection in schools and colleges, in collaboration with Barcelona City Council.