1st Edition Rehearsing the Unexpected

Avilés, Asturias 12.06 → 20.09

Approach to the territory

An approach to the territory is proposed through artistic methodologies and cultural mediation practices that bring together diverse voices to recognize the issues that matter. In this way, the Biennial functions as a platform that amplifies what already exists and generates new connections with the global sphere.

A critical mapping of Avilés, many voices, Elisa Cuesta

It integrates interviews with local stakeholders, socioeconomic, environmental and cultural data, and helps identify points of connection between local challenges and global dynamics, particularly in relation to environmental emergency and the social climate.

A cultural mediation process with local rural organizations to build En Colectivo, Zoe López

En Colectivo is a line of work that accompanies organizations already experimenting with sustainable ways of living and their communities, with the aim of strengthening them and weaving networks among them.

Exhibition Programme

The programme brings together more than forty artists and collectives. Many of the works have been acquired or produced specifically for this edition. Some pieces are part of the State Collection of Art and Climate of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, a growing collection that will accompany future editions of the Biennale. Others are the result of artistic residencies developed at the Spanish State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), the Energy City Foundation, and the Factoría Cultural of Avilés.

The Biennale also presents projects in progress that will continue evolving beyond this edition, as well as interventions in public facilities — such as libraries — through participatory architecture projects.

This exhibition programme is structured around three major axes:

Estación Meteo_artista Enar de Dios — Enar de Dios Rodríguez, *Above all* [film still]. 2025

Meteo Station

Works that propose new ways of observing and communicating the atmospheric in a context of climate change.

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Industrias presentes_artista Andrea Molina — Andrea Molina, *Sin título.* Imagen procesual de la Residencia en CIUDEN. 2026

Present Industries

A reflection on the industrial legacy and the possible futures of industry.

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duelos y júbilos_artista Sara García — Sara Garcia, *molding mourning mouths* [video still]. 2025

Grief and Joy

An exploration of what sustains us physically and spiritually in processes of transformation: what is lost, what hurts, and also what is celebrated and collectively imagined.

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3-FONTCUBERTA-—-NIEMEYER.jpg — Zoanthus sociatus © Joan Fontcuberta, VEGAP, Avilés, 2026

Exhibitions in dialogue

The Biennial incorporates a series of Exhibitions in Dialogue developed independently by institutions, cultural venues and cultural organisations across Avilés.

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Public Programme

View Programme

The public programme of the Climate Biennial opens spaces for dialogue inspired by the artworks and the places that host them. It is an invitation to listen and share perspectives through art, in an open and participatory environment.

Conversations born from art

The spaces and artworks of the Biennale host a series of encounters open to public debate. Designed together with organizations from different fields and with the artists themselves, these dialogues take the artistic practices of the exhibition programme as their starting point.

New formats for conversation

The Biennale aims to experiment with formats that go beyond the rigidity of conversations typically held in conventional formal spaces, encouraging the participation of people who are not usually represented and creating a disposition for listening and rapprochement among those with different ideas or perspectives. There will be conversations while walking, open-air debates in public spaces, and participatory theatre proposals, among other formats.

A space for understanding

The public programme seeks to build a civic space where dialogue without polarization is possible. It invites people to coexist in disagreement with respect, to recognize differences and to find common ground in a time full of change and uncertainty.

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Art and the Sense of Anything Public

Works that propose new ways of observing and communicating the atmospheric in the context of climate change.

Industry and Society

A reflection on industrial heritage and the possible futures of industry.

Territorial Balance and Sustainability

Works that propose new ways of observing and communicating atmospheric phenomena in the context of climate change.

Democratic Coexistence