The project Liquid Becomings from the artist collective espaço agora now has won the registration for the European Pavilion 2024, an initiative of the European Cultural Foundation. The collective will receive 500,000 euros for this.
In 2020, the European Cultural Foundation started the ‘European Pavilion’: every two years, half a million euros is awarded to an art project that explores the idea of a shared European space in the most creative way.
The collective espaço agora now is active worldwide, but operates from the Netherlands. The program Liquid Becomings will consist of four boats that will each sail on their own river from September 1, 2024 (Volga, Rhine, Danube and Tagus). Visitors can ride on the boats. The idea of Liquid BecomiThe aim is that the European pavilion is accessible to as many people as possible, becoming a borderless festival.
The collective chooses boats because “European history is full of ships and boats, as a means of transport, but also as a symbol of European voyages of discovery and trade and the urge to expand,” according to the statement from espaço agora now. “Currently, smaller boats are the means of transport for migrants trying to regain their right to dignity through the Mediterranean.”
The European Cultural Foundation has existed since 1954. The foundation is located in Amsterdam and receives donations from various international and Dutch organizations, including the Prince Bernhard Cultural Fund.