World Press Photo winners on exhibit at The Contemporary Culture Center of Barcelona (CCCB)

Through 14 December CCCB is showing 185 winning photographs of the 2007 World Press Photo competition. The exposition collects the best photographs published in the press last year. This year's winning image of an American soldier resting in a bunker in Afganistan was taken by Briton Tim Hetherington.

The competition had over 5,000 works submitted by photographers from 125 countries. 177 Spanish photographers participated in the contest and four of those were awarded prizes: Emilio Morenatti, Miguel Riopa, Cristina García Rodero and Lorena Ros. (Lorena Ros is a Catalonian photojournalist who currently lives in New York City.)

The World Press Photo exhibition will travel to some 90 cities around the globe. Approximately two million people will have seen the exhibition by the time the tour ends.

Here is a link to 12 slides from the exhibition: World Press Photo montage.

Here is a link to the CCCB website's page about the exhibition: World Press Photo 2007 International professional photojournalism exhibition.

CCCB
C/ Montalegre, 5
08001 Barcelona
Tel: 93 306 41 00
Admission: 4.50 (Free admission on the first Wednesday of each month. If you have a Barcelona library card, entry is free between 11am and 14pm daily.)

Chao amig@s,

Carloz

A sample of things to do in Barcelona for 5 euros and under

There are always cheap things to do in Barcelona, including some that are free. For example, the web site BarcelonaGratis.com provides up to date listings of free activities, including exhibitions, concerts, festivals, cinema, sports, children's events, etc. (By the way, the site is only available in Spanish.) It also maintains a list of the days of the month when local museums offer free admission. (Most museums in Barcelona are free on the first Sunday of each month, but a few are free on other days. Check the list for details.)

And believe it or not, it is still possible to find a full meal for 5 euros -- at least one day a week, that is! I noticed recently that Charleston's, one of the restaurants on Paseo Joan De Borbon, now has a 5 euro lunch menu on Fridays; the rest of the week it's 8.50, which is still a good price. As I mentioned in an earlier post, don't let the name Charleston's fool you, as it's Spanish food that's on offer there -- although, no paella.

Charleston's
Paseo Joan de Borbo, 2
Barceloneta
Barcelona
Open from 7h to 22h daily

For more examples of free and low cost things to do in BCN, below is a list of things to do on the weekend I am writing this. It's taken from an article in today's La Vanguardia newspaper called: 10 Citas culturales por menos de 5 euros. (10 cultural events for less than 5 euros.) Here's my translation of the listings in the article:

-Free-

Raval Culture Festival
a hundred or so neighborhood organizations offer a constellation of activities all weekend long. Concerts ranging from gospel to Pakistani music, hip-hop to Brazilian batucada. Photography expositions, too. Sunday Nov. 15th at 16.30h a series of videos made by residents on the topic of the Raval neighborhood will be shown at the CCCB. Through Sunday. http://www.totraval.org/

Joan Petit in concert
Mallorcan singer / musician Joan Petit in concert at Heliogabal Musical Bar. Petit, who worked with the British group The Wedding Present in 2006, is on the verge of releasing his first CD. Saturday the 14th at 22h. www.myspace.com/welovepetit ,

Macba Collection
Macba exhibits 17 works of minimalist artists, their influencers and some they've influenced, including Buren, Wharol, Flavin, Mangol, Bell, Sonnier, Haacke, Saws, Matta-Clarck. The video artist John Baldessari adds a brushstroke of humor to the exposition space through his video "Baldessari Singing". http://www.macba.es/

Transglossador Slam Festival
The art of improvisation to music is not the unique providence of Rap and Hip-hop. Artists such as Abd The Malik can slam to a Brel song. The third Transglossador Slam Festival offers slam workshops, as well as performances and improvisations of various of groups, such as De Caláis and Rapsodes. Saturday from 18,30. http://www.farinera.org/

La Felpa
BTOY Exposition
Ilia Mayer and Andrea Michaelsson, two art illustrators, with exhibitions at the BAC (Barcelona Art Contemporaneo) show their their work in Gracia's La Felpa on Saturday from of 12.30 to 21.30. http://www.thisisbtoy.com/

-4 euros-

American Modern at the Joan Miró Museum
A showing of works by more than one hundred 20th century American artists, including George Bellows, John Singer Sargent, Arthur Davies, Marsden Hartley, Joseph Cornell, Thomas Hart Benton, John Sloan, Edward Hopper, Milton Avery, Mark Rothko, Willem of Kooning, Cy Twombly, Richard Diebenkorn, Martin Puryear and Robert Mangold.

-4.10 euros–

Palau de La Virreina
De facto: Joan Fontcuberta 1982-2008 -- photography as documentation.
A sample of 50 of the photographers images at the Palau of the Virreina. The photos are somewhere between documentary and fiction, with humanist and philosophical inspiration. Until February 8. www.bcn.cat/virreinacentredelaimatge/castella/home.htm

-4.50 euros-

Ciné Mélies
Several movies showing in the original language with Spanish subtitles. One movie now playing is L'Heure d'été (Las horas del Verano / Summer Hours), directed by Olivier Assayas; starring Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, and Jeanne Balibar, who won the best actress award at this past September's San Sebastian Film Festival. http://www.cinesmelies.net/

CCCB Independent Film Festival
More than 78 movies from 33 countries. http://alternativa.cccb.org/2008/ct/

-5 euros-

Mostra de Teatre del Raval (Raval Theatre Presents)
The Raval Theatre itself is the epicenter of this festival, with 15 plays selected for presentation. This weekend a play by children for adults premieres: "Un día, una hora..." is based on numerous stories told by children to Argentine Javier Villafañe in 1980s. Until December 7. http://www.mostradeteatredebarcelona.com/

Disfrutadlo amig@s,

Carloz

Artist to create massive Obama portrait near Barcelona beach

Sorry I have not written in a while. I was very busy with the beginning of the new school year and then I got addicted to reading, commenting on, seeding and writing articles on Newsvine. Have you heard of it? It's a site for discussions about news stories. Part of my addiction has had to do with the hottest topic on Newsvine: the US Presidential race. So, I think I will be able to taper off after November 4th.

Meanwhile, here is an excerpt from a story from CNN that I found on Newsvine:

Artist to create massive Obama portrait near Barcelona beach

"[An] artist plans to create a gigantic face of Obama sculpted from gravel and sand, which will cover nearly 2.5 acres (1 hectare) of Barcelona beachfront before the U.S. elections.

" 'The size of the piece is intrinsic to its value," the artist, Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada, said Saturday.

"He hopes it will be big enough to be seen on Google Earth.

" 'Obama's personality -- his youth, personal history and message of a new politics -- has fused with the historical moment to create someone larger than life,' says the artist's dossier about the work, titled "Expectation.'

"The huge size also alludes 'to the global impact of this election,' the dossier adds.

"Rodriguez-Gerada, 42, is a Cuban-born American who grew up in North Plainfield, New Jersey, near New York, and now lives in Barcelona."

The project is known as EXPECTATION and the artist is seeking donations from the public to fund it.

I'll let you all know if I come across Senator Obama on the beach!

Chao amig@s,

Carloz

P.S. I use another "nom de plume" on Newsvine, not Carloz. If you happen to look at Newsvine and see some of the "authors," can you guess which one I am?

Arty in the street!

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Barcelona is a city with a wealth of public art, especially sculpture. Two of my favorites crown each end of Rambla Cataluña: Josep Granyer's Thinking Bull and Coquettish Giraffe.

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Until June 15th these anthropomorphic forms are joined by 17 fantastic female figures created by the Spanish sculptor and painter Manolo Valdés for the outdoor exhibition "Manolo Valdés in Barcelona: Monumental sculptures." Yesterday a friend and I had the pleasure of strolling among these bronze beauties before and after a quiet lunch at one of the Rambla's many sidewalk cafés. It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
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No matter which end of the exhibition a visitor starts from, you are greeted by enormous heads of women: 'Lilie', a large head of a woman with a hat, looks out over Gran Via,one of Barcelona's busiest boulevards; and a few blocks away, at Consell de Cent Street, 'Irene I' and 'Irene II', their heads adorned by twisting metallic abstractions, welcome passersby. Valdés produced these three sculptures, along with a fourth one called 'Odalisca', especially for this exhibition. Other pieces on display include 'La Dama', 'Queen Mariana', 'Colossus' and 'Las Meninas'.

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The series of sculptures called 'Las Meninas' (Spanish for Ladies in Waiting) were particular favorites of both my friend and myself. The five figures, named after and inspired by Velázquez' 1656 painting of a little Spanish princess and her attendants, are apparently among the most famous of Valdés' works. These particular statues range from life sized to larger than life, whereas all of the other works on display are quite huge.

Interestingly Barcelona's Picasso Museum currently has an exhibition of art works inspired by the same Velázquez classic. Called Forgetting Velázquez, it is a series of fifty-eight oil paintings by the artist that, according to the museum's website, explores, “Picasso's links with the tradition of Spanish painting, and with Velázquez in particular, while proposing new readings of the series Las Meninas, thanks in part to the numerous subsequent interpretations and contributions made by various contemporary artists.” Sounds like another good Sunday destination – indeed, any day, if you're a visitor instead of a weekday working resident like me.
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By the way, the Valdés Rambla Catalunya exhibition is part of the Arte en la Calle (Art in the Street) program funded by the non-profit arm of Spain's largest savings bank, La Caixa. Last year's Rambla Cataluña exhibition was an equally impressive show of gigantic works by Poland's Igor Mitoraj.

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Chao amig@s,
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Carloz

Saints above, party in the street!

Today is a public holiday in Madrid, as well as a day of festivities in a few other places in Spain. What's it all about?
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Well, it's all supposed to be in honor of Saint Isidore the Laborer or San Isidro el Labrador. Saint Isidore (born in 1070, died on 15 May 1130) was a native of Madrid who became the patron saint of the peasants and laborers. According to legend, he was a poor peasant farmer, who along with his wife Maria (also a saint - Santa María de la Cabeza), was so generous that they shared the little they had with others. Today Saint Isidore is the patron saint of Madrid, as well as of other locations in Spain and around the world.
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Although the 15th is the official holiday, in Madrid the partying starts the Friday before that date and lasts until the the following Sunday when cookouts serving traditional Madrid stew (cocido Madrileño) are held around the region. While most events take place in or near downtown Madrid, all of the Autonomous Region known as The Community of Madrid ("Communidad de Madrid") observes the holiday. So, suburbs, neighboring towns and even small villages have their own special events.
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Back in the city, probably one of the most traditional parts of the of the observance is the pilgrimage to the hermitage erected in the saint's honor in Saint Isidore's Meadow (La pradera de San Isidro) on the banks of the Río Manzanares River. In Plaza de las Vistillas the saint's statue is paraded around while Madrileños wear traditional costumes, enjoy picnics and drink from the plaza's fountain. At night concerts are held there. Plaza Mayor in the city center probably sees the most action, with nightly concerts and one of the biggest cocido cookouts. Another big event is the series of bullfights held at Madrid's iconic Las Ventas bullring. Of course there are many other events all week long: parades, exhibitions, street fairs, and a wide variety of musical performances -- from opera to flamenco pop to Hip-Hop; from local bands to international stars.
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Although only an official holiday in Madrid sine 1947, a picture Goya painted in 1778, La pradera de San Isidro, attests to the importance of this event in the city's past.
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Places outside the Community of Madrid that have events honoring San Isidro as their Patron Saint include:
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Tenerife, Canary Islands
Yecla, Murcia Province
Castalla, Alicante Province
Dueñas, Palencia Province
Medina de Pomar, Burgos Province
Alameda, Estepona and Nerja, Málaga Province
Bujalance and Cañete de las Torres, Córdoba Province
Alcadozo, Cenizate and Zulema, Albacete Province
Mazcuerras, Cantabria
Paterna del Campo, Huelva Province
Cañada Juncosa, Cuenca Province
Santa María del Páramo, León Province
Huétor-Tájar , Granada Province
La Lastrilla, Segovia Province
Villasequilla, ToledoProvince
Torreorgaz, Cáceres Province
and, of course, in the town of San Isidro, Almería Province.
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Chao amig@s,
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Carloz

Now, where did we put that sculpture? You know, the 34 ton one. Oh, nevermind, let's just get a new one!

Sometime in October of this year, Richard Serra's "Equal Parallel / Guernica Bengasi" will be back on display in Madrid's Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, according to new director, Manuel Borja-Villel. Except this time it will be an exact duplicate created by the artist for the museum, which somehow "misplaced" the original! This story goes back some years:
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The Reina Sofia commissioned the original sculpture in 1986 and it was delivered to the museum the next year. In 1990 it was stored in the warehouse of a company that specialized in storing large pieces of art. Tomás Llorens was the museum director at that time.

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In 2005 the next museum director, Ana Martinez de Aguilar, decided to retrieve the work, so that it could be put on display again. The only problem was that the storage company had gone bankrupt in 1998, and no one could account for the 34,473 kilo sculpture. According to a recent story in El País, the last written record of its still being in storage dates to 1992.

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Since the loss was discovered, police have searched for the the four 1.5 meter wide slabs of metal that make up the sculpture, but three years later the case remains unsolved. Some individuals have suggested that the work may have been sold as scrap or melted down by someone who did not recognize it as a work of art. (Having seen some of Richard Serra's work, I can understand how this would be possible.)
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Before resigning from the Reina Sofia last year, Ms. Martínez de Aguilar was able to get the sculptor to agree to create a copy for the museum at cost -- $99,000. (The museum paid about $220,000 for the original.) The agreement between the artist and museum stipulates that should the original be found, they will mutually decide which pieces will be destroyed, the originals or the duplicates, so that there will be only one work in existence.
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Oh, and Serra also made the museum promise that it wouldn't misplace this one.
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Hasta siempre amig@s,
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Carloz

Spain's Sunday News: Dalí, Photos, DNA, Music and Money, Money, Money, Money

Dalí Photos - El Pais announced today that Salvador Dalís former photographer and personal assistant, Robert Descharnes, is exhibiting 147 of the thousands of photos he took of Dalí and his muse, Gala, at the Municipal Museum of Cadaqués until January of next year. The photos focus on the Catalan artist's relationship with the coastal town and the nearby village of Port Lligat.

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The 83 year old French photographer said he is computerizing and cataloguing the more than 60,000 photographs that he took of Dalí and Gala over 40 years of friendship with the couple.

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Note: this photo (Dalí with ocelot) was not taken by Robert Descharnes, but by Roger Higgins.

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Dalí DNA - Descharnes revealed to El Pais that he has provided samples of Dalí's DNA to American scientific experts for the purpose of obtaining the genetic map of the surrealist icon. He apparently obtained the samples from the tubes inserted into Dalí's nose when the painter was last hospitalized. Descharnes claims that due to Dalí's genius a study of his DNA would contribute much to science.

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Test for buskers - Musicians now have to pass a test in order to perform in the Metro, Barcelona's subway system. El Pais reported that some 80 musicians auditioned yesterday before officials of the Street Musicians Association of Barcelona (Amuc BCN) and the Barcelona Transportation Metropolitan agency for permission to perform in Metro stations and trains. "The objective is to guarantee minimum standards," stated Hugo Guerrero, president of Amuc.

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Until now, permission to perform was given to anyone who registered with Amuc. Esther Ayala of TMB explained that the audition was organized because the previous system did not work well, which resulted in people who did not really know how to play or sing performing.

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Reportedly many of those who tried out yesterday were Latin-American guitarists and Eastern-European accordionists and the most were successful in their bids. "Between 85% and 90% were approved," according to Guerrero.

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Have you seen any 500 euro bills lying around? Apparently there are over 113 million of them in Spain, worth over 56,529 million euros, but they aren't seen very often. Spain's Tax Office has been has been investigating the situation for years, but to little avail. In fact, this past May a record number of 500 euro bills in circulation was reached, according to the Bank of Spain -- 64,3% of the total currency in Spain!

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Spaniards humorously refer to the bank notes as "Bin Ladens" because hardly anyone claims to have seen one. El Pais noted that over the past year the number of 200 euro notes in circulation has increased, too -- from 19 to 21 million.

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What do you think is going on?!