BIENNAL B, an initiative promoted by Es Baluard Museum together with the Consell de Mallorca, which brings together creative interdisciplinary projects that foster collaboration between contemporary artists and craft professionals.
BIENNAL B is structured around three main pillars: interdisciplinary creative projects, actions for ecological and cultural connectivity, and an International Congress of Art, Culture and Science.
It is a cross-cutting, inclusive and non-seasonal project, conceived with the ambition of shaping a creative ecosystem capable of integrating contemporary arts with craftsmanship, science and design, fostering the sustainable transformation of the Balearic territory.
BIENNAL B brings culture and science together and is conceived as an artery that enhances the Balearic Islands’ tangible and intangible heritage and its entire ecosystem, by encouraging dialogue between disciplines and addressing challenges in an inclusive and intergenerational way.
BIENNAL B will launch actions for ecological and cultural connectivity, a series of interdisciplinary creative projects, and an international congress on art, culture and science.
In its first edition, BIENNAL B will collaborate with a total of 20 Mallorcan institutions, making this initiative unprecedented. In addition to these institutional venues, spread across the island, the programme will extend to natural locations through a series of actions developed in collaboration with local entities and experts committed to the territory and its history.
BIENNAL B is articulated around three main axes:
A › International Congress of Art, Culture and Science – BIENNAL B, a meeting point between the humanities and the sciences that recognises the need to reconcile different forms of knowledge in order to address complex challenges.
B › Interdisciplinary creative projects that, through exhibitions, site-specific interventions and performative actions, foster a close relationship with the Balearic context through artists engaged with craftsmanship, trades, traditions and landscape. BIENNAL B values art not only as a way of making, but also as a way of thinking, bringing together visual and performing arts, craftsmanship and gastronomy, music and poetry, architecture and design, as well as other scientific and humanistic disciplines, in collaboration with leading public and private institutions.
C › Actions for ecological and cultural connectivity aimed at promoting the valorisation and resilience of ecosystems.
The Aljub of Es Baluard Museum will host the first International Congress of Art, Culture and Science – BIENNAL B. This meeting will bring together experts to propose models of responsible transformation, address issues such as cultural innovation, economic development, ecology and heritage, in line with the UN’s 17 SDGs, and review what has been presented at BIENNAL B in previous months.
With the support of academic and scientific institutions and intercultural dialogue as its goal, BIENNAL B aims to be a transformative initiative. To this end, it seeks to attract key figures from different disciplines, from the humanities to the sciences, bringing together experts with a multidisciplinary approach to create an enriching dialogue on environmental challenges and cultural evolution.
Participants
-
Museu de Mallorca
Palma
-
Museu de Pollença - Iglesia del Convent de Santo Domingo
Pollença
-
Museu del Calçat i de la Indústria
Inca
-
Museu d’Història de Manacor
Manacor
-
Museu de la Mar Port de Sóller
Sóller
-
Museu Balear de Ciències Naturals (Jardí Botànic)
Sóller
-
Fundació Toni Catany
Llucmajor
-
Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró
Palma
-
Casal Solleric
Palma
-
Can Balaguer
Palma
-
Casal de Son Tugores
Alaró
-
Centre Multidisciplinari s'Abeurador
Santanyí
-
Casal de Cultura Can Gelabert
Binissalem
-
CCA Andratx
Andratx
-
Castell de Capdepera
Capdepera
-
Monasterio de Bellpuig
Artá
-
Can Prunera
Sóller
-
Coster Art i Natura
Pollença
-
Casa Planas
Palma
-
Salinas d’Es Trenc
Campos
Transmission of traditional knowledge: number of people involved in land conservation processes and intergenerational transmission of knowledge.
Cultural impact: number of artistic and cultural proposals generated around local heritage.
Participación ciudadana: número de personas involucradas en acciones educativas y de ciencia ciudadana.
Citizen participation: number of people involved in educational and citizen science activities.
Social impact: diversity in programming and participation of vulnerable groups.
Cross-sector collaboration: number of partnerships established between cultural, scientific and social institutions.
Knowledge transfer: number of collaborative projects between artists, artisans and local communities that incorporate traditional knowledge and contemporary approaches.
Perception and collective memory: level of knowledge and positive perception of the community about its heritage before and after the activities, measured through surveys and interviews.
All this information will be compiled in a final report, which will document lessons learned, methodologies and good practices, with the aim of replicating and scaling up the impact of BIENNAL B in future editions.
David Barro is director of Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani in Palma. He is an exhibition curator and writer specialising in art and design. He has worked in the field of sustainable development as artistic director of events such as MadBlue, the culture, science and innovation summit in Madrid, recognised as an event of exceptional public interest by the Spanish Government. A pioneer in communicating sustainable development in art and design, he has directed projects such as Look Up! Natural Porto Art Show, which in 2010 occupied nine iconic buildings in the city of Porto, and SOS 4.8. Festival de Acción Artística Sostenible (Sustainable Artistic Action Festival) in Murcia. Concerned with promoting art and expanding its reach to other sectors, he has promoted initiatives in the field of innovation, leading the Design for Innovation and Sustainability Programme of the Regional Government of Galicia – Diferenza between 2018 and 2024. In 2022, he directed the course ‘Returning to the Territory. Art and Transformation’ at the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid.
Mercedes Martín has a degree in Sea Sciences, specialising in Oceanography, and Environmental Sciences. She completed her training with a Master’s Degree in Meteorology at the Faculty of Physics of the Complutense University of Madrid, as well as undertaking training placements in Applied Remote Sensing in Munich and participating in the Throughflow Project research project at the Natural History Museum in London.
For many years, she has been the editor and presenter of the programme El Tiempo on Antena 3, where, in addition to reporting and preparing weather forecasts, she works actively to raise awareness about climate change and sustainability. Her informative, rigorous and approachable style has established her as one of Spain’s leading voices in environmental communication.
She has been Antena 3’s special correspondent at the Climate Summit, a correspondent covering the volcanic eruption in La Palma, and has collaborated with environmental awareness initiatives and organisations such as Wave of Change and National Geographic, where she participated as a storyteller in the 25th anniversary of National Geographic Spain.
She is a member of the global Homeward Bound network and, in 2025, she took part in the world’s largest expedition of female scientists, which took her to Antarctica alongside 124 other women from 23 countries working in STEMM disciplines. From one of the most fragile places on the planet, she reaffirmed her commitment to climate awareness and to promoting female and non-binary leadership in science.
Among her most notable awards, she received the Radio Television Award for Best Weather Reporter (2020). In 2024, she was awarded the Andalusian Public Universities Graduate Award and the Brote Comunicación Award at the 26th Canary Islands International Environmental Film Festival for her valuable contribution to knowledge transfer. That same year, she was included in the Forbes 100 Most Creative list, in recognition of her ability to innovate in the field of scientific communication, integrating informative rigour with social impact.
Mercedes Martín combines her work in television with teaching, participating in scientific conferences and developing strategic projects focused on urban sustainability, citizen science and climate change communication.