HAMACA is an independent cultural organisation that has consolidated the leading archive of experimental audiovisual works linked to Spain. Its catalog contains the most notable history of single-channel and experimental video practices from the late 1960s to the present day. Operational since 2007, it is an initiative of the artistic community itself through the Associació d'Artistes Visuals de Catalunya (AAVC). It also functions as a distributor that defends and promotes fair remuneration for artistic work.

Through a network of collaborations with state and international institutions and agents, it generates public programs that focus on curating, mediation, production support and media studies. The productions in the catalog are presented in cultural, educational, and social contexts, thus contributing to a dialogue between video works and social environments, and highlighting the medium as a tool for constructing collective imaginaries.

Based on a philosophy of accessibility and promotion of free culture, the entire collection has been digitilised and made available for consultation and research through its catalog.

Head Quarters

HAMACA.Barcelona
Hangar. C/ Emilia Coranty, 8-16. 08018
To visit us, please contact us at info[at]hamacaonline.net

HAMACA.Madrid
Usera. Currently closed to the public.
To arrange a meeting, please write to belen[at]hamacaonline.net

History

HAMACA began to take shape in 2005 at the request and initiative of the artistic community itself as a tool to enhance the historiography of experimental audiovisual art and create formal methods for the professionalisation of its creators. Through the Association of Visual Artists of Catalonia (AAVC) and with funding from the Government of Catalonia, a public call for proposals was launched for the creation of an experimental video archive and distribution centre. The call was awarded to cultural production company YProductions, the team that set up HAMACA as an association in 2007. The platform emerged with the aim of formalising distribution circuits and economic regulation of these practices. At that time, HAMACA was the first experimental audiovisual archive-distributor worldwide to launch its digitised catalog and make it accessible through its website.

In 2007-2008, the first catalog was created with the inclusion of 200 works that were chosen by a selection committee of experts from the field. With the gradual addition of new pieces to the archive, Hamaca's existence promoted the dissemination of video productions within and outside the state in subsequent years, guaranteeing remuneration for artists and normalising good practices in relation to the medium.

After three years online, the economic cuts caused by the 2008 real estate crisis had a major impact on HAMACA. The project saw a significant reduction in institutional support, cultural programmes reduced their budgets, and free admission to exhibitions once again became a condition to be negotiated. Faced with this situation, the distributor had to address the need to defend the project and create new channels for the circulation of audiovisual works, thus beginning its line of work in public programs through agreements with cultural centres. Thus, by 2014, the lines of work in educational and publishing activities had already been formalised, with the aim of raising awareness of the wealth of the archive in different contexts through educational activities and the publication of Apología/Antología.

HAMACA is constantly evolving and striving to improve the quality of its resources and services for the community of artists in the archive and for the cultural community in the territory. In recent years, it has been working on improving its archive and taxonomy, strengthening its support for research and production, generating new channels for promoting experimental practices to the general public, linking its cultural action to the most pressing issues of today, reviewing and projecting its legal model, and improving its communication strategies and web platform. With regard to the latter point, HAMACA is in the process of finalising a new version of its archive website that will multiply the search possibilities and greatly advance the semantic and technical documentation of the works.

HAMACA is committed to the ongoing updating and review of its various lines of work, as well as to consolidating the presence of the most experimental and critical audiovisual practices in educational, community and cultural spheres. Contemporary audiovisual art is a transformative artistic practice, a tool for addressing imaginaries of the world that affect the way we understand it and coexist in it.