Very concerned about the presumed cultural decline of Barcelona, I try not to fall into the traps spread by local propaganda. Today I will not focus on the bookish explosion of Sant Jordi and I will look the other way with indifference when they point out to me that it is only the tip of the iceberg of a publishing industry that invoices more than 2.5 billion euros and which is already mentioned in Don Quixote.
They also try to deceive me by brandishing two of the main music festivals in the world, Sónar and Primavera Sound, or a concert line-up that this year includes Bob Dylan, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Coldplay, Harry Styles… Another act of propaganda that I attended was Bach’s Mass in B minor directed by John Eliot Gardiner at the Palau de la Música, which will be followed by batons such as Dudamel, Pappano or Pinnock.
Everything seems to conspire to make us believe that we have a high-level cultural offer. Walking down the street these days you can find Wim Wenders, who is participating in the popular BCN Film Fest (next week, Susan Sarandon). The theatrical calendar offers gems such as L’oreneta by Guillem Clua, El temps i les Conway directed by Àngel Llàcer or L’alegria que passa by Dagoll Dagom, in an environment where the quality of private theater is comparable to that of the public.
In exhibitions – as in the cinema – it is easier, on bad days, to be overcome by discouragement due to the sick comparison with the great European capitals (apparently it is a secondary detail that we have a much smaller population than Paris , London or Madrid), but the exhibition on the dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler at the Picasso Museum is one of those that alone justifies a trip to the city.
Miquel Iceta pointed out on Friday, in his talk with Miquel Molina at Tribuna Barcelona, that we should ask more strongly for works from the Prado to come. I would go further: not only the fund, but the temporary ones, like the current one about Guido Reni.
In any case, against the optimists, those who prefer to cry will always have an advantage: they will find many places to applaud them and leave them a tissue.
