Previous Page (News Index).Spain, December 28.
The district of Gracia, in the city of Barcelona, has traditionally been a confluence point of artists, and most specially of musicians. The nocturnal atmosphere of this area, between bohemian and noisy, has been compared to that of Paris or New York, also with regard to its avantgarde airs. Nowadays, a series of musicians, supported by videoartists, graphic designers, writers and other creative minds from different fields, have united to create a collective having a sufficient capacity of organization to turn this district into a hot point for the alternative musics. This initiative is certainly unusual and attractive, since it is aimed at providing the district with a personality clearly identified with experimental music, in the same way as other urban zones all over the world have a reputation (whether it is deserved or not) as points of a great activity in other areas, (as for instance Wall Street in the field of finance).
The activities have been initiated with the release of a CD sampler including pieces by experimental musicians residing in Gracia. One of the most important activities has been the organization of the II European Forum of Experimental Music, to be held in Barcelona in 1997. The first edition of this forum was held in the last month of October in Copenhaguen, organized by SKRAEP, an important group of Danish experimental musicians, and in it participated artists from 12 European countries. Another of the activities to be mentioned of the collective Gracia Territori Sonor is the creation in this area of a web of concert sites, constituted by bars, concert halls, theatres, art galleries and other facilities devoted to leisure or culture. The idea has prospered, and there already is a great deal of "improvised auditoriums" in the area.
The main artists that have promoted this project are: Victor Nubla and Juan Crek (members of the band Macromassa), Christian Kohn, Claudi Feliu, Elisabet Ferrer, Io casino, Isabel Torras, Joan Pous, Joan Ramón Guzmán, Julià Guillamon, Ramon Bigas, Sergi Dolade, Sergio Oca, Toni Serra and Xavier Isern. Different organizations and institutions have collaborated in the development of this project: The European Union, the Instituto de Cultura del Ayuntamiento de Barcelona (Institute of Culture of the Barcelona Town Hall), the Consorcio Catalán de Promoción Exterior de la Cultura, the Observatori Interarts, the Centre Artesa Tradicionarius (Tracidionarius Artisan Center), S.O.R.O.L.L., Associació de Músics de Jazz de Catalunya (Catalonian Association of Jazz Musicians), Arco y Flecha, La Línea, Cines Verdi, Sonostudi, La Ñola, Café del Sol, Mi Bar, Galpón Sur, Galería Metropolitana de Barcelona, Heliogabal, G3G, Liquid Records, La Taberna del Pirata, and the collective of artists Civilización.