Ibiza’s clubbing scene is undergoing a radical transformation in the run-up to summer. Three of the island’s best-known venues, UNVRS, Hï Ibiza and Ushuaïa Ibiza, have in fact been partially converted into exhibition spaces for Culture Collective, a diffuse art exhibition that will accompany the entire summer season. A collaboration between The Night League and London-based gallery W1 Curates, the project officially opened last weekend and brings together works by more than 70 international artists.
The scale of the interventions is decidedly unusual for the clubbing world. Inside Hï Ibiza is a 70-meter-long digital gallery on the rooftop terrace, inaugurated with a site-specific work by British conceptual artist Sir Michael Craig-Martin. Outside, the venue’s facades were transformed into huge artistic surfaces thanks to 10-meter-high murals signed by Valencian duo PichiAvo and British artist EPOD. The gardens have also been rethought as an exhibition space: here are two monumental Carrara marble sculptures made by Nazareno Biondo, a Fiat 500 and a Vespa, both hand-carved from 15-ton blocks of stone.In the new UNVRS hyperclub, on the other hand, the entrance is dominated by a 68-square-meter monumental stone bas-relief made by Portuguese artist VHILS, carved directly on the building’s facade.
The program also includes digital and immersive installations, such as Pascal Sender’s Hydronicum, which uses projection mapping to animate physical paintings, and Harry Yeff’s Voice Gems, a project that transforms the voiceprints of resident DJs into digital sculptures. Culture Collective’s stated goal is to break down the traditional barriers of the art system and bring world-class works to contemporary social venues, starting precisely in the world of nightlife.
The opening weekend also featured a symposium with talks by artists such as VHILS and music and creative industry figures linked to Gorillaz and Palm Angels. The exhibition will remain open daily until mid-October, and is poised to become one of the largest public art exhibitions currently running in Europe.
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