BAR is an independent, mobile, non-profit organization in Barcelona dedicated to artistic exchange through residencies, collaborations and public programming. Juan Canela, Andrea Rodriguez Novoa, and Veronica Valentini initiated BAR with the aim of  developing new relationships and new ways of working in contemporary art. When asked why they started BAR, one of the reasons they gave was a lack of this type of organization in Barcelona specifically and Spain more generally. “We felt a lack  of  spaces in Barcelona where mid-career international artists or curators could meet local agents. We think that such contamination and connections with other contexts are really important to generate a real artistic and cultural context.” With Spain’s economic situation in mind, they’ve been forced to experiment with new ways of funding; their activities are made possible by private foundations, brands, individuals and institutions, among others. They organize three-month-long residencies with a specific leitmotif and the aim to make connections both local and international. There are shorter, one-week residencies that are more concentrated on the meeting of artists, agents and institutions based in Barcelona. Lastly, the summer curatorial residency hosts a curatorial collective who then focus on developing a project in Barcelona. Recent and upcoming guests are curatorial duo High&Low Bureau (Yael Messer and Gilad Reich) from Amsterdam, Art Brussel 2013’s artistic director Katerina Gregos, Italian curator of Beirut in Cairo Antonia Alampi, American curator and director of Objectif Exhibitions in Antwerp Chris Fitzpatrick, and artists Tobias Kaspar and Priscila Fernandes.