Following the Fish | Catalonia in Venice

A PROJECT BY LEVE PRODUCTORA AND TOP MANTA

Curated by Leve Productora: Daniel Cid, Eva Serrats and Francesc Pla

Organized and produced by Institut Ramon Llull

The Institut Ramon Llull will be at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia with the Collateral Event Catalonia in Venice_ Following the Fish. It will take place at the docks cantieri cucchini in San Pietro di Castello from May 20 to November 26, 2023.

Lesley Lokko, the curator of Biennale Architettura 2023, proposed this year's theme "The Laboratory of the Future," signalling Africa as the protagonist. When interpreting the theme, and faced with the challenge of identifying the places from which new practices and discourses can be proposed, the curators Daniel Cid, Eva Serrats, and Francesc Pla (Leve) wanted to participate in this challenge in

order to draw attention to African realities in Europe. To develop the project Following the Fish, they joined forces with the Union of Barcelona Street Vendors (Top Manta), a social and political movement from Senegal, an example of the many other Africas that are being built in cities and rural areas across Europe from the diaspora.

The central concepts of the project revolve around urbanism, work spaces and housing from the perspective of the African diaspora in Catalonia. It wants to address the challenges of decolonization and decarbonization that impact the entire world. The result has been to generate a coming together of architecture and African migration with the aim of identifying alternative architectures to the hegemonic ones, urging us to think about the city in other ways.

Following the Fish is a rehearsal of this joint effort, which has been carried out through a design process, based on conversations and co-creation workshops. Based on the migrant experience, this process has made it possible to detect the prejudiced-filled gazes and the perverse regulations that fall on the most vulnerable, and it highlights its ability to transform instability into an opportunity to rethink urban space and fight for an urban design that is fair and equal. Despite their difficult living

conditions, migrant communities develop creative approaches and alternative politics in their places of arrival.