The Collective Exhibition of a Collective is the result of the On the Railings project, an educational and creative programme whose goal is to encourage meetings, dialogue and outreach between the museum and the local residents of Santiago de Compostela. The local people thus become key players in the cultural processes of their own environment by creating contents that are already part of the CGAC programming.

This exhibition is based on a selection of works from the CGAC Collection chosen by the Na Varanda collective and is structured around two concepts: the mirror and the difference. ‘Difference’ is at the very core of the collective, as it is made up of people from different work environments, who are not specialised in the arts, who convey a unique vision about what the artistic pieces can reflect. We each contribute with a perspective, and by comparing and sharing perceptions, we (re) invent our own way of seeing and contemplating.

In a world in continuous transformation, we have to side with one of the multiple and fragmented reflections that make us cross the maze without a map. The ‘difference,’ as a transmitter of the tension generated between the irrational essence of the human being and social norms, reaches us through different supports (media, advertising, art, social networks. etc.), because it is a mirror/reflection of ironic complicity with the system. The perception of the pieces from different points of view modifies both the artistic object and the creation process itself. We, as a collective and as an audience, are part of a society with a series of norms, and art gives us a broader vision of our subjective and ephemeral realities.

The mirror as a mediator of (self) awareness enables us to see ourselves as individuals and, at the same time, to see and sense different views of reality. Harmonising reflections so different from oneself is challenging. We ask ourselves if these reflections are the reality or a different reality, one that is illusory and parallel. The world of the reflected images speaks of us, as if these were to ask us questions back.

Curators: Na Varanda collective

Project management: Candela Rajal and Rebeca Mariño

Exhibition brochure