Joan Miró: The ladder of escape

Renowned as one of the greatest Surrealist painters, filling his paintings with luxuriant colour, Joan Miró worked in a rich variety of styles. This is a rare opportunity to enjoy more than 150 paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints from moments across the six decades of his extraordinary career. This exhibition is co-organised by Tate Modern and Fundació Joan Miró.

The exhibition also traces an anxious and politically engaged side to Miró’s work that reflects his passionate response to one of the most turbulent periods in European history. Working in Barcelona and Paris, Miró tracked the mood of the Spanish Civil War and the first months of the Second World War in France. It also shows that, behind the engaging innocence of his imagery, lies a profound concern for humanity and a sense of personal and Catalan national identity. Extraordinary works from different moments of his career celebrate his roots in his native Catalonia.

Fundació Joan Miró is located at Montjuic, accesible by Funicular from Parallel station, just in front of Hotel Barcelona Universal. You can reach Fundació Joan Miró also from Plaza Espanya, by bus line 50, stopping next to B-Hotel.

More information can be found at Fundació Joan Miró website.

Sitges 2011: International Fantasy Film Festival

A grand total of 270 films make up the festival, which this year is aiming to boost its section structure, which has helped to enable every type of audience to find their own space. Spaces that are opening to family audiences this year with the Sitges Family seal.

One of its most popular side-activities, The Jack Daniel’s SITGES Zombie Walk 2011 will be held on October 14th, beginning at 20:30h at the Miramar Building. Following the Zombie Walk there will be a free night party on the beach.

SITGES International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia is the number one fantasy film festival in the world and represents, at the same time, the cultural expression with the most media impact in Catalonia. With a solid experience, the Sitges Festival is a stimulating universe of encounters, exhibitions, presentations and screenings of fantasy films from all over the world.

Born in 1968 as the 1st International Week of Fantasy and Horror Movies, today the Festival is an essential rendezvous for movie lovers and audiences eager to come into contact with new tendencies and technologies applied to film and the audiovisual world.

Argentina to Barcelona fair

For a few days, Port Vell will become a scale version of Argentina, offering visitors a tour through the country’s main attractions in terms of culture, gastronomy, fashion, commerce, sport and tourism.

This is the aim behind the “Argentina to Barcelona” fair running from 2 to 11 September as part of events leading up to Catalonia National Day, bringing a Latin flavour to the heart of the city.

The flavours of Argentina will be your signposts along the route, with no shortage of the famous alfajores, the delicious dulce de leche, a good hearty asado and the very best range of mates to try. Also on display at Port Vell will be a selection of works by the best Argentine creators in leather and hide, as well as crafts and jewellery.

Another of the fair’s main events during opening hours, which run from 11:00 to 23:00, are the live performances. Every day, at 12:00, 18:00 and 20:00, visitors will be entertained by a set of traditional Argentine dances in various styles and from a range of periods.

Are you tempted to fly away to Argentina?

And if you’re thinking of travelling to Argentina, you’ll also find tourism packages and all kinds of information about tours, cities and the countryside that you can’t afford to miss.

Hyperphotos: A fantastical Barcelona

Sagrada Família, Palau de la Música, Pedrera and the Cathedral are the most photographed monuments in the city, but through the lens of the French artist Jean-François Rauzier they are transformed into magical and mysterious places.

Rauzier uses a technique based on creating a collage from various instant snapshots to create these hyperphotos, thirty of which are included in the exhibition Voyages Extraordinaires Barcelona, at the Diocesan Museum of Barcelona. There you will discover a fantastical and surprising city.

Rauzier is the creator of  hyperphoto, whereby you can cope with the impossible: combine the infinitely large with the infinitely small in an image outside of time. Using a technique that involves creating an image using a collage of more than 800 photos.

Barcelona Fashion Showcase

The city’s main fashion events coincide once again. The Brandery fashion show, which takes place from 13 to 15 July, features an area open to the general public among its new features. The 080 Barcelona Fashion catwalk, from 12 to 15 July, is being held at historical site of the Barcelona University, while the ModaFad parade and market will be on from 14 to 15 July.

While The Brandery, an urban fashion fair designed to show off the latest trends from the big brands, is organising a competition for new talent, the 080 Barcelona Fashion catwalk, an indie fashion platform, is letting in big names.

The Brandery is the new hotspot of urban fashion, a hub of trends, design, music, creativity and business. Exhibitions, catwalk shows, live music… all under the same roof which, for the first time this year, will have a new sector open to the general public: The Brandtown Fashion Xperience, which will coexist with the traditional The Brandery trade show.Such apparent contradictions share the same spirit, that of putting Barcelona on the fashion map, publicising successful businesses and introducing up-and-coming designers.

Creativity and innovation are the concepts that inspire 080 Barcelona Fashion, an initiative driven by the Catalan Government, as an open, plural multidisciplinary, international fashion platform.

This July at least sees these two events coinciding with the ModaFad events and activities once again to provide a highly unique fashion week. And B-Hotel features Fitting Room, an event where design, fashion and arts come together.

The ModaFAD activity consists of the international showing of emerging fashion designers to boost the interdisciplinary, drive the concept of the designer and promoted, and encourage the relationship between the design schools, the young designers, the specialized modes of communication, and the industry.

Detailed information can be found on each event website:

• The Brandery
• 080 Barcelona Fashion
• ModaFAD
• Fitting Room at B-Hotel

Sant Joan, the Night of Fire

The evening of June 23rd is the Eve of Fire before the Feast Day of St John the Baptist. Revetlla de Sant Joan is the Catalan name for this Eve.

In Barcelona and related Mediterranean areas, ancient pre-Christian traditions related to fire festivities are still among the most popular. Bonfires are lit in the streets or on the sand of the beaches, the rituals are jumping over the fire, touch the water that is blessed in the night or asking for some wishes, and there are fireworks too. Special meals are also served on this occasion. Coca de Sant Joan, a traditional Catalan pastry, can be found on every table.

Both if you are plannig to go to the beach, or staying in one of our terraces in Barcelona, make sure to enjoy this magical Eve and be ready for firecrackers and fireworks all night long.

SonarKids: Creative Music & Experiences for children

After the success of the last two events, the 3rd SonarKids on Sunday 19 June isthe ideal finishing touch to Sónar 2011 to enjoy with all the family. SonarKids has a great deal of activities and creative experiences designed for parents and children to have fun and learn about different artistic disciplines by playing in a new and original way.

SonarKids presents a musical line-up fulll of top drawer shows, with performances by the Portuguese group Buraka Som Sistema, the renowned British dj and BBC Radio 1 presenter Gilles Peterson, the kiddie pop group Papa Topo, the indie pop group Polock, the stories sung by Barbara i Els Morenos, DJ Amarelo and the wizardry on the decks of the Pioneer Dj Kids.

The fun characters of Pintatelotu are the stars of the new SonarKids image. Pintatelotu offers children the opportunity to have fun and learn while they are playing and colouring in their gallery of characters. Are they monsters? aliens? animals?

More inf@: SonarKids website

German Film Week in Barcelona

From june 6th to 9th, the Comèdia Cinema at Passeig de Gràcia, next to our historical Hotel Granvia, will be the venue for German Film Week, as the closing act for the German-Spain exchange event (being held on 4 and 5 June) which will bring a selection of five films from the 13th Madrid German Film Festival.

Among the films being screened we will be able to see Schlafkrankheit [Sleeping Sickness] by Ulrich Kölher, winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival, and the latest film by Chris Kraus, Poll. Kraus will also be in attendance at the festival, holding a post-film discussion.

Making up the rest of the programme we have historical films, films on contemporary issues and films set both inside and outside of Germany. Organised by the Goethe Institut Barcelona, this activity is one of the German Week in Barcelona, starting on June 3rd, where Open Air Cinema and performances of dance, live music and light installations, discussions, and stands on central issues of our future, children’s theater and culinary products from Germany will be shown. For three days, Passeig de Lluis Companys in Barcelona, becomes a journey of stands, stages and tents.

More inf@: Goethe Institut Barcelona.

Frederic Marès Museum reopens

The Museu Frederic Marès is a unique collecting museum that preserves the collections assembled by its founder, sculptor Frederic Marès (1893-1991) in a part of the old Royal Palace of the Counts of Barcelona in the heart of the Gothic Quarter. Its original Verger or courtyard garden, still remains intact.

Throughout his lifetime he amassed an extensive Hispanic sculpture collection, as well as tens of thousands of objects that make up a vast collection of collections that documents past lifestyles and customs, mainly from the 19th century. There you can find amusing, unique items like fans, pipes, clocks, jewellery, photographs, toys, keys, pharmacy bottles and reliquaries, all presented in an intimate atmosphere.

The Verger of the Royal Palace is a courtyard filled with orange trees surrounded by arched galleries, a pleasant spot in fine weather; and its open from April to September, both for museum visitors and promenaders.

Frederic Marès i Deulovol (Portbou, 1893 – Barcelona, 1991) came to Barcelona with his family in 1903, when he was ten years old. He immediately started attending classes at the School of Fine Arts, La Llotja, where he received training as a sculptor, and where he would later work as a teacher until 1964.

However, in addition to being a sculptor, Marès also felt a passion for collecting from a tender age. He discovered the world of antiquarians and auctions in Paris back in 1911 and purchased his first collections. He gradually expanded them and gathered them in his sculpture workshop and at his home until in 1944 the Association of Friends of Catalan Museums held an exhibition with a selection from his collection at the City History Archive, and he publicly expressed his determination to donate his collection to the city.

More inf@: Museu Frederic Marès.

Barcelona Sports Film Festival

The Barcelona Sports Film Festival, the only sports-themed cinema and TV festival in Spain, is set to take place in Barcelona between 17 and 21 May. Any audiovisual production with a sports theme can compete, whether it is an animated film, documentary, report, fiction film, promotional or advertising video.

Films will be screened at six different venues:

• Museu Olímpic i de l’Esport Joan Antoni Samaranch
• Centre Excursionista de Catalunya
• Sala d’Àmbit Cultural El Corte Inglés
• Ateneu Barcelonès
• CaixaFòrum
• Filmoteca de Catalunya

Apart from the film sessions the festival includes a whole series of parallel activities that aim to illustrate that sport is a sphere of activity capable of entering into a symbiotic relationship with art, philosophy and innovation.

More inf@: BCN Sports Film Festival

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