What is Basurama?

Born out of a  trash collection and reuse competition in the School of Architecture of Madrid in 2000. Basurama has evolved  and transformed since then and turned into a multidisciplinary festival that concerns trash in all of its forms. In the present edition the competition format has changed into a series of guided workshops, lectures, projections, concerts and exhibitions that take place in La Casa Encendida in Madrid. In addition many activities occur in other locations throughout the year.

Basurama has two focuses: reuse and trash. In the different editions the processes of the production of real and virtual garbage in our current society are studied. All of this debris is used as a source for developing events and for creating objects that are of more interest than those that we can buy new. 

Currently, Basurama has four main issues of interest that form its conceptual base:

1) Our books, press, cities and culture, are continuously bombarded with great quantities of superficial information. We refer to this as a loss of density in content. Nevertheless these materials should be considered a great and infinite source of new creations.

2) The indigestion in the stomach of our throw-away society. Abandoned buildings, technological products that failed in the market, mom and pop shops that persist facing the menace of big corporations....All of these relics still give us a certain diversity that is worth observing, if not preserving.

3) “Do- it-yourself” culture associated the manipulation of debris and the era that we live in. Reuse is very much related to free software, “culture jamming” and other emerging social movements initiated by individuals in a global context.

4) There are individual and collective phenomena that demonstrate that the memory of objects is irreplaceable and that great things can be accomplished with fewer resources. This low consumption attitude contrasts greatly with the frenetic materialism and the short life of the objects that surround us.

Basurama 2005

The festival aims to create a platform where individuals from diverse backgrounds can connect and work together. This year’s theme is 2x1. Each event crosses themes and people two by two. Madrid’s festival will be divided in two sections in April and September. Given the 2x1context, the festival will take place simultaneously in Brussels and Madrid during the month of September.

Madrid

April: workshops, projections, conferences and other events with the participation of individuals and groups of the contemporary realm. As a result of these activities we will generate a finished product. These objects together with the reflections that come out of the sessions held will be compiled into a book to be presented in the month of September.

September: the best products will be shown in an interactive exhibit together with the most interesting reflections. Related to the concept of reuse, several musical bands that build their instruments from everyday objects and reuse sounds of all types will give a series of musical performances. This edition of the festival will be accompanied by a publication in which the documents and graphic media from April will be compiled.

Brussels: 

Context has a definite influence in the process of generating trash, and we believe that, had the festival been born in another city, the format would have taken on a different shape. The change of city will be an opportunity to observe this phenomenon and reach the necessary conclusions. 

During the month of September there will be guided workshops in different parts of the Brussels city centre. With a similar point of departure as those that take place in Madrid, the workshops will be implemented by local groups. At the end of the month there will be a concert and an event where the organizers of Madrid and Brussels will come together to share their experiences.

The events are sponsored by:

Obra Social Caja Madrid: La Casa Encendida
Ministry of Culture: Cooperation Department
Network Project Funds from the European Union

More information in www.basurama.org or info@basurama.org