OPEN BILBAO 2025 EDITION

Bilbao welcomes new international printmaking talent

Sala Rekalde will host the OPEN Portfolio art event from September 26 to 28
The twelfth edition will feature 14 selected artists from countries including Russia, Poland, Cuba, France, Chile, Latvia, and Romania
The open call was a success, receiving more than 120 applications in various graphic techniques and from diverse nationalities

Contemporary printmaking once again takes a prominent place in Bilbao’s cultural agenda with the celebration of OPEN Portfolio, an international event focusing on the work of emerging artists connected to printmaking and graphic techniques.

For three days, from September 26 to 28, Sala Rekalde will become the meeting point between creators and the public, hosting a selection of works that reflect the vitality of current graphic art. This edition received over 120 proposals from artists around the world, consolidating the initiative’s international reach and interest.

A diverse edition with an international accent

The selection committee has brought together a group of 14 artists whose careers show personal approaches, unique narratives, and exceptional technical mastery. From Russia, Poland, Cuba, France, Chile, Latvia, and Romania, alongside representatives from different autonomous communities — Madrid, Andalusia, Galicia, Valencia, and the Basque Country — the participants offer a plural panorama of the current moment in contemporary printmaking.

A technical repertoire that challenges the boundaries of printmaking

Embracing the technical and conceptual plurality of printmaking is one of OPEN Portfolio’s defining features, an open space for diverse processes and perspectives.

The selected proposals in this edition demonstrate a broad and vibrant technical spectrum. From traditional techniques such as lithography, etching, drypoint, or burin, to more hybrid explorations like cyanotype, photogravure, sewn photolithography, or object printmaking, the exhibited works map a language in constant transformation.

Also included are techniques such as artist books, linocut, relief printing, or mezzotint, which expand the formal possibilities of printmaking by incorporating new visual narratives and production modes. The technical richness of the collection reinforces OPEN’s goal: to make visible the multiple ways of creating prints today.

Professional projection and awards

During the event, a specialized jury will select four projects to participate in the 14th edition of FIG Bilbao, the International Printmaking and Paper Art Festival, to be held from November 27 to 30 at the Euskalduna Palace.

Additionally, during the fair, the OPEN Portfolio Awards will be presented: an artistic residency at the CIEC Foundation, International Center for Contemporary Printmaking (Betanzos, A Coruña); a residency at the Basque Biodesign Center, focused on experimentation through biodesign; and an exhibition stand at the 2026 FIG Bilbao edition.

These initiatives reinforce OPEN Portfolio’s commitment to the professionalization of emerging artists and the promotion of new trajectories within contemporary graphic art.

A space for contemporary art and dialogue with the public

Sala Rekalde is a reference space in Bilbao dedicated to the knowledge, dissemination, and analysis of contemporary artistic practices. Since its opening in 1991, it has maintained a strong commitment to the research of current creation, both locally and internationally, hosting proposals that engage with the debates traversing today’s art. With a structure divided into two areas, its programming combines exhibitions, work presentations, lectures, screenings, and publications, becoming a living and open platform for critical thought.

An ideal framework for OPEN Portfolio’s emerging printmaking

In this context, OPEN Portfolio finds in Sala Rekalde the ideal stage to develop its program: a space where exchange between artists, works, and the public is not only possible but necessary. Rekalde’s open, pedagogical, and contemporary nature organically connects with OPEN’s goal: to offer visibility, reflection, and projection to those who are building today’s new languages in printmaking.