Printmaking, Networks & the Power of Artist-Infraestructure

When we talk about “career growth,” we often picture the studio, the practice, the next artwork… But growth happens off-studio too: through the infrastructures that hold us up: the galleries who take risks, the printshops who support production, the small independent spaces who decide to work together instead of competing.

In this drop of wisdom, we'll be sharing why the printmaking scene in Barcelona is becoming such a powerful example of what an artist-focused ecosystem looks like when collaboration is placed at the center.

Why This Matters for Your Artistic Career

If you’re an emerging, immigrant, or international artist in Barcelona, here’s the lesson beneath the surface: You don’t grow alone.

You grow through networks: the people, spaces, and collaborations that extend your reach. When spaces decide not to compete, but to co-create infrastructure, they expand the opportunities available to everyone in the ecosystem, including you.

A Real Example: The International Printmaking Exhibition (Barcelona ↔ Valencia)

Two young, immigrant-run galleries — MAGBER Gallery (Barcelona) and ABYSS Gallery (Valencia) — have joined forces to host an international printmaking exhibition featuring 32 artists from 23 countries, currently on view at MAGBER Gallery until 14 January 2026 (tomorrow!).

That alone is interesting, but here’s what actually matters: They are modelling a healthier future for the arts, one based on shared visibility, resource exchange, and cross-city networks. For printmakers, it means more exposure, more dialogue, and more opportunities to engage with peers and curators across regions.

For non-printmakers, it’s a reminder that:

• Collaboration expands your ecosystem.

• Ecosystems expand your opportunities.

• Opportunities expand your longevity in the arts.

This is why we are spotlighting MAGBER as one of our certified Allies in Barcelona: they are not simply running a gallery — they are building infrastructure for artists.

Ecosystem Thinking at Scale: What We Saw at SWAB

What MAGBER and ABYSS are implementing mirrors something we witnessed at SWAB Art Fair this October.

SWAB’s VÓRTEX program — co-curated by Santiago Gasquet, responsible for the program during the last five editions, and Lena Solà Nogué, a Barcelona-based curator residing in Mexico who joined this year — created an exchange between young projects from Barcelona and Latin America, highlighting how cultural ecosystems grow through reciprocity rather than competition.

Two of our Allies participated:

• Casa Espacio, paired with UN Gallery (Buenos Aires)

• 200CENT, paired with Segismundo (Guatemala)

This cross-territory exchange echoed the same ethos: when spaces share their platforms, everybody’s world gets bigger. To now see MAGBER applying that same spirit inside their own gallery shows how these global ideas become local infrastructures — real, tangible, beneficial to the artists who live here.

It’s all the same movement, a commitment to collaboration as a strategy for sustainability.

The Art of Printmaking

Printmaking is a language of multiplicity – a negotiation between the hand, the tool, and time itself. In a digital age saturated with speed, printmaking returns us to slowness: the weight of the plate, the repetition of process, the meditative presence required to leave a mark that cannot be undone.

For anyone in our Circle (regardless of medium), this is a reminder: Your artistic path is built on process, ritual, and the courage to repeat until mastery emerges.

Why We Bring This to You

Artist Ally spotlights ecosystem intelligence — the kind of knowledge that helps you:

• understand how Barcelona’s art scene works

• identify

• spaces aligned with your values

• learn from real examples of collaboration done well

• connect with immigrant-led initiatives rooted in care and reciprocity

And MAGBER’s exhibition is a great example for all of us building creative careers in this city.

If printmaking or community-led spaces matter to you...

Then we invite you to visit MAGBER not as “audience” but as a student of the ecosystem:

→ Observe how they build networks.
→ See how they work with international artists.
→ Learn how collaboration shapes sustainable careers.
→ Talk to them — they’re open, generous, and deeply invested in supporting immigrant artists.

MAGBER Gallery is currently hosting an international printmaking exhibition featuring 32 artists from 23 countries, on view until 14 January 2026.

You’ll find them at Carrer dels Enamorats 2, Eixample, just a short walk from Encants or Sagrada Família metro stations.

This is how you grow your artistic ecosystem. One conversation, one ally, one connection at a time.