Free activities in Barcelona during summer!

Whatever you’re into, you can enjoy summer to the full in Barcelona! Even if you’re on a budget, there are many free activities this August.

Outdoor cinema buffs can head to the CCCB in the Raval for the annual “Gandules” cycle, which this year complements the contemporary culture centre’s intriguing exhibition on labyrinths.

Films such as Jean-Luc Godard’s Alphaville or David Lynch’s Lost Highway are screened from Tuesday to Thursday at 10pm. Get there early to grab a sandwich and a seat.

For the ideal combination of art and air conditioning, check out one of the many free exhibition centres in town. They include the Caja Madrid Espai Cultural in Plaça Catalunya, Gaudi’s Pedrera, and Palau Robert on Passeig de Gràcia, which takes you on a tour of the Mediterranean. Caixa Forum on Montjuic explores the work of internationally renowned Majorcan artist Miquel Barceló.

What’s more, other museums and galleries waive their entry charge on Sunday afternoons, including the Picasso and the nearby Design museums in the Born, or the CCCB and the Virreina photography space in the centre.

For those that prefer to be outdoors, the many lovely parks in the city offer a shady haven from the heat, and a very special experience at night, set the scene for free concerts in classical music, jazz and sarsuela.

And if you’re in party spirits don’t miss the lively and colourful street celebrations in Gràcia, in the third week of August, and Sants in the last week, with their extravagant street decorations and live bands in the evenings.

World Press Cartoon in Barcelona. The finest graphic humour.

The original drawings of the 400 finest cartoons published in 2008 in the press across the world is exhibited at the Palau Robert in Barcelona. This annual exhibition shall be shown for the first time in Catalonia and may be visited until 27 September, just after the Mercè holiday.

The objective of  World Press Cartoon (WPC) is to make known and distinguish the best-produced and published works in newspapers and magazines from all over the world. Year after year, since 2005, more and more professionals in the sector have taken part and demonstrated the vitality and success of the initiative.

Despite being a quintessential journalistic genre, the specialised field of cartoons and caricatures, as well as the professionals dedicated to it, have traditionally been given little recognition, and have even been scorned upon. The WPC, inspired by the prestigious World Press Photo, was created precisely to afford recognition to caricaturists and cartoonists, who have been in the shadows for too long.

In the contest held in Sintra, the Mexican draughtsman Rogelio Naranjo received the Grand Prix and the first prize in the category of Editorial Cartoon for his drawing In the same ship, published in the Mexican newspaper Universal on 17 September 2008. In the category of Caricature, the Portuguese André Carrilho won the award for Ahmadinejad, and in the Gag Cartoon category, the Cuban Osmani Simanca received the award for Punk Fish. The Spaniard Javier Carbajo received second prize in the Caricature category for his drawing published in the Barcelona magazine El jueves.

Palau Robert: Passeig de Gràcia, 107 | 08008 Barcelona
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday: 10 am to 7 pm | Sunday: 10 am to 2.30 pm

NN Hotels: www.nnhotels.com

The Art of Deception – Cinema Exhibition in Barcelona

The cinema’s special effects industry and its evolution over the course of history constitute the core of the exhibition “The Art of Deception”, which opened its doors to the public on 20 May 2009 at Barcelona’s Palau Robert with the support of CAM (Caja Mediterráneo). The exhibition will be open to the public until 30 August 2009. Just like the cinema, visitors shall be warned that “some viewers may find the content disturbing” and may not be suitable for those under 13 years of age.

The Palau Robert exhibition seeks to bring the magic of the cinema, “the art” concealed behind photograms, within the reach of visitors. In the first part of the exhibition, visitors can behold the work carried out by the great masters of non-digital special effects at various stages in the history of cinema. Featured are names such as Willis O’Brien and King Kong (1933); Ray Harryhausen and Jason and the Argonauts (1963), and Stan Winston and The Terminator (1984), as well as small-scale reproductions of the characters.

The second part reveals the craftsmanship facet of this discipline, based on the stop-motion technique, that is to say, a frame-by-frame animation technique. Finally, a third section outlines the work undertaken by David Martí and Montse Ribé and their team at DDT Efectos Especiales. Specialised in prosthetic make-up and design, the studio has gained international recognition having garnered Oscar and Goya awards, among others. Some thirty pieces shall be on display, including figures and monsters from various films, prosthetic make-up and animatronics, as well as short videos illustrating the production process. Also to be exhibited are characters from the Guillermo del Toro film Pan’s Labyrinth, including the Pale Man and the head and torso of the faun.

Palau Robert: Passeig de Gràcia, 107 08008 Barcelona
Opening hours -> Monday to Saturday: 10 am to 7 pm.  Sunday: 10 am to 2.30 pm

NN Hotels: www.nnhotels.com