Catalonia in Venice: Claudia Pagès Rabal, Paper Tears

The Institut Ramon Llull presents “Catalonia in Venice: Claudia Pagès Rabal, Paper Tears” at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Curated by Elise Lammer, this immersive installation investigates paper watermarks as symbolic and political devices. Through laser projections, a sculptural LED screen, and an enveloping soundtrack, the work reveals watermarks historically linked to origin and authenticity, inviting reflection on how institutional systems of knowledge and authority collide with the contemporary world.

The project uses an archive of 15th-century watermarks from the Museu Molí Paperer de Capellades. These marks are activated by characters who offer commentary through intuitive registers, while performers move across historical aquifers and strategic water routes in Catalonia. The spatial organisation is inspired by underground and surface water networks—levels, tides, and flows—reflecting a pivotal historical moment when Mediterranean trade routes declined and Atlantic trade expanded. By connecting these historical marks with contemporary geopolitical conflicts and migration crises, the exhibition reveals a continuity between the power infrastructures of the past and the present.