Cultural Resistance and Collaboration: Espais Valencians d’Art Associats (EVAA) as a Model of Self-Management

Abstract

This article examines the Espais Valencians d’Art Associats (EVAA), a network of six independent spaces redefining models of artistic creation and exhibition in Valencia and its metropolitan area. Through thematic analysis, it addresses key issues such as the relationship with place, management models, curatorial processes, and the community networks that sustain these initiatives. The study is based on a qualitative methodology combining interviews with managers and artists, visits to the spaces, and a literature review that reflects on the role of traditional institutions, alternative models of artistic legitimation, and curatorial dynamics in self-managed contexts. The findings highlight how these projects subvert the traditional dynamics of the market and artistic institutions, prioritizing self-management, experimentation, and connection with their immediate environments. Among the main results, the study identifies practices that reconfigure the relationship between work and context, foster new spatial narratives, and strengthen collaborative networks. Additionally, it analyzes how these spaces address structural precariousness and the tensions inherent in operating within a system dominated by capitalist logics. Ultimately, EVAA emerges as a model of cultural resistance, proposing viable and meaningful alternatives to the limitations of the contemporary art system.