Culture

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700th anniversary of Ramon Llull’s death to be commemorated in 2015

ACN / Loes Jacobs

This year the Catalan Government wants to highlight a number of important events and personalities and its goal is to promote them internationally. One of the most important figures is Catalan writer Ramon Llull, who died 700 years ago. Ramon Llull was an important writer rom Mallorca, who is credited with writing the first major work of Catalan literature. Furthermore, he was one of the greatest thinkers and writers of the Middle-Ages in Europe and North Africa. Catalonia’s institute for culture and language promotion abroad is named after him.

February 6, 2015 05:34 PM

Planeta President’s death mourned by Catalan and Spanish political, business and cultural circles

ACN

José Manuel Lara Bosch, President and partial owner of the Barcelona-based Grupo Planeta – the world’s largest publisher in Spanish language – died on Saturday in the Catalan capital aged 68, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. His funeral was held on Monday in Barcelona and it brought together top representatives from Catalonia’s and Spain’s political, business, media and cultural worlds. Grupo Planeta owns many publishing houses as well as TV channels, radio stations and newspapers. It also grants each year the biggest prize in Spanish literature. In the late 1960s, Lara Bosch started to hold top positions in the family’s publishing house Planeta, founded by his father. In the 1980s, he was behind the business’ expansion, buying many publishing houses. His brother’s early death in 1995 made him become the group’s ‘number 2’ after his father, who passed away in 2003. In the 1990s and 2000s, Bosch transformed Planeta into a multimedia giant.

February 2, 2015 09:20 PM

‘Rastres de Sàndal’, ‘10,000 km’ and ‘El Niño’ win the top Gaudí Awards in a ceremony full of surprises

Amélie Martínez / Clàudia C. Salellas

‘Rastres de Sàndal’ is named Best Film, ‘10,000 km’ obtains 5 awards and ‘El Niño’ fulfills part of its promise with 7 awards. ‘El Niño’, directed by Daniel Monzón, won the highest number of awards at last night’s Catalan Film Academy Awards, with seven, including for Best Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Music, Sound, Cinematography, Editing and Producer. The film ‘10,000 km’, directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet, surprised everyone by winning five awards including Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actor. However, Maria Ripoll’s movie ‘Rastres de Sàndal’ has been chosen as Best Film in Catalan language. This 7th edition of the Awards ceremony was also an opportunity to voice claims and complaints concerning the lack of financial help for Catalan cinema, and more widely for Catalan culture.

February 2, 2015 02:42 PM

‘El Niño’ and ‘Stella Cadente’ lead the race for the Gaudí Awards, the Catalan ‘Oscars’

Marta Castillo / Georgina Garriga

Catalan cinema is getting ready for the 7th edition of its annual ‘Oscars’ ceremony, the Gaudí Awards. The event, organised by the Catalan Film Academy, will take place next Sunday at the Sant Jordi Club in Barcelona and will be hosted by the Catalan actor and theatre director Àngel Llàcer. ‘El Niño’, the Catalan co-production directed by Daniel Monzón, and ‘Stella Cadente’, directed by Luis Miñarro, compete in the Best Director, Best Film and Best Script categories with 15 and 13 nominations, respectively. They are followed by the horror film ‘[REC]4: Apocalipsis’, with nine nominations, together with ‘10,000km’ and ‘Rastres de Sàndal’, with eight nominations each.  

January 31, 2015 07:34 PM

BCNegra 2015 crime book festival welcomes bestsellers Sue Grafton, Anne Perry and Philip Kerr

ACN / Marina Force Castells

The crime literary festival BCNegra will celebrate its 10th anniversary in Barcelona from 29th January to 7th February with distinguished authors, such as the British and American thriller writers Anne Perry and Sue Grafton, as well as the Scottish author Philip Kerr. This year’s edition, with a 40% increase in its budget, which rises to €140,000, will be held for the first time at the Liceu Conservatory and will offer more than 50 activities. The event will gather together almost 70 renowned writers from all around the world and will award the Spanish crime fiction author, Alicia Giménez Bartlett, with the 10th Pepe Carvalho Prize, named after the famous detective created by Barcelona-born Manuel Vázquez Montalbán. 

January 28, 2015 05:14 PM

Empúries ancient Greek ruins on the Costa Brava to be upgraded

ACN / Wayne O’Connor

A site known as the home of the best ancient Greek ruins outside of Greece is to be upgraded to improve access for visitors. The ruins were originally built in 575BC and work to develop the site has been ongoing for more than 20 years. The 2,500-year-old Empúries site on the Costa Brava will now host parking and leisure facilities after a deal was struck between the Catalan Ministry of Culture and L’Escala’s Town Hall. Cars will now be removed from the site and facilitated at a new 532 space carpark with more efficient traffic management. The new agreement also allows for the construction of a new recreational area and a drop-off point for buses and coaches. 

January 27, 2015 10:05 PM

Isabel Coixet to open 65th Berlin Film Festival with 'Nobody Wants the Night'

Nisse Laiho-Murdoch

The Catalan film director Isabel Coixet, most known for her internationally proclaimed films ‘My Life Without You’ (2003) and ‘The Secret Life of Words’ (2005), has been selected to open this year’s upcoming Berlin International Film Festival with her newest work ‘Nobody Wants the Night’. The film, inspired by true events, has been and adapted to the screen by writer Miguel Barros. It is set in early 20th century Iceland and tells the inspiring tale of two women who risked their lives for the polar adventurer Robert Peary.

January 26, 2015 12:31 PM

Dancer and choreographer Cesc Gelabert creates show with best FC Barcelona moves

ACN / Marta Castillo

Cesc Gelabert, a dancer and choreographer from Barcelona, premieres Foot-Ball on 22 January at the National Theatre of Catalonia. This show features seven dancers including Gelabert who express the way FC Barcelona play on stage. Foot-ball features costume by Lydia Azzopardi and audiovisual creations by Jordi Morató. The choreography will be a dialogue with these audiovisuals that will show the best moments from the Barça of Frank Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova. Gelabert wants to honour his club with this performance. “Barça's football is particularly aesthetic and choreographic because it is based on combinations and not on force”, he said. 

January 22, 2015 12:07 AM

Top Catalan actress Núria Espert plays King Lear in its adaptation at Barcelona’s Teatre Lliure

ACN / Georgina Garriga

Núria Espert, one of the most international and widely recognised theatre actresses in Catalonia, has taken on the role of Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’ at the age of 79. This challenging project also means her return to the Catalan theatre scene after spending the last few years working on the Spanish stage. Lluís Pascual, the Director of the Catalan theatrical adaptation, justified the decision, stating “the best candidate to play King Lear was an actress, not an actor”. This Catalan version of ‘King Lear’ will be running until February 25th at the Teatre Lliure in Barcelona.

January 19, 2015 07:55 PM

Dalí war painting purchased and exhibited by Figueres museum

ACN

The Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, which runs the surrealist genius’ museum in Figueres (near Catalonia’s Costa Brava and the French border), has purchased ‘Violetes imperials’ (‘Imperial violets’) from a private collector. The piece from 1938 is a dark creation, painted during Spain’s Civil War and just before the start of the Second World War. It will be on display at the museum from Tuesday onwards. The painting, the price of which has not been disclosed, belongs to the Catalan artist’s surrealist period, but does not employ the colours regularly used by Dalí. Nonetheless, ‘Violetes imperials’ does depict some of the symbols used by one of the world’s most important artists of the 20th century. 

January 12, 2015 09:31 PM

‘El Niño’, hot favourite to win at the Gaudí Awards, the Catalan Oscars

ACN

The Academy of Catalan Cinema has released the nominees for the 7 Gaudí Awards, the main annual prizes recognising Catalan motion film productions. ‘El Niño’, by Daniel Monzón, tops the ranking with 15 nominations, including Best Non-Catalan Language Film, Best Director and Best Script. However, the movie is nominated twice in two categories (Best Actor and Best Secondary Actor), so it could only win 13 awards at the most. It is followed by ‘Stella Cadente’, with 13 nominations; ‘[REC] 4: Apocalipsis’ with 9; and ’10,000 KM’ and ‘Rastres de Sándal’, both of which have received 8 nominations. The 4 nominees for Best European Film are ‘Ida’ by Pawel Pawlikowski (Poland); ‘La grande bellezza’ by Paolo Sorrentino (Italy); ‘La isla mínima’ by Alberto Rodríguez (Spain); and ‘Magical Girl’ by Carlos Vermut (Spain). The awards ceremony will take place in Barcelona on 1 February.

December 30, 2014 10:51 PM

Soprano Montserrat Caballé avoids trial for tax fraud with a €240,000 fine

ACN

The world famous opera singer Montserrat Caballé reached on Tuesday a prejudicial agreement to avoid trial for tax fraud committed in 2010. The Catalan soprano, aged 81, admitted that her fiscal residence was not set in the fiscal haven of Andorra that year and therefore had evaded paying taxes to the Spanish authorities. Caballé, who is considered one of the greatest sopranos ever by both critics and fans alike, accepted the Public Prosecution’s petition of a 6-month jail sentence and a €240,000 fine, which corresponds to almost half of the evaded money. Since the jail sentence is shorter than 2 years and Caballé has no criminal record, she will not have to be imprisoned. The fine is to be added to the €508,000 she already deposited in the spring to compensate the Spanish Tax Agency. On top of this, she will still have to pay €75,000, corresponding to the interest on the money evaded.

December 23, 2014 07:46 PM

Barcelona Design Museum opens with a 70,000 collection bringing together 4 museums

ACN

The Design Museum of Barcelona will open on December 14 and showcase the diversity of its collections and their origins, across 4 permanent exhibitions. The new centre, located within the DUHB building, will have a total collection of 70,000 items, coming from the previously existing Museum of Decorative Arts, the Ceramics Museum, the Textile Museum and the Cabinet of Graphic Arts. The aim of the new museum will be to "rediscover" the collections through a discourse that covers decorative and traditional arts, through industrial design, all the way to contemporary poster and graphic design. The DHUB is located in Glòries Square, in an area of Barcelona once known for its industry, but that has been recently opened up through extensive development and investment. According the Mayor of the city, Xavier Trias, the new museum "will reinforce the position of the square as an economic, social and cultural epicentre".

December 12, 2014 09:20 PM

Retrospective exhibition on one of the greatest Catalan Art-Nouveau’s sculptors: Josep Llimona

ACN

To mark the 150 years since the birth of Catalan sculptor Josep Llimona, the European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM), in Barcelona, is hosting an exhibition of over 60 pieces of his work. The curator, Natàlia Esquinas emphasised that Llimona was the most important Catalan sculptor around 1900 and 2014 marks 150 years since his birth, and 80 since his death, making it the perfect time to host such an exhibition. Speaking to the CNA, Esquinas said that the exhibition was "to rediscover him and see all his work, beyond ‘Desconsol’ (‘Desolation’ in Catalan) his great masterpiece." It will be the most important retrospective of Llimona’s work, featuring some unpublished pieces. The exhibition opens on Wednesday and will run until 1 March 2015. 

December 3, 2014 11:13 PM

'Two days, one night,' 'The great beauty,' 'Nymphomaniac' and 'La isla mínima' nominated for Gaudí Best European Film

ACN

The Catalan Film Academy has announced the 10 European films to be candidates for the 7th Gaudí Awards, the main cinema competition in Catalonia. Among others, these include: 'Deux jours, une nuit' ('Two days, one night'), written and directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne; 'La grande belleza' ('The great beauty'), directed by Paolo Sorrentino; 'La Vénus à fourrure' ('Venus in Furs'), by Roman Polanski; 'Nymphomaniac: Vol. I and Vol. II', written and directed by Lars von Trier; and, the Spanish 'La isla mínima', directed by Alberto Rodríguez. The award ceremony will take place in Barcelona at the end of January. The nominations were selected by a committee appointed by the Board of the Catalan Film Academy.

November 27, 2014 10:18 PM

Read the latest updates and breaking news on culture and cultural topics from Barcelona and Catalonia. Keep up to date with the city’s museums dedicated to some of the biggest artists in the world such as Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, and Antoni Tàpies, as well as other institutions such as the National Art Museum (MNAC), the Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona (MACBA), and exhibition spaces like the Contemporary Culture Center of Barcelona (CCCB), CiaxaForum, and CosmoCaixa.