FROM LOCAL LANDSCAPES TO GLOBAL DIALOGUE: Art, Ecology, and Sustainability

Participants: Luciana Martinez (After Poema, Argentina), Verónica del Carmen Huitrón Zamudio (Trastienda Machete, Mexico), Yipei Lee (Suave Art / Jadiwangya Art Factory, Taiwan), Anna Rovira (Palmadotze, Spain), Juan Fortun (Station of Commons), Carolina Diez-Cascón (SWAB, Barcelona) | Moderated by Carolina Diez-Cascón

Art, nature, and climate intersect in unexpected ways in this rich dialogue between artists and gallery representatives from Argentina, Mexico, Taiwan, Colombia, and Spain. They explore how rural landscapes, nomadic practices, and experimental materials—from ceramics and leaves to supermarket tickets—become tools to reflect on sustainability, memory, and community.

The conversation moves fluidly between city and countryside, revealing how art can decentralize cultural production, engage with local ecologies, and challenge conventional ideas of conservation and value.

The exchange illuminates the delicate balance between artistic creation and environmental responsibility, highlighting collaborative networks, long-term thinking, and circular practices that redefine what it means to make and preserve art today.

A conversation for those who care about art, ecology, and the evolving ways creative practice can respond to the world we live in.

POLAR & TROPIC: Collaboration, Networks, and Sustainability in Artist-Run Spaces.

As part of Polar & Tropic, a program connecting art scenes across Northern Europe and the Southeast Pacific, this conversation brings together artist-run spaces from Norway, Sweden, Vietnam, and Indonesia to explore innovative ways of working, sharing, and sustaining artistic practices. Moving beyond traditional institutions and market-driven models, the discussion...

POLAR & TROPIC: Rethinking the Art Fair Experience

The Polar & Tropic program at Swab 2025 Barcelona brings together galleries, artist-run spaces, and collectives from the Nordic countries, where strong institutional support and public funding shape artistic practice, and from Southeast Asia, where limited resources have created self-organised communities and grassroots collaboration. By highlighting these different modes of...

POLISH PERSPECTIVES, GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS: Artists on the Move

Independent art spaces from Poland, the UK, and Spain open their doors to reveal the hidden worlds where experimentation, performance, and emerging voices thrive. Founders of Galeria Szczur (Poznań), Outhouse Gallery (London), and C U AT SADKA(Kraków) share how unconventional spaces—ranging from basements and old wooden houses to a former...

ARTIST ALLY: Navigating Community and Creativity in Barcelona

Barcelona’s art scene is full of energy, opportunities, and challenges and Artist Ally is helping immigrant and international artists navigate it with confidence. Through living maps of the city’s art ecosystem, Ally Circles, and guidance in marketing, self-care, and resource management, the platform offers practical tools that go beyond what...

FLAVORS & CONVERSATIONS: How Food Feeds Art

What happens when food meets art? Recorded live during MAKAN KEBIJAKAN, a workshop and performance by Jatiwangi Art Factory (JaF) at the SWAB Art Fair, this conversation reveals how shared meals spark stories, connections, and unexpected collaborations, starting with a simple welcome dinner at an art residency and blossoming into...