Extravagant Bodies is the name of the international festival of contemporary art, first held in 2007, that deals with the politics of normality, difference and social acceptability. What is considered normal (and not normal) is ideologically established and deeply ingrained in society. The fact that difference and otherness exist, especially in relation to body and mind, elicits negative identification, social expulsion, fear and hatred. A different, extravagant, body/mind serves as a creative starting point for artists who present their work at Extravagant Bodies, something only the most courageous can face.

The first edition of the festival tackled the issue of physical disability whereas this year’s festival, titled Extravagant Bodies: Extravagant Minds, takes up the issue of mental health. It is the first international project of this kind in this region that introduces to the audience some of the most relevant works of the contemporary international art scene, at the same time encouraging the development of local producation. The presented works do not aim to rehabilitate in the institutional sense, but are projects that put into question the very existence of mental illness and intellectual disabilities, institutions, institutionalization, demarcation and borders; and they speak up from the position of the mental condition itself. Through an elaborate program composed of exhibition, performances, film program and conference, accompanied by the bilingual catalogue and reader, the visitors will have a chance to get acquainted with inspiring artworks, presentations and lectures from the spheres of art, medicine, sociology, philosophy and (anti)psychiatry.