The diverse team of Barcelona-based mediators collectively imagine possible approaches to the programme of the biennial, challenging and enriching each other’s points of views. Together with the visitors, they explore local realities and histories from environmental, social and political lenses.

Through mediated tours to the Three Chimneys (Sant Adrià de Besòs), Casa Gomis (El Prat de Llobregat), Monastery of Sant Cugat and the former Gustavo Gili publishing house (Barcelona), the mediation programme proposes to approach the three conceptual and geographical clusters that make up the map of Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana: Balancing Conflicts, Cure and Care and Imagining Futures.

The Three Chimneys is a staggering landmark of the coastal landscape of Barcelona. Built in the 1970s, it was previously used as a thermal power station located on the left bank of the Besòs River. It closed in 2011 and to this day remains inactive. This icon of the industrial heritage of almost 4,000 m2 is the core of Imagining Futures cluster.

In this enclave where industrial and natural heritage converge, visitors encounter an array of artistic interventions interwoven with archival records from social movements and personal recollections gathered from neighbouring communities. Here, visitors are not only encouraged to envision new urban landscapes but also to confront Catalonia's colonial past, tied to the textile industry. Facilitated discussions, guided by mediators, explore the intersectionality of these narratives with climate and social justice.

Founded in the 9th century at the hearth of Collserola mountains, the Monastery of Sant Cugat is the central venue of the Manifesta 15 Cure and Care cluster. This Benedictine Abbey, one of the most significant in the region, hosts an exhibition focused on the importance of caring for ourselves, each other and the natural environment. Mediated tours at the Monastery address the intricacies between mind and body and shed light on the complexities of the human condition through visual representation or storytelling, fostering empathy and understanding among diverse hearings.

Casa Gomis, also known as La Ricarda, is a family house located in a protected natural environment which is next to the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport. Designed in 1950s by Antoni Bonet i Castellana, Casa Gomis is immersed in a large plot of land in front of the La Ricarda pond and the Mediterranean Sea, surrounded by a pine forest. This area poses significant economic and ecological challenges, requiring a delicate balance between airport and port expansion, land use planning and the preservation of fragile wetlands.

Linking to the theme of Balancing Conflicts, Casa Gomis and its surrounding areas are subject to the ongoing dialogue concerning the expansion of industries and the protection of the natural environment, as well as the house itself.

Moreover, Gomis House played a pivotal role in sustaining Barcelona's cultural and avant-garde scene, serving as a space for meetings, exchanges, and experimentation. Today, artists have returned to Casa Gomis to reimagine urban models in response to climate emergencies.

The former Gustavo Gili publishing house stands out as a remarkable example of Catalan architecture from the 1950s, designed by architects Joaquim Gili and Francesc Bassó, both members of Grup R. At the biennial headquarters, three archival research projects are presented that challenge dominant narratives and unearths subaltern perspectives, enriching our understanding of the region's history. It is an interrelated set of visual, audiovisual, documentary and bibliographic elements, as well as consultation spaces, rest areas and common work areas.

Revisiting collective memory, it sheds light on silenced narratives of resilience from marginalised groups in Catalonia through a postcolonial and antiracist perspective. Alongside these narratives, visitors encounter an archive chronicling the evolution of cultural democratic rights from the Spanish Civil War to the post-Franco era in the 1970s, reflecting the participatory spirit of Barcelona and the wider region.

The third project displayed at the Gustavo Gili, Fora per fer escola, the education proposal of Manifesta 15, delves into the legacy of radical pedagogical movements in Catalonia. The project researches critical genealogies from 1914 onwards, foregrounding the transformative potential of education in shaping social and ecological futures though the presentation of newly commissioned artworks and archival materials.

This mediated tour is focused on shared historical memories, genealogies, stories and educational practices through activating a conversation on social struggles connected with visitors’ realities.