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ONLY BE BARCELONIAN
Only-Be Barcelonian
FUMETTOPOLI Milan, a comic fan’s paradise
Comic freaks are those who dream about possessing the latest gadget from their favourite character, who won’t be happy until they find that weird first edition, that short collection that only lasted five editions or getting their most idolized cartoonist’s autograph. Do you happen to be a comic freak? If so you’re in luck as the 31st International Festival of Comics in Milan, Fumettopoli is just around the corner – next February 20th and 21st to be exact. Brand new sections In this important event dedicated to the world of comics, organizers have planned new sections for this edition. For instance, ‘Fume..ttari’, is a launch pad for new talents, whose best works will be published at the end of the year. One of the most juicy and attractive parts of this edition is the exclusive presentation of an illustrated version of ‘Alice in Wonderland’, the famous tale by Lewis Carroll. To celebrate the occasion, the editor has decided to plan a costume contest for the best Alice costume. What a sight! It’s going to be very funny to see numerous cosplayers (comic fans dressed up as their favourite characters), squeezed into Alice’s costume! Besides this contest, there will be also a cosplay parade. Participants must wear a costume of their favourite star character from a particular comic. But the star of the show, the true landmark at Fumettopoli, is undoubtedly the eagerly awaited presentation of ‘Loaded Bible’, volume 2: in an imaginary Vatican City, the citizens, under the siege of vampires, are abandoned by Jesus and their trust in ecclesiastical institutions is waning. Mmmm, sounds interesting, isn’t it? All...
A new take on Federico Fellini
If you like Federico Fellini’s movies, takes advantage of this unique exhibition organized by the CaixaForum in Barcelona: “El circo de la ilusión”. Come and discover the complete works of this Italian genius who became famous after receiving the Palme d´Or at Cannes Festival in 1960 with La Dolce Vita. You can enjoy it from mid-February to mid-June. The exhibition offers a journey through the filmmaker´s work divided into four parts: “Fellini and the popular culture”, “Fellini and his work“, “the City of Women” and “Fellini, biographical invention”. The exhibition gives an overview of the topics he was most passionate about as psychoanalysis or the music hall, and reveals the secrets of his creation. So we will see new views on his films. Fellini was a native of Rimini, but he moved to Rome at the age of 19 where he worked in a humour magazine and wrote texts for the radio. There he met his wife, Giulietta Masina, the woman who shared his lifelong and who was his muse for many films. After helping several filmmakers, he became gradually a real artist with his own style. His first work was called Luci del varietà (1951) and his first international success, three years later, will be La Strada. But it was with La Dolce Vita that he fascinated us. Then he became a master and people began to talk about the Fellini’s baroque. He used to create eccentric characters that caricatured the Italian society. He used a narrative without much dramatic tension and a lack of boundaries between the real world and the imaginary. Besides a great filmmaker, Fellini...
The Barcelona of Cerdà
When you look at the map of Barcelona, you see a beehive of blocks formed by long and wide streets that intersect. This is the Eixample District, which extends and branches throughout the city. It has a very appropriate Catalan name, since this area was built to unify the historic center to the nearby towns, which now form a set of ten districts. The engineer Ildefons Cerdà was the man who proposed this development plan in 1859, with a really modern design for the time: Cerdà was already thinking about the cars and the environment. This year, the Plan Cerdà is 150 years old! If you want to discover the Eixample district, you can start by getting lost in its grid, you’ll see many things that look very similar. Tall buildings of modernist style, offices, hotels, restaurants, shops, trees, very wide sidewalks – with the flower symbol, cars… Today this is an upper middle class and mostly residential neighbourhood, but it is also home of the gay district, known as Gayxample which is located on the left side of it. On the right side we fund emblematic places such as the famous Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera and La Casa Batllo, on Paseo de Gracia. But original idea was that each block would be a series of residences with a green space in the middle, like a little island (in Barcelona they are known as patio blocks). Today there are not many, since the space was gradually used up to build more new buildings. Cerdà wanted to make a city of human proportions. He had foreseen the downtown in Gloríes...
El Bulli to close its doors for two years
Yes, surprising, but true. The best restaurant in the world will remain closed for two years, during 2012 and 2013. Its owner, Ferran Adrià, the chef who is widely recognised as a master of his art, has announced that kitchen’s burners will be put out regarding the serving of meals but not to keep researching into the infinite possibilities that the world of gastronomy offers. The restaurant will remain open as a research laboratory. El Bulli, placed in a charming corner of the Catalan Costa Brava has, up to date, three Michelin stars and only opens its doors six month per year. Diners wait years in order to get a booking and experience the food that El Bulli has to offer. In fact, the website has announced that the restaurant has already closed its reservations for the whole of next season (from 15th June until 20th December). The positive side of the whole matter is that Ferran Adrià is not closing the business because he has run out of ideas. He’s taking a break to keep creating and innovating to make sure that Spanish gastronomy stays on top. The renowned chef has admitted to the press that when El Bulli reopens “it won’t be a restaurant anymore, but it will serve food”. He doesn’t know if it only will feed just one person or a thousand people, but he is sure that the restaurant will change its format. El Bulli is considered the world’s best restaurant, according to the prestigious The Restaurant Magazine, who has awarded this category to Adrià’s for several consecutive years now. The few lucky diners...
Outumuro photography
The Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHUB), a space that is both a museum and photo laboratory is holding a pictures exhibition of the famous Galician photographer Manuel Outumuro. A total of 200 illustrations from fashion magazines, Sunday supplements or daily press will be shown under the title “Outumuro LOOKS. Veinte años fotografiando moda”. You have until April 25th to visit it. Do not miss this original retrospective! You maybe don’t know his name, but you have probably seen his pictures in many magazines. Outumuro (1949, Ourense) is a professional photographer who has photographed the great names of the Spanish and international fashion: models, actresses and celebrities. He currently lives in Barcelona (his studio is located in a former eighteenth century palace), a city that has always enjoyed a rich artistic culture and often inspired many creative people. Outumuro is also famous for designing the promotional material for the film “The Others”, with Nicole Kidman. You can admire two decades of his great work (1990-2010) and discover the lighting techniques he uses, as well as the evolution of the advertising, the different visual strategies used depending on whether female or male pictures are taken and so on. Outumuro is a specialised fashion photographer but Barcelona was also one of his muses, and one of his many portfolios is entitled “Barcelona, another vision.” And do not forget his advertising spots, for chocolate bars, yogurt, clothes and magazines… He´s literally done everything! The exhibition is located in one of two branches of DHUB, located in the historic centre of Barcelona in Calle Montcada in the Born district, not far from the Picasso Museum...
Xcèntric Festival – Anti Popcorn Cinema
As it is being usual, The Contemporary Culture Centre of Barcelona, the CCCB, is once again organizing its most creative, experimental and risky film festival, the Xcèntric: a film contest that is quite different to more conventional systems, ideal for people who love a more personal cinema that it’s hard to watch on any other theatres. In this ninth edition, that started last December and will go on until June, the visitor can watch movies with a very clear purpose: to be able to watch great works that are otherwise impossible to watch in any other place. Special sessions This year, Xcèntric premieres a brand new space to promote local authors and creators who move between cinema, assays and experimental documentary. Former students who participated in the past Aula Xcèntric ( a kind of seminar class) will exhibit their own films this year. If you decide to go, you can’t miss the special sessions of this Festival, just like the one prepared for Sunday 31st , called “Tropical Modernity. The Cinema of Dominique González-Foerster”. This acclaimed French artist has exhibited her work in prestigious places such as Documenta of Kassel, Venice and Sao Paolo Biennals or TheTate Modern in London, but it’s barely been seen on screen. Indeed, this is your chance to discover her. Other creators whose works can be seen at Xcèntric are: Pier Paolo Pasolini, Takashi Ito, Fred Worden, Matthias Müller, Sara MacLean, Ben Russell and The Lumière Brothers. All screenings will be in their original versions with Catalan subtitles on Wednesdays and Sundays. If you have already booked your stay on Apartments in Barcelona, come...
Modernity returns to the museums
There are classical and modern things, traditional and new customs, ancient and future philosophies… It was under this simple dichotomy how a concept that today remains a subject of philosophical reflection and important social begun: What is modernity? Perhaps you remember having discussed this issue during your studies. Or maybe this subject does not inspire you in any way. The truth is that whatever you know about it, this is a very difficult subject to summarize in one sentence, since everyone, most intellectuals and artists, seek a way to express and define what modernity is. To learn more about modernity, visit the “Modernologies” exhibition which occupies one floor of the Contemporary Art of Barcelona Museum (MACBA) until 17th January. Follow the skaters in the Raval district right to the Plaça dels Angels (the MACBA square), where they meet to skate. Discover what the modernity subject means. Is this an international or European concept? Is this artistic or political? And what are the differences with Modernism? History tends to date the events or social concepts, but often this date is the starting point for endless discussions to define a new idea. In the case of modernity, we have not finished discussing it yet! Some people say it began in 1492 with the arrival of Columbus to America, but others place it after the Industrial Revolution in the late nineteenth century, and others date it after the French Revolution. It is not very clear. The concept of modernity did not come from one day to another. Modernity is a whole concept that lasted for years in several countries after many political...
DrapArt – the International recycling art festival 09
The Drap Art Festival in Barcelona may make think the lovers of art in the revolutionary concept of the artist Marcel Duchamp: the ready made. It said that art work is something that already exists, as an everyday object or material, but exposed so that it becomes a unique creation and loses its original functionality. From Dec. 18th to Jan. 10th, the Drap Art Festival proposes a similar approach to Duchamp: recycle materials to create art. It is an excellent way to sensitize the public about the importance of recycling and a fun way to make life an art. “What a person considers junk, others see as treasure” says Tanja Grass, the festival organizer. To give a second chance to those objects and materials rather than trash them, can be very profitable for some whose imagination and creativity is inspired by anything. The creation power might do some jewellery from spoons and forks with amazing results! It may seem odd to call an art work a creation made from plastic or bottles when some crafts for children are very similar. But there is a big difference between a child handcraft and an art work: the intention that the artist puts into its project, the concept behind it. The metamorphosis of the insignificant into something desirable is really powerful. If you want to be surprised thanks to what the hands of some creative people can do, come to the DrapArt Festival. It promotes the creative recycling from 13 years ago. And the artists and visitors are increasingly numerous. During these two weeks, there will be several interactive activities: recycling workshops...
You taste like chocolate
If you feel stressed out or moody and the arrival of Autumn is further making your skin dry we have a magic and very tasty cure for you: listen to your body and pamper it with a chocolate massage! Sounds tasty, doesn’t it? For once in your life you´ll enjoy yourself without worrying about counting the calories. Chocolate has so many healthy properties and will make you have that beautiful baby skin again and you’ll also feel full of new energy! The chocolate therapy is probably a crazy idea but this is a true miracle for the body: who would have thought that this treasure so rich could be so healthy for your skin and your mind. Indeed, the cocoa increases the hormones of pleasure and well-being –endorphins, it is an aphrodisiac and it has moisturizing, nourishing and detoxifying effects for the skin: it removes cellulite, improves circulation and prevents premature aging. It is a tonic food as it contains theobromine, a substance that stimulates the nervous system similar to caffeine, but less euphoric. In addition, the Maya culture called the cacao “food of gods” for its natural properties and therapeutic benefits. Nobody can resist a praline or a Belgian chocolate ice cream, and for those who do not love chocolate, you should try the cocoa bath, since it is your skin and not your mouth that will taste it! Sure that you will want to come back for seconds! And we recommend a visit to the fabulous chocolate museum in Barcelona, located in the charming district of El Born. In a list of the top 10 museums in...
Naturism in Barcelona
What would the world look like without all the public nudity in our society? Very boring that’s for sure! Nudism is an essential part of modern culture. For many people it’s a way of life, a way to express their true self.
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