The mixed media installation of the Not Illegal Fishing Competition will be presented at Casa Gomis from 8 September – 24 November 2024. Invited to take part in the pre-biennial research process of Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana, the Embassy of the North Sea (Sheng-Wen Lo, Leon Lapa Pereira and Harpo ’t Hart) studied the impact of pollution, desalination and the presence of introduced species in the wetlands and rivers of Barcelona. Subsequently, from the 11th to the 14th of July 2024, the collective organised the Not Illegal Fishing Competition in the Llobregat River.
With the Not Illegal Fishing Competition, the Embassy of the North Sea addresses issues of care and responsibility for non-humans with whom we live entangled in our urban ecosystem. The competition confronts us with a conflict that is ubiquitous in the environmental movement, which pits ecological system thinkers against animal rights activists. This conflict is reflected in Catalan law. On the one hand, there is a law that obliges fishermen to kill any invasive species that they catch. On the other, there are laws prohibiting cruelty and violence against animals. The Not Illegal Fishing Competition opens this messy and enmeshed world of negotiations between human and more-than-human interests.
Commissioned by Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana. Supported by Ammodo and Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Spain
Info & tickets
Location: Casa Gomis
Camí de Cal Minguet, 08820 El Prat de Llobregat
Tuesday – Sunday 10.00 – 20.00
