Mugak/ Biennial launches the first call for activities for its fifth edition

2025 January 15

• Under the name OPEN Mugak/, its objective is to financially support proposals to shape the programming for 2025, which will take place across the three capitals of the Basque Country between October and November.
• For the first time, the call for activities is open to individuals and entities outside the Basque Country, allowing those from national and international spheres with the ability to contract to participate.
• Within the framework of this edition, ‘Castles in the Air,’ the call will promote thematic programs, conferences, visits, exhibitions, and cultural expressions of an open and free nature, offering funding of up to €15,000.

The Basque Country International Architecture Biennial, Mugak/, promoted by the Department of Housing and Urban Agenda of the Basque Government, launches its first call for activities to shape the programming for its fifth edition. Under the name OPEN Mugak/, its aim is to financially support proposals celebrating architecture in the three Basque capitals next autumn. The application period will be open from January 15 to February 15.

For the first time, the call for activities requiring funding is open to any entity and/or individual from national and international contexts with the ability to contract, not just those from the Basque Country. Thus, the fifth edition of the main architectural event in the Atlantic Arc seeks thematic programs, talks or conferences, visits, exhibitions, and cultural expressions of an open and free nature that align with this year’s theme: ‘Castles in the Air, or How to Build Utopia Today.’

The fifth edition of Mugak/ is an invitation to share spaces of collective reflection and experimentation to explore the architectural utopias that will help us move toward the better futures we aspire to inhabit—a theme to which all proposals must relate. In total, the budget for the OPEN Mugak/ call amounts to €150,000, with €50,000 allocated for projects in each of the three Basque capitals. Each project can apply for a maximum of €15,000 in funding.

Proposals will preferably take place in Bilbao, Donostia, and Vitoria-Gasteiz, and having a confirmed venue for their execution will be positively evaluated. However, the organization, depending on the content and format of the selected proposal, may offer the use of some of its spaces, such as the Basque Institute of Architecture, headquarters of the Biennial, or the newly announced ephemeral architectures that will occupy Plaza de las Mujeres in Bilbao, Virgen Blanca in Vitoria-Gasteiz, and the Alderdi Eder esplanade in Donostia.

The full terms, selection criteria, and all information will be available on the Mugak/ website starting January 15. Proposals will be submitted via an open channel on the same platform.