The Black Whale

THE BLACK WHALE is an exhibition project which arises from the crisis provoked by the accident of the Prestige oil-tanker back in 2002. On a first stage, its purpose is to recall and document an event which was crucial for Galicia and Spain, on the 10th anniversary of the oil-tanker sinking — 240 miles West of Finisterre — on the Museum's opening day.

The black tide which devastated and contaminated the Galician coasts — from November 13th 2002 to well-advanced 2003 — was the trigger for a social mobilization which demanded that something of its kind would “Never Again” [“Nunca Máis”] happen. The protests that followed for several months were parallel to the demonstrations which took place in Spain at that time, against the Spanish participation in the Second Iraq War — to a great extent, originated from the control of oil resources in the Middle East.

The exhibition departs from this specific reality — which was one of the most intense social and political moments of the last decades in Spain — to contextualize and interpret it on a wider spectre. Taking the oil industry and the multiple factors which surround it as one of the main visible or physical manifestations of contemporary societies, the project opens itself to subjects as diverse as nature exploitation, colonialism, the history of modernity, the myth of an endless progress, maritime commerce, globalization, or war.

With: Alexánder Apostol, Marcela Armas, Bernardette Corporation, Ursula Biemann, Andrea Bowers, CLUI (Center for the Land Use Interpretation), Mark Dion, Carles Guerra, Hans Haacke, Romuald Hazoumè, Drew Heitzler, Christina Hemauer & Roman Keller, Werner Herzog, Peter Hutton, Iratxe Jaio & Klaas van Gorkum, Xurxo Lobato, Man (Manfred Gnädinger), Damián Ortega, Georges Osodi, Alberte Pagán, Antón Patiño, El Roto, Analia Saban, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Allan Sekula, Manuel Sendón, Robert Smithson, Phel Steinmetz, Michael Stevenson, Rirkrit Tiravanija, The Yes Men, xurban_collective (Guven Incirlioglu & Hakan Topal)...

Dates: 5 October 2012 - 31 March 2013
Location: MARCO, Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo, Príncipe 54 | 36202 Vigo | Spain
Curator: Pedro de Llano