Harm Reduction, Macba, Barcelona 2024

Since 2009, Laia Abril has addressed issues related to clandestine abortion, institutionalized rape, and mental health from a feminist perspective. During the project commissioned by the Pla de Barris, she conducted an in-depth observation of the Centro de Atención Sociosanitaria (CAS) Baluard and the non-profit cooperative Metzineras—safe injection rooms and shelters in the Raval neighborhood of Barcelona—focusing on harm reduction policies from a gendered perspective.

These spaces provide a safe environment for people who use drugs, aiming to minimize health risks while also offering social and legal support, as well as a space of care. Supervised consumption rooms and paraphernalia exchange are a significant part of these systems. However, access to hot meals, washing machines, showers, computers, internet, and self-care tools for health and well-being are often undervalued yet profoundly healing.

Women and non-binary individuals who use drugs face compounded stigmas, as well as multiple vulnerabilities and structural violence. They are often homeless or displaced, with migration backgrounds, racialized, sex workers, with functional diversity, or survivors of sexual or domestic violence, who may also be dealing with illnesses or drug dependencies. These spaces develop and implement specialized protocols for them, as they are frequently overlooked or neglected by the system during crises.

This project investigates a non-punitive policy in a place often seen as a conflict zone in the Raval neighborhood, where some residents oppose such spaces. In the post-pandemic era, where precariousness has become structurally embedded, this installation explores the possibility of demystifying and reshaping the perception of these institutions, avoiding discourses of revictimization or secondary traumatization.

The installation features a series of images captured at Baluard, Metzineras, and the Energy Control laboratories, documenting interactions, workshops, objects, and various aspects of the harm reduction policy in these spaces. Another black-and- white series focuses on the daily work of social workers and activists in the Raval, who collect syringes and provide support to individuals sleeping on the streets. Complementing the visual work is a research archive of 150 documents, including interviews with social educators, nurses, analysts, and academics, alongside data reports, harm reduction campaigns, articles, and historical references.

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This project is a commission from the “Pla de Barris” of the City of Barcelona, in collaboration with CAS Baluard and Metzineras, showcased at the MACBA (Contemporary Art Museum) located in the El Raval neighborhood in 2024.

And is part of the exhibition
Una ciudad desconocida bajo la niebla.
Nuevas imágenes de la Barcelona de los barrios

Curated by Jorge Ribalta and Blanca del Río