Solares: The Ideal City or Optimism at Valencia Biennial

The second edition of the Valencia Biennial in Spain, running from June 6 to September 30, 2003, features multiple exhibitions and performances, including a department store concept by Will Alsop and Bruce McLean, and Micro-Utopias curated by F. Jarauta and J.-L. Maubant. Curator Lorand Hegyi invited 38 artists to occupy the city's vacant lots, known as 'solares' (where the sun enters), for the exhibition 'Solares (or On Optimism).' Hegyi describes these lots as wounds in the urban fabric—irregular, abandoned spaces often filled with ruins from the Civil War or natural decay, used as parking lots, dumps, or shelters. Artists are encouraged to adopt a 'donor' attitude, focusing on gentle intervention and participation rather than radical transformation, embodying a post-utopian micro-utopian approach. Participating artists include Marina Abramović, Gilbert & George, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Wim Delvoye, and Michelangelo Pistoletto, among others.