The Spanish Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale presents "Los restos," a project by Catalan artist Oriol Vilanova, curated by Carles Guerra. The installation transforms the pavilion into an anti-museum or pseudo-museum, featuring Vilanova's collection of postcards sourced from flea markets over more than twenty years. The work critiques traditional archival systems through accumulation, repetition, and fragmentation, and includes a publication and a performative action titled "El fantasma de la libertad" (2026), inspired by Luis Buñuel, which will take place across the Giardini and Arsenale.
This project matters because it challenges the conventional roles of museums and archives, proposing alternative models of memory, classification, and preservation. By turning the pavilion into an anti-museum, Vilanova engages with broader debates about institutional critique, the circulation of images in global tourism, and the ephemeral nature of personal communication. The work also extends beyond the exhibition space, integrating performance to disrupt the boundaries of the museum as a closed institution.