Hello
there!
How was
your day? It’s Monday but in Barcelona it’s a free day so we’ll
be enjoying a short week of work which for working families it’s a
bless.
On
Saturday, Barcelona had a lot of events going on but there were two
major ones I went to: Radical Market and La Nit dels Museus (Night of
Museums).
Amazing view of MNAC
What
are those? You may be asking.
Well to
begin with, the Radical Market is a pretty new event that’s held in
La Fira de Barcelona, one of the biggest spaces in the city where,
for example, the Mobile World Congress happens so you can imagine how
massive that place is. This market is meant to give major discounts
on top brands like Levi’s, Pepe Jeans, Tommy Hilfiger, Adidas or
Calvin Klein among others.
Now
here’s my opinion. There were a lot of stands, yes, but all of them
had very off season products from maybe four or five seasons ago. The
prices were not as incredible as they said they would be and although
it was meant to be more of a fashion discount event, the most
interesting stores for me were the kitchen related stands which was a
bit weird to find in there, actually.
I’m
not saying that it was completely an awful experience but I guess I
was expecting quite a lot more. If you ever come to Barcelona and you
would like to go to a high end brand outlet I highly recommend having
a trip to La Roca Village. It’s a beautiful place where you can
find tons of good quality brands with good discounts and even better
ambiance.
La Roca Village
Now,
let’s move into the other event: La Nit dels Museus.
This
has been happening in Barcelona and Madrid for the past three years
and it has gotten bigger and bigger and audiences keep growing. On
this night, a lot of museums from the city keep opened until 1 a.m.
and have free entrance and special events going on. It’s great
opportunity to get out and visit Barcelona from a different
perspective!
First,
I visited the Mies Van der Rohe pavilion and foundation where
contemporary students from the Superior Degree of Dance from the
Barcelona Conservatoire were doing a small performance and I must say
that it was really incredible.
The
space it’s already beautiful and I always thought of doing either a
video project or a photo shoot there and I’m still thinking of it!
But, watching a live performance was even better. There were a lot of
people so sadly I missed some parts but one of them really caught my
eye.
Mies Van der Rohe pavilion
There’s
a small lake full of stones in the space and three dancers went in at
first. They were wearing skin colored leotards, as if they were naked
and the image was so delicate yet also a bit aggressive. It seemed as
if they wanted to talk to each other inside a bubble and that bubble
was formed by the lake they were in. It was really nice to see them
moving together while doing some contact improvisation dancing.
A
second piece was made against one of the exterior walls. They were
two dancers, a female and a male, dressed with a white shirt and
black pants. They used the wall as the main focus to dance in and
they also made some partnering dance. It was interesting the contrast
of austerity from the building but their movements were quite fluid
although still precise. The given picture was very interesting and it
really made you see the full pavilion in a different way.
Afterwards
we decided to head to another museum, this time to visit its
collection.
Last
year I could go as well and we visited the Music Museum but this year
we decided to visit the Nacional Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) which
is situated in Montjuïc, one of the highest parts of the city and
gets one of the best panoramic views from it.
Panoramic view from the museum door
This is
one of the places I’ve been more times to but every time I find
still another place or piece that surprises me from the whole
building. We had a walk through the temporary exhibition of Arts and
Crafts movement that had the main focus on the artist William Morris
and we also decided to have a look to a permanent exhibition. This
time they were reopening the Renaissance and Baroque collection and
although it’s not my favorite art period due to the incredible
amount of religious art work, I still found portraits and still
nature that captivated my eye. It’s incredible how much an art work
can bring to a human no matter if he’s the spectator or the artist.
Renaissance and Baroque collection
We also
went to watch our all time favorite sculpture: «Desconsol» from
Josep Llimona. It’s just wonderful. The combination of delicacy on
the treatment of the material and the dramatic pose that gives the
piece so much strength is truly mesmerizing.
"Desconsol" by Josep Llimona
When
our visit was finished, we decided to walk down to get the car and
ride back home. While watching the impressive view of Barcelona, the
magic fountain of Montjuïc started its show and it couldn’t be
more perfect. The music was on and the water was in a way dancing to
its rhythm. People were just as impressed as I was, although I’ve
seen it many times.
Magic Fountain show
It was
a beautiful evening and although it got me quite tired, I would
repeat it a thousand times because every single time it’s more
special, unique and inspiring than the last one.
My parents and I
I hope
you enjoyed this post as much as I did and that you could feel a bit
the magic of this night as well. You’ll be having a second post
today and even a third one later this evening so stay tuned!
Love,
Muriel
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