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ONLY BE BARCELONIAN
Only-Be Barcelonian
Go Messi!
Messi deserved to win because his game is always honest and clean, and he doesn’t just look out for himself, but the whole team. Because he is able to save a match with just a window of opportunity, and often manages to come up with a brand new move for taking possession of the ball – making it almost impossible for the opposing team to recover it. Also, he’s quick – at any moment, he might change his pace and defeat an arch rival with perfect ball control – another of his virtues: he moves the ball as though it were an extension of his legs: hiding it, switching sides – Messi is difficult to tackle. And if he does lose the ball, he always helps to get it back, much to the rival team’s worry. This is Messi’s second consecutive win of the FIFA Golden Ball, having gained a majority vote from the sporting world. Though fellow nominees Xavi and Iniesta were also favourites, everyone agrees that any one of the three players would have been worthy recipients of the trophy. Unlike last year, when Messi far outshone Cristiano Ronaoldo, this year things haven’t seemed as secure for the Argentinian footballer, especially based on his performance with his team, but he has nevertheless remained a standout player, winning a lot of support from Spanish fans after Spain took home the World Cup this year in South Africa. Despite the fact that the tabloid press has branded Messi’s win ‘a slap in the face of Spanish football’ the truth of the matter is that FC Barcelona has been the...
Let us face the future at the Miró Foundation
Taking up a walk beautiful Montjuic and walk around for a little while is always a very rewarding activity. If you´re tired, just admire the sea views to get inspired and regain life forces. If in addition to nature, you, walker, are keen on art, you can feel doubly rewarded by the number of sites and museums able to arouse your admiration and enthusiasm. Among them, the splendid and Mediterranean-inspired rationalist style building by Josep Lluis Sert occupied by the Fundacio Joan Miro (Parc de Montjuïc s / n). It is here where until February 20 you can see, along with the extraordinary permanent collection of works by Miro, the exhibition Let Us Face the Future, which presents eighty-eight works by British artists from prestigious public and private collections and made between 1945 and 1968. The roster of artists includes such important and influential people in the history of modern art as Henry Moore, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Anthony Caro, Lucien Freud, Bridget Riley, Leon Kossoff, Frank Auerbach, Eduardo Paolozzi and Richard Hamilton. But the exhibition, which is accompanied by a very interesting lecture series, aims to go beyond the presentation of a collection of isolated pieces of a number of outstanding artists. Its goal is to draw a kind of journey through the artistic and social landscape of the United Kingdom during the construction of the Labour welfare state, defending the thesis that during this period optimal conditions for the big creative explosion that took place there were created, Particularly in London in the sixties. A real cultural revolution whose leaders, the product of the democratization of access...
Arctic Monkeys in Barcelona
Girls, on February 6 we are all going to the Sant Jordi Club to see the amazing Arctic Monkeys. This band from Sheffield returns to make you shiver with emotion. I remember when I first heard the Arctic Monkeys and the whole vibe that remained from the Nu-Rock Revolution, Strokes, Interpol, White Stripes and other American herbs. However, my beloved band by Alex Turner has continued playing with grace and some “originality” while others have gone off. I think of Doherty and the Libertines as well, and remember seeing them live thinking they were everything. The purpose of the tour is to promote their latest album Humbug (2009), an album full of their signature guitar sound and Turner‘s voice that made us dance. “The Jeweller´s Hands” is still one of my favorites; sexy and slow, I still get to the shower listening to it on repeat. The Arctic Monkeys sound much more post punk than their contemporaries, maybe that´s because of the raw production of their music and of course the incredibly sexy bedroom voice of lead singer Alex. Arctic Monkeys will also be in Benicassim this year with Primal Scream amongst others, but Benicassim, like the Nu-Rock, has become old news, which has more to do with drugs and party than with music. Look, I´m not a saint but I go to these events for the music. May only the British survive? SISTER RAY So darling, rent apartments in Barcelona and do not miss this concert. Fasten the suspender belt and come with me. Translated by: salome...
The Otolith Group: Perception and Memory
From February 4, 2011 on, the MACBA will exhibit the work of the Otolith Group, founded in London in 2000 by Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun, which reflects on the perception of memory and subjectivity that the passage of time keeps in the human record. The exhibition is conceived as a mixture of production that takes the viewer to understand a work methodology, where files and activities made with them, in different media supports, build a unit of significant events. Thus, the Cold War and the processes of global capitalism appear as fragments of a diary that are anchors in the subjectivity of individual memory and its critical potentiality of reconstruction and deconstruction of the narrative in progress. The use of the documentary is presented as a collage that tells the forms of post-colonial condition, making a reflex that goes beyond the pictures, making art in a political speech that confronts the memory as a tool for building ideas for a future world. For those who today argue about the aesthetics of memory and its urgent relation between past and present, as a barrier preventing the history from becomes the static figure of a closed time, finally sealed by the weight of the dominant culture, this exhibition reflects the radical claim to a society mired in this petrified present, where the formal, lightweight, empty of content aesthetic has eliminated the human condition to remember, to look back. This is where Anjalika Sagar, whose studies Social Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London University and Fine Arts at the University of Middlesex and its status as...
Ferran Adria and cuisine as art: new frontiers
Interactions between contemporary art and other disciplines are evident, they have become increasingly frequent. Boundaries are blurred and it is not possible to draw a line separating these two different disciplines anymore, including art as “fine arts” or “decorative arts”, between design and art, between art and cuisine. Cuisine? Is it possible to propose cuisine as art? The answer is yes, of course, if one considers a certain trend in contemporary art that has turned into a “relational aesthetics”, as defined by the French critic and curator Nicolas Bourriaud. It is about highly artistic practices that strongly involve the audience (creating specific relationships with the work, which ceases to exist as such without the participation of an audience) and that have recently turned to the world of cuisine, that is to say: a social aggregation situation and union par excellence. The first one to open this trend was the Thai Rikrit Tiravanija, leading directly his wok to galleries and cooking for the visitors. Tiravanija´s work has not been brought into discussion regarding art, since from its beginning it was intended to be considered an artistic action, and it is known that the aim of the author is now one of the few opportunities we have to discern what is art and what is not (although in some cases it seems that also this distinction is no longer relevant). What is questioned regarding the work of Ferran Adrià is somewhat different. When, in 2007, he was invited to the international art fair Documenta 12 (Kassel) his participation sparked contrasting feelings and some anger among the ´orthodox´ artists that were left...
Kylie Minoque concert in Berlin
At the age of 41 Kylie Minogue is one of the big pop icons of our time and one of the most famous stars in the world. Maybe that’s because in comparison with other starlets Kylie has been making pure pop music for the past 20 years und continued to reinvent herself without forgetting what her fans love about her. Maybe it is also because she has done her homework and always delivers the best and most innovative shows during her tours. The world tour „Aphrodite – Les Folies“ which starts in Denmark on February 19th will come to Germany on March 1st promises to be one of her best shows. The incredible success of her 11th album Aphrodite was what inspired Kylie to go on tour once again. With the recording of this album which mixes pop, synth and dance music Kylie brings her signature sound. But not everyone was fond of the Diva’s latest release, calling it a cheap rip-off of 90s music. On the other side Kylie has never been famous for an innovative sound, more the opposite, her fans appreciate the classic “Kylie sound.” For more information: http://www.kylie.com/news/kylie-minogue-aphrodite-–-les-folies-tour-2011-uk-tour-dates/? Heloise Battista If you don’t want to miss this incredible event at the O2 World Arena on March 1 rent apartments in Berlin and get yourself some tickets as soon as you can.? Translated by: salome...
Exhibition “From Luca Giordano to Goya” in Barcelona
The Francisco Godia Foundation is presenting the exhibition „From Luca Giordano to Goya: 18th Century Painting in Spain”, an exhibition that aims to present Spanish painting of this century which doesn’t receive much attention because of the Golden Age of painting, the 17th century. The exhibition presents 23 works from Baroque, Rococo, and Neoclassicism und the early Romanticism but you will also see paintings that influenced these two artists profoundly. Like the title suggests the focus of the exhibition is Francisco de Goya. This great artist, one of the most important in art history, is represented in this exhibition with 5 different works. Amongst them paintings that have been talked about a lot but seen very little: Sacrificio a Vesta (1771), and Sacrificio a Pan (1771). In these paintings Goya’s interest in mythological themes is very present, that coined his youth. Another work La obra, con la conducciüon de un sillar (1786) is one of the few that belongs to a Spanish collection, that of the Planeta group. The paintings from the 18th century haven’t gained much attention in Spanish exhibitions until now, which was a reason for the Francisco Godia Foundation to take on this endeavour. For more information: http://www.fundacionfgodia.org/ Fundación Francisco Godia: Calle Diputació, 250, 08007 Barcelona, Spain MiLK If you would like to get to know one of the great artists in history rent apartments in Barcelona and visit this exhibition which is open until the 13th of February.? Translated by: salome...
Talking a walk through Barcelona: “Don Quijote in Barcelona”
Barcelona is the only real city that is mentioned in „Don Quijote de la Mancha“ and that’s because Miguel de Cervantes visited the city and was so captured by it that he described it in his book. Now there are organized tours throughout the city that explore the different places that Quijote and Sancho passed. On this route we are reminded of passages of the book, in which he expressed the greatness and beauty of the city. And Cervantes was not only fascinated by the city but also the sea and that is why he described it so delicately in his texts. Passing the Plaça de Palau where the gate of the city walls once were and where Cervantes initially places Quijote. We take a walk to Call street where the print shop of Sebastián de Comelles is that Hildalgo also visits in his novella. Still in the Barrio Gotico we pass the Perot lo Lladre Street where the Catalan bandit will lead Don Quijote and Sancho to Barcelona. For more information on the journey in „El Quijote en Barcelona“: http://www.iperqueno.info/visitasguiadas/barcelona/rutasliterarias.htm Benjami If you would like to see Barcelona with Quijote’s eyes rent apartments in Barcelona and explore the city that was so fascinating to Cervantes.? Translated by: salome...
Exhibit of Franco-Symbols in Barcelona
The Memorial Democratic in Barcelona is presenting the exhibit „Símbolos de Franco” (Franco Symbols) until the 13th of February 2011. The curators are Jordi Gixe and Francesc Abad.The exbihit examines the remains of the Franco era that still can be found in Catalonia. The idea is to remind about 40 years of dictatorship to avoid the development of new totalitarian ideas. The Memorial Democratic was founded to promote democratic values and create an initiative that remind of the historic past. Therefore the initiative supports the research and the promotion of these values.In accordance the Memorial is presenting the research results of an investigation of the Franco symbols that are still found throughout Catalonia. Thousands of symbols and images that are still found in Spain demonstrate how far-reaching Franco’s propaganda was. And although more than 3 decades have gone by these symbols still exist in public as well as in private.The symbolic meaning of Franco is comparable to other fascist symbols in Europe and is characterized by many eagles, arches and military references and also images associated with the Catholic Church so Franco would have a better reputation outside of Spain. The symbolic meaning of Franco emerged during the Spanish civil war and served the propaganda for the dictator. Many of the symbols have their origin in the Spanish falange movement of the JONS which added many traditional symbols.During the Franco dictatorship this symbolic spread and used to put a doctrine into place. A good example was the adjustment of the military uniform: a fusion between the uniforms of the JONS and the traditionalists.To reach a totalitarian and global presence...
Eugeni Forcano exhibit in Barcelona
Until January 15th the municipality of Barcelona will be showing 130 of the 650 large format photographs (50×60) the Eugeni Forcano archive donated to the city, which give us a black and white memory of the streets the city in the early sixties of the twentieth century. The exhibition entitled “Eugeni Forcano. The Meva Barcelona “shows images of the inhabitants of the city and its different ways of living and enjoying the city spaces. Forcano captured sharp images that reflected the mood and behavior of city dwellers in that era. Eugeni Forcano was born in Canet de Mar (Barcelona) in 1926. The self-taught photographer is on par with Catalan photographers like Francesc Català-Roca or Xavier Miserachs. At the age of 82, he has received recognition from local institutions that have granted him several awards, from the city of Barcelona in 1963 and 1976 and the Gold Medal for Artistic Merit in 2009. Irony and sensitivity flavor his work. In 2005 the Palau de la Virreina conducted an extensive tour of his work with a retrospective exhibition. For the exhibition that is now in the Photographic Archives of the City of Barcelona, travel back in time with images captured forty years ago in the Gothic Quarter, El Born and Barceloneta. These photographs show Forcano´s mastery of the play of light and shadows and invite viewers to see the process by which the city evolved. Forcano is a representative of Spanish neo-realism in photography, and concentrated on capturing an image which portrayed a social moment wherein the composition expresses the semiotic content of the message. Forcano shows priests playing with children,...Promotions
