13th Leandre Cristòfol Art Biennial explores extractivisms through multimedia works at Centre d'Art La Panera

The 13th Leandre Cristòfol Art Biennial, themed 'extractivisms', opened at Centre d'Art La Panera in Lleida. Curated jointly by María Iñigo Clavo and Christian Alonso, this multimedia exhibition features artists from Catalonia and South America responding to ecosocial crises. The show includes works like Ignacio Acosta's two-channel video installation From Mars to Venus (2020), which references iron-age Celtic rituals in Switzerland as a parallel to modern mining zones. Paula Bruna's Embolismo por Soleá (2023) transforms tree embolism recordings into Flamenco-like rhythms. Rosell Meseguer's Herbarium Minerale (2017–19) presents paper affected by seventeen periodic table elements, commenting on mineral exploitation. Other featured artists include Carolina Caycedo with Fuel to Fire (2023), Marilyn Boror Bor with Reescribir, releer (2018), Seba Calfuqueo's Tray Tray Ko (2022), Raúl Silva's Rays of South American Sun (2023–24), Sandra Gamarra and Gabriela Bettini's drawings, FRAUD's Brown Jable (2020), and Marina Plana's Warlike Approaches to Tourism (2020). The exhibition runs from October 2024 to February 2025, with Acosta's solo show serving as a prologue. The biennial marks the first themed edition of what was previously a regional showcase for government purchases. Housed in a twelfth-century building with commercial, religious, and military histories, the exhibition explores resistance through diverse artistic approaches.