Previews: “Creença (Belief)” Group Show @ Konvent Zero

Following the developments in an abandoned convent located about one hour outside of Barcelona, we recently decided to visit the ongoing Creença (Belief) art residency. Curated by Axel Void, through his new platform Void Projects, in close collaboration with the Konvent Zero art center, this unique project involved around 50 international artists who participated over the period of 2 months.

Planned as a self-sufficient initiative which would provide artists the opportunity to work in a creative and motivating environment, the program turned into an utopia-come-true phenomenon. Providing the artists work material and basic amenities, the strength of this unique project is its honest and unprecedented sense of camaraderie. With endless mutual support and respect, the artists took their turns staying at the location somewhere between a couple of days and the entire 2 months period. Guided only to work along the theme of “belief from a personal, religious or epistemological standpoint; questioning the line between belief and knowledge and proposing different relative perspectives,” the residency turned into a fertile ground for spontaneous collaborations, improvisation, and innovation. Staying in such a creatively encouraging environment pushed many of the artists to work outside of their comfort zone, and try new mediums, techniques, and concepts.

The result is a large body of work that varies from small pencil drawings on paper, a whole range of paintings on canvas, to large-scale sculptural pieces created especially for the occasion. We visited Konvent Zero just as the last participating artists were wrapping up their works, getting ready to prepare the space for the large pop-up show that will be presenting all the works between 31st of August and 2nd of September. If you happen to be in the region, we strongly suggest you to visit this exceptional exhibition.