MACBA Foundation Award: Ibon Aranberri

The MACBA Foundation Award was born with the aim of recognizing the works and speeches that are transforming the artistic scene in Spain and Portugal. The first edition of this award celebrates excellence and invites a more critical look on the social transformation capacity of art. This year, the Basque artist Ibon Aranberri (Gipuzkoa, 1969) has been distinguished with this award - a reduced replica of the sculpture 'The Wave' by Jorge Oteiza - consolidating his career in the current cultural landscape.

Aranberri's work goes beyond aesthetics to delve into the cultural and political construction of the landscape, turning his exhibitions into spaces where the social imagination takes shape. His recent shows, such as 'Partial View' at the Reina Sofía and 'Entresaka' at the Artium Museoa, are examples of a practice that dismantles established narratives to offer new connections between nature, industry and history. Aranberri reinterprets the landscape as a scene of conflicts and transformations, exploring its political and symbolic dimension. The jury praised his artistic integrity, rooted in the Basque formalist tradition, and his ability to introduce new ways of understanding reality, interweaving memory and the present, while simultaneously questioning dominant narratives.

The award has also recognized three finalist proposals that, with diverse discourses and languages, expand the limits of what we understand by contemporary art. Cabello/Carceller, Sandra Gamarra and David Bestué have been selected for disruptive and transformative projects.

Cabello/Carceller, Ainhoa Grandes, Ibon Araberri, Sandra Gamarra, Elvira Dyangani Ose i David Bestué. © Ferran Nadeu

The Cabello/Carceller collective (Helena Cabell and Ana Carceller) has been highlighted for its commitment to putting at the center identities that are often invisible. His recent shows, like 'A voice for Erauso. Epilogue for a trans time' or 'The occupation', are research exercises that, through various disciplines and using media such as video, performance or photography, take a critical look at gender roles and sexual dissidences , questioning the narrative hierarchies imposed by the cultural system.

Sandra Gamarra , on the other hand, approaches heritage from a decolonial perspective. In his 'Migrant Gallery', presented at this year's Venice Biennale , he reflects on the absences in the official histories of art, pointing out the need for a more inclusive and sustainable museology, rethinking institutional structures and at the same time imagining new models of restitution and cultural representation.

Finally, David Bestué redefines time and materiality as artistic languages. With exhibitions such as 'Ciutat de sorra' and 'Pajarazos', the Barcelona artist experiments with sculptural techniques that transform everyday objects into catalysts of collective memory. His work is, at the same time, a poetic exploration of the territory and a dialogue with the stories that make up the present.

'Pinacoteca Migrante', Sandra Gamarra

An award as a driver for artistic reflection

With a total endowment of 80,000 euros , the MACBA Foundation Award, beyond being a financial recognition, aims to be a fundamental stimulus for an artistic scene that faces the challenges and questions of today's world. According to Ainhoa Grandes , president of the MACBA Foundation, this award was born with the desire to place artists at the center of the cultural debate, as key figures in the construction of critical thinking and in the reinterpretation of our social and political context. The selection process, thorough and rigorous, was structured in two main stages. In a first phase, a committee formed by prestigious experts such as Claudia Segura (MACBA), Agustín Pérez Rubio (independent curator), Manuel Cirauqui (Eina Foundation and Guggenheim Museum), Tania Pardo (CA2M Museum), Bárbara Rodríguez (Botín Center) and Gilberto González (independent curator) analyzed the artists' proposals, evaluating their quality and innovation. Subsequently, an international jury chaired by Ainhoa Grandes and made up of relevant figures such as Adam Szymczyk (Documenta 14), Manuel J. Borja-Villel (Generalitat de Catalunya), Manuel Segade (Queen Sofia Museum), Angela Molina (art critic) , Elvira Dyangani Ose (MACBA) and Abdellah Karroum (former director of Mathaf) deliberated to choose the winner and finalists.

'Pajarazos', David Bestué