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ONLY BE BARCELONIAN
Only-Be Barcelonian
La Sagrada Família
The expiatory temple of La Sagrada Família is the masterpiece of Antoni Gaudí, and one of the most representative works of Catalan modernism.
Pere Noguera at the Fundación Tapies of Barcelona
From the 27th of May onwards, the Fundación Tapies of Barcelona exhibits Historia de Archivo of the conceptual Spanish artist Pere Noguera. The exposition takes Nogueras interesting art works based on photographs of the seventies shot by anonymous, amateur and professional photographers which that artist distort and cogitates on the process that embodies the fabrication of photographic images. Pere Noguera was born in La Bisbal in 1941, he is one of the most outstanding representations of the seventies avant garde art that transmuted into the nineties with visual art works that reflect the political social disenchantment of this generation and that materializes in the conformism of society more involved in consuming than worrying about the genuine problems of societies. Noguera is in eternal confrontation with what is transitory and the with what is permanent and he manifests this concern thru the dematerialization of the artistic object. His art uses simple materials like mud, old photos, rocks and objects that he picks up like cardboard etc, but, the profundity of his concepts and his critical look at society is in every element that he transforms, giving poetic breadth to his art One of his favorite materials is ceramic, which has childlike reminiscence and it connects you to the innocence of an era. This material is an important element of his pursuit to escape from the monotony of the material he uses In his eternal speech, actually more of a conversation with the viewer than a speech, irony plays a fundamental role and it is completed thru the decontextualization of the material which the object is made from. Just like Duchamp...
Einstein’s passing through Barcelona
In winter 1923, Albert Einstein came to Barcelona. As Nobel Prize winner in 1921 he travelled the world giving lectures, in Europe, America and Asia. “I do not need to know everything; I just need to know where to find what I need when I need it”. This is what he modestly said, because as we all know, this genius knew many things. Indeed, this wise man visited Barcelona to give a lecture on relativity at the University of Barcelona, a few months before Miguel Primo de Rivera, militaristic, nationalist and authoritarian ideals, gave a coup (Sept. 13) and plunged Spain into a dictatorship. Einstein who, apart from science, was also interested in these themes, said “this situation is due more to the stupidity than to of evilness”. Einstein was not travelling alone, he was accompanied by Elsa, his second wife; when arriving at Barcelona they were greeted with great fanfare, after hearing the welcome speech from the mayor, they were taken to his room at the Ritz Hotel; located in Roger De Lluria Street, in a charming historic building in neoclassical style and dated from 1899. Since he was 5 years old, Einstein received violin lessons, which were imposed by Mrs Pauline Koch, his mother. But after a while the genius was bored rigid instruction, and it is said that he threw a chair at the teacher and expelled her from the house. Pauline was armed with patience and just hired another teacher. Einstein, with the patience that characterizes every genius, endured the violin lessons his mother imposed. Thanks to the persistence of Pauline it eventually bore fruit. At 13, little Albert discovered Mozart and his interest in music took a 180 degree turn and began playing the piano with his mother. The music had become a fundamental part of his life. Once left alone in his hotel room, the Einstein took their two small suitcases and the case where Einstein kept his violin and fled into the lift to then get lost in the Rambles. They soon realized that the couple had quickly escaped and manager of the Hotel Ritz gave made it notice to the police who immediately began to look all over Barcelona. After several hours, police hunted them in a damaged and poor quality hotel in the old town. The hotel receptionist informed the police that a German couple had recently reached the hotel and the man, just after entering the lobby and greeting politely, started to play the violin. Shortly before that afternoon Einstein gave his speech, the Mayor intrigued asked him the reasons for his flight, to which Einstein replied politely: “I am a humble citizen and I rented a room that belongs to my category”. Carlos Rosas If you want to be like Einstein, do not go to the Ritz, rent Barcelona accommodation and so the police do not have to search you around the streets of Barcelona Translated...L´illa Diagonal
L´Illa Diagonal is a big shopping centre in Barcelona that has two hotels inside it, a gym, more than 170 shops of all types of brands and up to two schools.
Festival Grec in Barcelona
By the time the Grec Festival gets underway mid-June, Barcelona will be humid, hot and in the steamy depths of a Mediterranean summer. This is the beauty of the Grec Festival: many of its shows are held outside. In its 35th year now, many of the festivals shows are put on in Barcelona´s Greek Theater, or Teatre Grec set in the leafy hillside of Montjuic (Passeig Santa Madrona, 36, 08038 Barcelona). I went to a flamenco performance during the Grec Festival one year at Teatre Grec, and was impressed by the magical, intimate quality of this venue. It should be stated that Teatre Grec is not always easy to get to, but with patience concert-goers can grab a bus up the mountainside from downtown, or grab a cab. Not all the festival shows are held in the al fresco Teatre Grec. This year many shows will also be put on at Teatre Lliure de Gràcia, La Caldera, and at Mercat de les Flors which is one of the city´s most important venues for contemporary dance. Mercat de les Flors literally means Flower Market, and once was the place to go to for carnations and roses. These days its an intriguing space to see Andrés Corchero (8-13 July) or Àngels Margarit (22 – 24 July) perform with passionate grace. While dance is the main focus of the 2011 Grec Festival, also expect music of all kinds, and theater (usually in Spanish or Catalan). Get tickets in advance, as many of the popular Grec shows sell out ahead of time (take it from one who has missed some great music for...Moog
Moog is a club that opens every night of there year and where national and international techno DJs make everyone dance.
Razzmatazz
Razzmatazz is one of the most important and busiest clubs in Barcelona and you can´t not go if you want to have a good night dancing and meeting people.
Portal de l’Angel
Portal de l´Àngel is a street with a great cultural offering. There you can have a drink o listen to musicians in every corner, amongst other things.
National Art Museum of Catalunya
In MNAC you can enjoy all different types of works of art that range from sculpture to paintings as well as photography of Catalan origin.
Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona
MACBA presents the most important artists from the second half of the 20th century and it also exhibits works from the newest and more promising artists.
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