These are outsanding themes published in Barcelona Creative Tourism. They are organised by chronological order of their publication.
Meeting the creative visitors
Breaking with all the statistics and stereotypes, Sebastian Lican is the visitor more iconoclastic we have ever interviewed in this section.
This orthodox priest also dedicates itself divinely to the painting.
Its interest to visit Barcelona was great, but it was also greater if added the possibility to exhibit his artistic work.
"There is an energy and liveliness that inspires me to do something creative."
Enjoying Barcelona by drawing it, is not just a privilege for some happy fews born with talent. ArtistsLoveBarcelona, a dynamic art group in Barcelona's city centre, organizes arts holidays. Whether you are a complete beginner or a seasoned professional, it gives you the opportunity to discover the city by sketching, painting and making photographs.
In one of the life drawing workshops attended by students from all around the world, we have met Leah Salomon, a very kind designer from Canada. She accepted to make us share her creative experience in Barcelona.
"I admire Alicia de Larrocha immensely and I wanted to study with her.
That’s how I’ve come to Barcelona."
Founded in 1988 by Japanese Maestro Ito Shigeru, the Festival de Músics Joves de Catalunya has the objective of facilitating cultural exchange between Catalonia and Japan.
The young musicians who participate in the Festival perform a program chosen by them.
The jury is made up of personalities from the world of classical music and assumes the responsibility of naming the artists who will have the opportunity of playing in the closing night concert, which takes places within the prestigious halls of the Palau de la Música Catalana.
We have interviewed Ayako Fujiki, a young Japanese pianist who is participating in the 2006 festival.
On the 16th and 17th of September 2006, Barcelona has turned into the urban culture capital city. Break dancers, b-boys, Mc’s, djs and graffiti artists from all over the world take part of the Encuentro Eastpak Hipnotik .
They are not only visitors. They participate at the various competitions organized within the framework of the event, stimulated by awards as well as the city attractions.
We have met Maurizio T., a young Italian, member of the panel.
Daouda Diakhaté, a young Senegalese painter exhibits his work at Centric Point, a youth hostel within a modernist building which places an alternative cultural space at the disposition of creators.
All these characteristics make it a privileged space for exhibitions.
In the following link, Daouda gives us a brief account of his experience.
The Festa Major de Gràcia attracts a lot of tourists in search of new cultural and recreational experiences, although not many foreign visitors get actively involved in the organization of the festivities.
In spite of this, we have met Jürgen Reinecke, a young German translator. He comes to Barcelona every summer, where he is a member of the Colla dels Castellers de la Vila de Gràcia (group of human castle builders). Charming, and in excellent Catalan, he tells us his living experiences in Barcelona.
Artists do consider Barcelona as a place-to-be for whom who wants to develop its creativity. Foreign artists, whether they are amateurs or professional ones, have found at Cercle Artistic de Sant Lluc, studios where they can practice life drawing, sculpture, painting and copperplate while enjoying Barcelona’s spirit.
Thanks to a formula that makes available its infrastructure for a short season, the Cercle is willing to share its prestigious historical background with artists with desire of living a singular experience in our city.
We have met Paul Adon, a young artist from London, who is benefiting his stay in Barcelona to improve life drawing style as well as to enrich himself culturally.
A standing ovation was given to the “l’Orchestre d’Harmonie des Jeunes de Paris” when they visited Barcelona in August. Under the musical direction of Fabrice Colas, “La Sirène Junior” bewitched the Barcelona audience with two moving concerts.
The church of Santa Maria de Jesus in Gràcia was packed out, while the following day saw an equally large audience surrounding ‘La Glorieta’ bandstand in the ‘Parc de la Ciutadella’.
At the end of this concert we had the pleasure to listen to the impressions of Valérie Merlet and Tiago Nabouco de Moura, both members of ‘La Sirène’.
A very warm meeting which brought to an end this great musical moment.
Although we have featured visitors in this section with very different profiles and backgrounds, our guest today, has really broken the mould.
From the Bahamas Sussana Girolamo has chosen the city of Barcelona for its wide ranging offer in artistic training. We interviewed her at the end of one of her ceramics classes that she’s doing with great enthusiasm at El Torn Barcelona in the neighbourhood of Clot.
- Name: Jànos Visnyovszky
- Nationality: Hongarese
- Age: 30
- Destination: Barcelona
- Purpose of visit: tourism & video jay performing
That could be a way to introduce our today's interviewee but we would certainly loose a great oportunity to know further about this young creator who has chosen Barcelona to spend a tourist as well as creative stay. He had no problem in stopping his Video-Jay session at Buda Gallery to answer our questions.
"the city attracts many artists and among them, numerous musicians"
Jam sessions are a habitual practice in the city. Local musicians take part in them, and foreigners as well. In the Big Bang we met Marc Almeras, a French musician in love with Barcelona. We are just about to have a little chat with him.
Very closed to Catalonia Square, the tourists meeting point in Barcelona, we have met two young foreign visitors that couldn’t agree to just visiting emblematic places. They come respectively from Colorado and Saudi Arabia. Allyson and Sarah are exchange students at University of Barcelona and they also take part in many activities, not to be passive tourists. We interviewed them during a lifedrawing class at the School of Art « Sanvisens ».
Angel, their teacher is member of the family of artists that have created this school, decades ago, in order to guarantee the continuity of the Catalan painting tradition. They make us share their living experiences.
In search of our more creative tourists, tonight we are going over to the Casino l’Aliança in Poble Nou; not only is this a journey in space but also in time, because for a few days, this mythical organization will be turned into the most outstanding ‘swing’ dance floor in Europe; the Barswingona Festival.
Dancers of twenty-two different nationalities are taking part in this event. An international meeting filled with an atmosphere of fraternity, which seems to us like a good model for the UNO itself. The success of Barswingona is not the result of coincidence: classes given by the best lindy hoppers in the world, glamorous parties and the stamp of an organizing team in love with swing.
While the Ivanow Jazz Group band are taking a break we are going to talk to Olga, a young Russian who has turned swing into her way of life.
Recently people have been visiting our city for a variety of reasons. This afternoon we have met up with a group of young Swedes who are here for a very interesting and encouraging reason. They are here to do an art course at the Fundació Centre del Vidre de Barcelona (Barcelona Glass Centre Foundation). A truly original experience which Jimmy Berthag immediately tells us about, accompanied by Mrs Yvonne Wingren, visual arts teacher of the Gymnasieskola, Falkensbergs.
Horace Man Orchestra and Glee Club Choir from New York City offered last June two wonderful concerts in our city. These youth ensembles directed by Maestro Darin Lewis have successfully performed in such a emblematic venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center or Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris.
Barcelona music-lovers did enjoy the chance to attend such an unforgettable concert and expressed it by their applauses.
Just after the concert we met Kisho Watanabe, the talented soloist, who accepted to share his experience with them.
Spending three days in Barcelona “painting walls” is not complete madness. It is, in fact, the artistic response of the “stencilists” who have taken part in Difusor, an international event that brings together artists of this urban art that consists in producing graphic works using stencils.
The most outstanding creators in Europe expressed their talent on various walls in the districts of Ciutat Vella and Horta - Guinardó. We were particularly impressed by the work of “Fremantle”, a charming young Parisian, who has become quite a star in the world of stencilists. When we approached him for this interview he had no problem in stopping work to kindly answer our questions.
