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Call for artistic research grants Barcelona CREA - La Escocesa 2024
After a selection process involving more than 300 applications, the jury, made up of Renata Cervetto, Jesús Arpal Moya, and Alba Colomo, has decided to select the following projects as part of the Barcelona CREA - La Escocesa 2024 artistic research grant program:
- La Metro - Put(a)rxiu, Archive of Memory and Affections of Sex Work in Barcelona
- Jordi Mani Huesca - Bonkó, Sound Anthropology
- Cantdefine.me - El Nafs y el Ruh (in Arabic: The Self and the Soul)
Jesús Arpal Moya and Renata Cervetto have accompanied these projects throughout their development. Below is a brief summary of the developments that took place as a result of these grants:
La Metro - Put(a)rxiu, Archivo de memoria y afectos del Trabajo Sexual de Barcelona
La Metro is a lesbian, gender fluid, Catalan from Barcelona, multidisciplinary artist, artistic researcher, and sex worker rights activist. She studied Fine Arts at the Universitat de Barcelona and then completed a master's degree in MUECA at Universidad Miguel Hernández (UMH), where she is currently working on her doctoral thesis in the Artistic Creation program.
With this grant, Metro deepened her archival artistic research Put(a)rxiu, Archivo de memoria y afectos del Trabajo Sexual de Barcelona. Some questions that articulate the research are: Does Whore Memory exist? What is an archive on sex work if we don't talk about intimacy, sexuality, pornography, love, desire, pain, migration, death, stigma? How do we remember through emotions such as pain, anger, love, shame, and resilience? What place does and has the voice of sex workers occupied in the feminist and anti-capitalist debate? How did we become the feminist whores that we are? Is there a whore methodology for research? How can we create a world without stigma?
Within this framework, three exhibitions were held: “No me cuida la historia me cuidan las archivas” by FemArt at Ca la Dona, 2025; Gutter Fest, at MUHBA, 2025; and at the Festival Colmillo, Can Batlló, 2025, which also included performances by contributors to the archive.
Finally, there was also a moment of opening up the research, which coincided with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the occupation of Santo Nitzier, a significant event in the history of activism for sex workers' rights. This event served as an excuse to bring together several activists and artists, who were invited to actively participate and show, through their experiences and testimonies, the living history of activism.
Cantdefineme - El Nafs y el Ruh (in Arabic: The Self and the Soul)
cantdefine.me is an artistic collective with roots in Africa and Abya Yala. From their base in Barcelona, they examine the various dimensions of identity in the diaspora, with the intention of reimagining new narratives. Their practice mainly involves audiovisual research, with the aim of creating archives that serve as a safe space for those who refuse to be defined by oppressive concepts, as well as addressing the human experience of searching in greater depth and creating connections between communities.
As part of their research at La Escocesa, they began to build an archive based on ritual practices, habits, and routines (such as prayer, dance, music, art, ancestral rituals, writing, and the words we say when leaving home and/or going out into the street) of some migrant communities living in the West. The intention was to open conversations around a collective memory of practices of care and resilience that could open up possibilities for collective healing.
One of the openings of this research took place during the Convivencia Trenza, a space for work and training within the Trenza de Lumbre Migrante mediation program. During the meeting, artists, researchers, mediators, and curators who are migrants from the Global South shared experiences about rituals, spiritual practices, and habits used as mechanisms of resistance.
“En un mundo dominado por el capital, podemos sentirnos tentades a pensar en la rutina y la repetición como instrumentos de control centralizado. Pero como migrantes viviendo en el occidente hemos notado que nuestras rutinas y prácticas autodirigidas o comunitarias son esenciales para nuestra vida física, espiritual, salud, crecimiento y resiliencia”.
Jordi Mani - Bonkó, Antropología Sonora
Mani Tapes, originally from Equatorial Guinea and currently based in Barcelona, is a DJ and producer who plays an active role in community building through music. As a key member of the dissident collectives K-25, Donthitalanegrx, and Migranta, Mani Tapes brings a unique Afrocentric sound, influenced by his Bantu heritage, blending seamlessly with contemporary electronic music, funk, and powerful rhythms. His work goes beyond music; it is a call for connection, activism, and a sense of belonging.
As part of their residency at La Escocesa, they began an exploration linking the ancestral tradition of Bonkó Ñánkue with music, memory, and the Bantu diasporas. The research stems from a personal reencounter with the Creole tradition of Malabo, exploring the relationship between memory, living practice, and contemporary creation. Through the documentation of Bonkó—from its origins in the Kinson family and the Ñáñiga community to its connection with the Abakuá religion in Cuba—a genealogy has been traced that reveals the transformation and syncretism of this tradition as a transatlantic cultural language. The mapping of its links with communities in West Africa and the Caribbean highlights the resistance and adaptation of ritual practices in the face of the effects of colonization, consolidating Bonkó Ñankue as a living bridge between territories and memories.
The process has involved close collaboration with the local community, particularly with the Bonkó Association of Malabo, to develop a sound and audiovisual archive that documents dance, music, and mythology from a horizontal and respectful approach. This work has allowed for reflection on cultural preservation, the participation of women, and the role of new generations, promoting accessibility and the equitable exchange of knowledge. Thus, the research lays the foundation for future creations that integrate contemporary art and living tradition.
