OPEN CALL — What is Gender?

ESPRONCEDA Institute of Art & Culture, in collaboration with the international artist collective What is Gender?, opens a call for four local artists based in Catalonia to join an upcoming group exhibition in Barcelona this October 2025. What is Gender? is a nomadic, interdisciplinary art project and itinerant exhibition platform designed to travel the world. As an artistic movement, it brings together a growing community of artists committed to difference, tolerance, and diversity. It uses contemporary art to explore and challenge the notion of gender — beyond binaries, beyond fixed roles, and beyond borders — while creating spaces of reflection and resistance. The project opens up artistic dialogue around themes such as gender, identity, social roles, marginalisation, and belonging always rooted in local voices and collective processes. It has already travelled to cities such as Geneva and Istanbul, and now lands in Barcelona for the first time — marking its debut both in Catalonia and in Spain. This edition was born with the aim of bringing this global debate into the local Catalan context, fostering the active participation of artists based in the region who work from diversity, critical thinking, and contemporary creation. The exhibition highlights local voices within an international framework, while promoting visibility for the plurality of genders, identities, and backgrounds present in Catalonia today. Through formats such as installation, video, painting, and performance, What is Gender? raises questions and breaks stereotypes, creating a space for artists to explore gender from their own experiences and sensitivities. The project promotes values such as equality, freedom of expression, inclusion, and cultural diversity, and aims to become a bridge between local creation and international networks, opening up new opportunities for collaboration and shared reflection.