Obviously the time in Barcelona was not just about soaking the sun, enjoying the beautifully shaking Latina hips of the most beautiful girls, or getting inspired by the awesome architecture of the city. While filminf the city's street scene, I reserved time to tour as many galleries as possible. There is a amazing and thriving art scene in Barcelona. However, the market is not as developed as in London. Downside is that sometimes the presenting was rather unprofessional.
I might be spoiled by the amount and quality of event and exhibitions in the UK capital. I am also trained art producer & curator, so I do look the production in a very critical eye. However, we have to remember that usually more important is drive to make it happen. The problem though is that often the lack of quality in production will hinder the viewing comfort, consequently not giving the desired immersive experience.
Highlight of the week spent in Barcelona was definetely Loop '07 - a videoart festival. The festival spanned over some 30 venues , staginf various installations, performances and screenings. I was able to see "Videos Con Tuco" screening of recent Argentinian videoart in Centre D'art Santa Monica, Various street installations in lifestyle shop windows, "Thin Blue Lines" by American artist Jill Magid, some graduate videos from Scandinavian Art schools and most notable notorious screenings of Matthew Barney's "The Cremaster Cycle 1-5". Barney's screenings took place in the night time under the spanish moon, with a chilling wind cooling us down. We sat on a hard surface of the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona's courtyard. The 5 films, screened over 3 nights, had not a single line of dialect, while the images of the film told the story in symbolic methods. Must say, not your Hollywood films, but still enjoyable.
Another notable gallery in the the city centre was operated by The Gracia Arts Project. Nice little galleria with excellent information and access to the art. Thanks to Christina for the chat, hope to see you again.
Main dissapointed was MACBA , the contemporary arts museum of Barcelona. Again, I am spoiled by Tate Modern in London, and have recently visited MoMa in New York and Museum fur Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt . These epitomes of exhibiting modern art do shadow the MACBA by far. I was left very cold by the exhibition on mix between visual art and theatre, and even more by the museum itself. They did not offer much info or sense adventure to sink into the world of the exhibition. Though they did have a nice balcony bar bathing in the afternoon sun. So, I went for a Mojito.
So this production aspect, in Loop and in Macba, is something that is extremely important for the development of art scene in Barcelona. Especially to expand their audience, as the average person will not return to poorly staged events. Sure, obviously London productions have more financial power behind them, but I have to mention that I have been involved in projects that had very highquality production with basicly no money behind, subsequently enhancing the sometimes lacking content. So please Barcelona producers, next time make sure the quality of curating goes hand in hand with the awesome art you have.
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