Catalan culture performances in over 10 countries this summer

With the support of the Ramon Llull Institute, creators from different artistic disciplines will participate in 13 cultural events in ten countries, including the United States, Canada, Tunisia, Egypt, and various European countries. Manuel Forcano, director of the Ramon Llull Institute, explained that there will be broad participation from a variety of Catalan companies in a range of cultural activities, such as the Dutch festival Spoffin, where 8 drama companies will act, making up 80% of the program.

Highlights of the summer include singer Maria del Mar Bonet’s performances in Tunisia and Egypt to celebrate her 50 years on stage, as well as the 50th anniversary of the Fantastic Film Festival (the focus of the Étrange Festival in Paris), and the international tour of the Barcelona Municipal Band, which will perform in the Dutch cities of Kerkrade and Utrecht.

During the presentation of the Ramon Llull Institute’s international summer festival on Tuesday, the director of the Area of Creation, Marta Oliveres, emphasized the exciting mix of dance, circus, music, and theater. She also highlighted the efforts made so far, and that they must be intensified in order to establish long-term relations and continuity around the world.

According to the director of the institute, Ramon Forcano, most of the requests for Catalan artists come from the Northern Hemisphere, where the demand for Catalan culture is well established. However, there will be also events in the north of Africa and Middle Eastern countries, such as Israel.  

Another of much-anticipated performance is the 50th anniversary celebration of the Sitges Film Festival at The Étrange Festival in Paris, which will screen a selection of Catalan fantasy films. The Parisian festival, in collaboration with the Ramon Llull Institute, is in charge of commissioning the project. The Parisian festival will present a selection of films that have marked the festival’s history, from classic titles to new releases. Oliveres, the director of the Area of Creation, also highlighted the first international tour by the Municipal Band of Barcelona since 1929. The band will perform in the Dutch cities of Kerkrade and Ultrecht, at the WMC festival and the WASBE Conference respectively. The band from Barcelona will showcase a repertoire of Catalan composers and music.

Catalan culture will also travel to Canada, in this instance via the electronic music festival MUTEK in Montreal, which has been one of Barcelona’s twin cities for over 30 years. During this festival, there will be four events dedicated to four different cities from around the world: London, Mexico City, Berlin, and Barcelona. Several artists from Barcelona’s avant-garde music scene will participate.

Holland will be once again be the stage for many Catalan companies, eight of which will take part in the Spoffin festival, which will dedicate a complete section of its programming to Catalan culture. Moreover, four Catalan companies will take part in the Freedom Festival in Hull, England and Catalan movie selections will be presented in Scottish cities Edinburgh and Glasgow, where, for the second consecutive year, they will receive special recognition.

Another outstanding item on the agenda is the participation of the company Imaginart in an international festival of puppets in Israel. In total, they will do 12 performances over 10 days in Jerusalem. This is one of the projects that the Ramon Llull Institute intends to pay special attention to in the future.