paral·lel - cccbcccb.org/rcs_gene/paral_lel_english.pdf · curatorship by xavier albertí and...
TRANSCRIPT
Exposició 2012
PARAL·LEL
CCCB EXHIBITION October 2012 - February 2013
Production: Collaboration:
PARAL·LEL Curatorship by Xavier Albertí and Eduard Molner A production from Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) With the collaboration of Institut del Teatre de Barcelona
Possibility of touring after its presentation in Barcelona.
An exhibition that will explain the emergence of the new
forms of spectacle as a consequence of the basic trans-
formations undergone by a city and a country in the first
40 years of the 20th century, until they were disrupted by
Francoism.
Josep Llovera Bufill
Avinguda Paral·lel was the centre of nightlife and
bohemia in the Barcelona of the early 20th-century.
Since the construction of the avenue, a series of con-
tradictory urban planning mechanisms prompted the
appearance of ephemeral buildings and the conversion
of this street into a busy area of spectacles.
The result was the appearance of an entertainment
district for the masses, comparable to those in other
built-up urban areas in the Europe of the time, but
quickly becoming a true cultural expression of the politi-
cal and social conflict that characterized the Barce-
lona of the period.
Paral·lel saw the creation of new forms of theatrical
expression based on two vital elements: the representa-
tion of the lifestyles of the city’s most popular areas and
of social transformations and their new codes of va-
lues; and the introduction of popular stage genres from
elsewhere and their “nationalization” to suit the new
audiences.
Paral·lel also became the most visible face of a deep-
seated change in the social perception of sex. This was
a change that affected Catalan society right across the
board and was related to levels of tolerance to the
breakdown of traditional morality.
It was also the venue for the manifestation of the ideo-
logies that moved working-class political and trade
union organizations. Republicanism, socialism and an-
archism spread throughout the city and often found a
meeting place in theatres, with rallies being held in the
mornings and shows in the afternoons and at night.
Rafael Barradas
Gleizes
Francis Picabia
Framcesc Domingo
Picasso
Isidre Nonell Emili Bosch Roger
Ricard Urgell
Manuel Humbert
Barradas
The exhibition sets out to illustrate the modernity of an
avenue that was a point of meeting and, at some points in
history, of collision, between the different social classes
that coexisted in the city and in the country as a whole.
The Paral·lel was the realm of the so-called “lesser
genres”, shows with small or large formats but
definitely popular in nature. These included the café-
concert and its spin-offs, cabaret and music hall, and
its big brother, the revue. There was also the theatre
of texts written specially for the theatres of Paral·lel:
vaudeville and social melodrama. Flamenco and zar-
zuela, the traditional Spanish operetta, were also well
represented. In addition, there was a range of parat-
heatrical arts, such as circus and varieties of all
kinds, often combined with the first cinematographic
screenings.
Music played a vital role in most of these show
genres, composed with a dramatic development to be
performed on a stage. The terraces of cafés along
Paral·lel also provided venues for shows. The terrace
of El Español hosted classical music concerts adap-
ted for small formations. Other cafés, too, devoted
their terraces to cuplés, popular songs, and flamenco.
Modernity in Paral·lel, seen as the experience of
change, had little to do with the “modernization” pro-
ject of the Catalan bourgeoisie. If, somewhere, the
ideal country, dreamt of, sought and projected from
above, met reality head on and smashed into a thou-
sand pieces, it was in Paral·lel.
Opisso
The exhibition comprises 14 sections that re-
count the avenue’s relation with the political and
social pulse of the city and the country: boundary,
urban planning failure, brothel city, links with the
Barrio Chino quarter and the influence of World
War I, concluding with a space entitled “Why didn’t
we know anything?” that invites visitors to unders-
tand the wealth and scope of a unique phenome-
non in the Europe of the time.
Other sections are devoted specifically to various
theatrical and musical genres: pantomime, circus,
magic, illusionism, café-concert, cabaret, cuplé
(popular songs), revue and variety shows, vaude-
ville, social drama, political theatre, zarzuela and
the real-life drama of District V.
Music, the stage, photography and the visual
arts are four of the fundamental elements in the
expository narrative. The exhibition brings to light
the viewpoints of artists who expressed their fas-
cination with a world given over to leisure and
spectacle: Picasso, Le Corbusier, Bosch Roger,
Picabia, Gleizes, Nonell, Opisso, Canals, Barra-
das, Francesc Domingo, Ricardo Urgell, Rafael
Smith, etc.
Project and Curatorship: Xavier Albertí, stage director, and Eduard Molner, journalist and cultural programmer Space Design: Emiliana Design Studio Dates at CCCB: 16 October 2012 - 24 February 2013 Space: 1.200 m2 Production: CCCB Collaboration: Institut del Teatre de Barcelona - Diputació de Barcelona Coordination at CCCB: Eva Gimeno [email protected]
Contact: Carlota Broggi Touring responsable - CCCB Montalegre 5 / 08001 Barcelona [email protected] Tel.: +34 93 306 41 00
Production: Collaboration: