Downtown Barcelona is often a constant coming and going of noisy suitcases, keys changing hands, and building entrances that have lost their neighborhood charm. Amid this urban landscape, artists Iris Verge and Miquel Hernández have decided to stand up to real estate speculation and evictions in a most unusual way: by turning a completely clandestine tourist apartment into the epicenter of their new art project, titled “tot podria ser diferent” (everything could be different).
The project, which was open to the public on June 28 and 29, was conceived with the firm intention of taking art out of traditional circuits to connect it directly with the urgent issues on the street. Created in close collaboration with residents affected by the housing crisis and various local groups, this project uses the visual power of contemporary art to spark social debate right where the conflict is taking place.
From an underground online ad to a space for social critique
The choice of location was no coincidence, but rather the result of an exhaustive research process. According to data from the City Council’s Inspection Services Department, an estimated 18% of the listings published monthly on platforms such as Airbnb correspond to illegal tourist apartments. What’s most serious is that, even though these listings are eventually taken down, reservations continue to be made and carried out as usual.
To highlight this reality, the artists scoured a large number of fraudulent listings until they found this specific property: a ground-floor apartment that met the ideal conditions for hosting the installation and throwing its doors wide open to the public.
Building materials to rethink the urban model
Far from the coldness of conventional galleries, the exhibition immerses visitors in a fully physical experience. In collaboration with the spatial design studio Torres Bagó, the apartment has been transformed through a system of structures and the use of raw building materials—a visual metaphor designed to make us reflect on the inner workings of the real estate system itself.
A project with neighborhood roots and recognition
Behind this intervention are two figures who combine artistic creation with social analysis. Iris Verge (La Sénia, 1997) brings her experience as an artist and cultural manager on projects such as Manifesta 15 and the Centre d’Art Santa Mònica. For his part, Miquel Hernández (Vilanova i la Geltrú, 1995) is a researcher and historian specializing in political expressions and migratory movements linked to housing in Barcelona since the Transition.
The project’s significance has been endorsed by curator Núria Gómez Gabriel and the research group Memòria, Lluita i Resistència, and has received significant institutional recognition, including the Miquel Casablancas Award (in the Mediation category from Sant Andreu Contemporani), a Barcelona Crea Grant from the ICUB, and support from the SPAIN arts&culture section of the Spanish Embassy in the Netherlands to bring the project to the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam.
To preserve the essence of the project and ensure control over the space, visits were organized closely through the local community network. Those interested in learning more about the installation or connecting with the project can request an invitation in advance directly through its official Telegram channel (https://t.me/expototpodriaserdiferent).
Where to see the exhibition now
The exhibition was set up in just a couple of days due to logistical complications, but, although it is no longer located in a tourist apartment, the artists explain that, in the end, that apartment was just one of many spaces where the exhibition could be viewed.
That is why, immediately after the exhibition at the tourist apartment closed, it moved to Casa Orlandai, the civic center where it will be on display throughout July.
