Sharing the Ukrainian voice in CeRCCA residency, Llorenç del Penedès

TransArtists interviews artist residencies who offer refuge in times of crisis.

Recreating Everydayness: Erasing boundaries between guest and host at CeRCCa artist-in-residency, Spain

The Center for Research and Creativity Casamarles, or CeRCCa, is a residency based in a house located in Llorenç del Penedès, a small village in the Penedès region of Catalonia. Coordinated by artist, curator and researcher Pau Catà, the residency works in what he calls a double structure. On the one hand, CeRCCa hosts artists to address the gap between contemporary art and the local community in the village, and on the other hand, it develops international curatorial and research projects, mostly focused on the Mediterranean region.

CeRCCa is a keepsake from Pau's grandmother and his own home. Blurring the boundaries between the guest/artist and the host/residency organiser and creating a sense of community is central to what Pau and naturally CeRCCa stand for. As he describes, through the contributions of the visiting artists, the house becomes an organism that is always changing; the contributions can be displayed artworks or interventions in the house, but also other minimal and temporary actions such as accommodating the furniture to one’s needs, painting a wall or taking care of the garden: “I find it fascinating when people care not only of each other but also of the space they temporarily inhabit, making it theirs, their home.”

The experience of being in a safe home setting was much needed for Ukrainian artists Maria Plotnikova and her partner Julia Kolesnyk. Since March 2022, they have been staying at CeRCCa after fleeing Kyiv following the Russian invasion of their country.

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