Mugak/ Architecture Biennial calls for proposals for grants to create cultural content in its fourth edition for 2023

2023 January 3

Photo: Mikel Blasco

• The Department of Regional Planning, Housing and Transport of the Basque Government is opening the deadline until 4 February to submit proposals that promote and disseminate urban design and contemporary architecture via exhibitions, conferences, workshops or publication.
• Entitled ‘Rebuild, reinhabit, rethink’, Mugak/ 2023 will promote projects that explore these concepts in the current context of immediacy and emergency, where a new form of audacious and disruptive creativity is emerging to help us to survive.
• The next edition of the Biennial will take place in November and seeks projects that generate interaction with the public. To this end, the creation of pavilions or outdoor installations in the three territories of the Basque Country will be encouraged. The budget for exhibitions, conferences and publications will be 300,000 euros.

The Department of Regional Planning, Housing and Transport of the Basque Government has today published a call for applications for grants for the development of cultural content as part of the fourth Mugak/ International Architecture Biennial of the Basque Country, which will take place in November 2023.

This new edition, entitled ‘Rebuilding, reinhabiting, rethinking’, will promote projects that explore these concepts in the current context of immediacy and emergency, where a bold and disruptive form of creativity is emerging, able to help us to survive. Therefore, activities are sought that address urban design and contemporary architecture in the Basque Country, including buildings or urban areas of recognised architectural value, with the theoretical framework of this edition as a basis.

The call is aimed at development and construction companies, studios and professional associations and non-profit making associations, based in the Basque Country and related to urban design and contemporary architecture. All activities may be subsidised in their entirety, although those with other sources of funding for their development will be considered positively. The deadline for submitting proposals is 4 February.

The regulation that establishes and announces these subsidies maintains the aid lines for the creation of exhibitions, symposia, conferences and publications. This year, moreover, the budget allocation has been increased to 300,000 euros.

The activities to be subsidised will take place during the Mugak/ Biennial in November 2023. In particular, the next edition will seek projects that generate interaction with citizens, for which the creation of pavilions or outdoor installations in the three historical regions of the Basque Country will be encouraged.

Types of activities subsidised

As in previous calls, three separate lines of aid depending on the type of activity are available. The first includes those exhibitions that disseminate urban design and contemporary architecture in the Basque Country. The installations may be self-produced or for the inclusion of the Basque Country as a destination for pre-existing touring exhibitions. In order to bring architecture closer to the general public, the creation of pavilions or temporary installations to house the proposed cultural content will be promoted. Criteria such as the architectural quality of the element, the experience of the team responsible for its design, its cultural value, and others will be taken into account. The budget foreseen for this line is 225,000 euros and the maximum amount to be subsidised per project is 75,000 euros.

The second line is aimed at the creation of conferences, seminars, lectures, round tables and workshops on urban design and contemporary architecture in the Basque Country. The budget available for this line is 50,000 euros, with a limit of 40,000 euros per project.

The third line subsidises publications, documentaries and IT tools developed within the framework of the Mugak/ Biennial. This line includes the publishing of publications, books or informative guides and the production of documentaries and websites about urban design and contemporary architecture in the Basque Country. In this case, the Order has an amount of 25,000 euros, with a limit of up to 20,000 euros per project.

Subsidies will be awarded on a competitive basis. The activities, which may be subcontracted up to 100%, should seek the greatest possible interaction with the public.

All the details and specific conditions of the grants are available in the Order of the call for proposals, published in the Official Basque Country Bulletin today, 3 January.

For more information:

945 011 810 bienalmugak@euskadi.eus or through the citizen service channels available in Zuzenean