[artinfo] sala rekalde

[nicolas vass]

After a very inspiring collaboration, the news (see underneath) arrived
to us that Sala Rekalde in Bilbao is under huge pressure.
Please read the petition and support this important institution.
Thank you very much!

Frederique Bergholtz, Annie Fletcher, Maaike Gouwenberg

If I Can't Dance, I Don't Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution
PO Box 51144
NL - 1007 EC Amsterdam
*www.ificantdance.org*

----------------------------------------------------

Following the news of the dismissal of Pilar Mur, director of Sala
Rekalde in Bilbao, Spain (*http://www.salarekalde.bizkaia.net*/) and
the news stories questioning the programme of this public exhibition
space, an initiative has been launched in support of Sala Rekalde and
its team.

Sala Rekalde, under the directorship of Mur since 2001 and with
curators Chus Martínez (2002 to 2005) and Leire Vergara (2006 to
today), has offered a programme of exhibitions and publications,
dedicated to the work of important Basque and international
contemporary art practitioners, that has made Rekalde an art
exhibition space of reference in the Basque Country, Spain and
internationally. The dismissal of Mur by the Culture Department of
the Provice of Biscay, as a result of her criticism of the Culture
Department's decision to exclude a work of political content from the
free-submission exhibition Ertibil-2008 endangers Sala Rekalde's
invaluable contribution to contemporary art and culture in general.
This dismissal comes with a media campaign in which Sala Rekalde has
been criticised for its recent showcasing of Basque conceptual art,
the lack of 'talent' of the artists exhibited, and the programme's
alleged proximity to sectors of the radical left that are said to
have politicised its programme. All of these are ungrounded and
unfair criticisms.

We would really appreciate your support of Sala Rekalde's investment
in contemporary art practice in the form of a signature. In order to
read and/or sign the public declaration of support or see the current
signatures, please visit: *http://www.rekaldeadhesiones.com/bloga/*
report/?hiz=en&auk=oharra