A climate shelter and a project on data centres, winners of Mycelium

Llaqtawasi and Emboirats, projects selected in the Mycenae VI Call for Contemporary Art

In January, Concomitentes launched the Micelio VI Participatory Art Call. On this occasion, the call had two categories: the general one and a specific one for projects led by people under 35 years old.

Following a period of deliberation, the panel of experts, you have selected two projects for which to develop their proposals within Concomitentes. In the general category, the committee formed by Eva Saldaña Buenache, Manuel Borja-Villel and Filipa Ramos has selected the project Llaqtawasi (house of the people) and in the under-35s category, the committee, made up of Valentí Sallarès, Tania Safura Adam and Blanca de la Torre, has selected the project Emboirats (when the cloud touches the ground). A representative from the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation and from Concomitentes also formed part of the decision. The resolution was not straightforward due to the high standard of quality of the proposals presented, which highlights the existing interest and need within society for this type of call for applications.

Llaqtawasi (house of the people) It is a project that proposes the creation of an itinerant climate and cultural refuge in Madrid, especially aimed at migrant communities affected by heatwaves and urban environmental inequality. The initiative seeks to activate spaces for meeting, care, and connection with the earth based on the knowledge and ritual practices of indigenous peoples. The project is driven by the Asamblea Plaza de los Pueblos, an activist network linked to decolonisation processes and land defence, mediated by Silvia Ramírez Monroy and Camena Camacho from the collective La Parcería.
Location: Madrid

The committee has selected the Llaqtawasi (people's house) project in the general category for its relevance to contemporary structural issues, in particular climate adaptation in urban environments and its impact on vulnerable populations, also incorporating the dimensions of race and class. Its potential for impact and replicability has been highlighted, as well as its capacity to generate spaces for community encounter. Its contribution to opening up new perspectives and frameworks of thought has also been valued, especially in relation to the integration of non-Western cosmologies and other ways of connecting with the environment.

Emboirats (when the cloud touches the ground) This is a project that seeks to question the dominant model of digitalisation based on the social and ecological impacts of the expansion of data centres in Aragon. The initiative proposes to open up, through imagination and artistic practice, new ways of thinking about fairer and more sustainable digital infrastructures, linking territorial defence with ecosocial transition alternatives and digital sovereignty. A project driven by a citizen network of residents, researchers and activists from different groups working to defend the territory against the accelerated expansion of hyperscale data centres, and mediated by Iris Verge.
Location: Gállego River Basin: Villamayor de Gállego and Villanueva de Gállego (Zaragoza).

In the <35 category, the committee has selected the project Emboirats (When the Cloud Touches the Earth), considering its relevance to a local and current environmental issue with global reach, as well as its capacity to address it from a complex perspective with artistic development potential. Its projection, scalability, and possibility for replication have been highlighted, along with its ability to transcend the immediate context. Likewise, its conceptual robustness and scope for growth during the support process have been valued, along with the youth representation within the collective and the fact that the mediation profile is under 35 years of age.

Congratulations to the selected projects and thank you very much to the more than 70 projects that submitted to this edition of Micelio, thinking about making a positive impact on their surroundings.