Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website
Accept allRevoke all
  • MANIFESTA
  • About
  • Principles
  • Organisation
  • Become a host city
  • Contact
  • Editions
  • News
  • Education
  • Publications
  • Press
  • Vacancies

Sign up for our newsletter

  • MANIFESTA
  • Editions
  • News
  • Principles
  • 11 December 2025
    Former Manifesta participant Nnena Kalu wins Turner Prize!
    Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana

    We are proud to congratulate former Manifesta participant Nnena Kalu on winning the 2025 Turner Prize.

  • 4 December 2025
    Open Call winner projects announced!
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr

    The selected projects of the Open Call “This is not a church” have been announced. During Manifesta 16 Ruhr they …

  • 16 October 2025
    Josep Bohigas Lecture in the Amstelkerk, Amsterdam

    On Tuesday the 11th of November 2025, Manifesta 16 Ruhr’s First Creative Mediator Josep Bohigas gives a lecture in the …

  • 2 October 2025
    International Jury Announced for Manifesta 16 Ruhr Open …
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr

    Manifesta 16 Ruhr has unveiled the international jury that will select the eleven projects for the biennial’s PLUS programme. The …

  • 26 September 2025
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr announces Artistic Team
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr

    Manifesta 16 Ruhr announces its Conceptual Framework and Artistic Team, focusing on the repurposing of the region's significant post-war churches …

  • 26 September 2025
    Manifesta presents official biennial venues and Host Cities
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr

    Manifesta has announced the Host Cities and official venues for the upcoming biennial. The selection, drawn from 200 churches visited …

News, 5 June 2025

Black Archives Publication and Final Press Conference Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana

Related to Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana

On the 4th of June 2025, Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana welcomed the public and press one last time to Gustavo Gili, the former publishing house that has served as Manifesta’s office for the past few years, for the closing press conference of this edition. During the event, Manifesta’s Head of Marketing, Communications and Business Development, Emilia van Lynden, presented the key outcomes of the biennial and shared some valuable insights from the Public Survey, a research project conducted by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. The Final Report of the biennial’s 15th edition, a Manifesta publication, was presented as well.

Over the course of 12 weeks, this edition – spanning the largest region in Manifesta’s history – brought art, dialogue and transformation to 16 venues, showcasing the work of 91 participants. With its focus on transcending the city’s physical boundaries and decentralising the metropolis’ cultural infrastructure, Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana has left a lasting imprint on the region.

In collaboration with local communities, international partners, and a dedicated team of 120 people, over 560 public events sparked meaningful conversations. A total of 291,336 visitors engaged with installations and interventions that demonstrated the transformative power of art in addressing urgent global issues.

Photo © Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana / Arnau Rovira

The press conference also served as a moment to festively present the new addition to the Manifesta library, Black Archives: Fragments of an Anticolonial Metropolis, commissioned by Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana and authored by Creative Mediator Tania Safura Adam. The publication expands on the archival exhibition she curated for the biennial, bringing together research, historical materials, and artistic works to foreground Black experiences that have long been overlooked in mainstream Catalan archives. The project reflects on how collective memory is forged and knowledge circulated - particularly among communities whose stories are systemically silenced.

Developed over the last three years, the archival presentation included microhistories, documents, images, sound recordings, and literature – constituting the materiality necessary to construct alternative historical narratives. This is the story of Barcelona’s Black communities, constantly oppressed, yet present in the metropolitan region for centuries, and more visibly, as a result of the immigration process, in the post-Franco period.

The event concluded with a panel discussion with Agnès Agboton, Edmundo Sepa, Remei Sipi, Saoka Kingolo addressing the urgent need to activate and preserve Black Archives. The conversation was moderated by Kathleen Ferrier, Board Member of Foundation Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana and Chairwoman of the Dutch UNESCO Commission.

We warmly thank everyone who joined us for this special event.

Photo © Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana / Arnau Rovira

Black Archives: Fragments of an Anticolonial Metropolis may be ordered here. The Final Report can be downloaded for free via the link below.

  • Arxius Negres: Fragments of an Anti-Colonial Metropolis
  • Final Report Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana

Photo © Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana / Arnau Rovira

Manifesta
Sarphatistraat 470, 1018 GW Amsterdam, NL

+31 20 672 14 35
office@manifesta.org

  • Press
  • Contact
  • Partners and Sponsors
  • ANBI
  • Legal
  • Instagram ↗
  • LinkedIn ↗
  • Facebook ↗
  • Youtube ↗