Shanghai to welcome icons of Catalan culture in 30 major events

Barcelona (CNA).- Catalan culture will arrive in Shanghai and will be represented in the Chinese city from the 1^st to the 8^th of November. ‘Barcelona Catalonia Culture Week’ will include traditional human towers, ‘Castellers’, that will be displayed all around the city and a 3D exhibition on Antoni Gaudí’s architecture. Other events, such as live music and food exhibitions will complete the programme, composed of 30 different events. According to the President of ‘Casal Català de Xangai’ (the Catalan Society in Shanghai), Alexis Roig, the initiative “will project Barcelona and Catalonia as innovative places” to the Chinese audience. ‘Barcelona Catalonia Culture Week’ will commemorate a double celebration; the 10^th anniversary of the ‘Casal Català de Xangai’ and 15 years since the twinning of Barcelona and Shanghai. All the activities on the programme will be “open and for free” stated Roig, and overall more than half a million are expected to attend the activities. 

According to the representative of the Chinese Consulate, Tang Lingyun, “this set of activities will strengthen the cultural exchange between two cities” that are now at a “key point in their relationship”. The initiative is led by Chinese citizens and arrives in the same year that the ‘Casal Català de Xangai’ celebrates its 10^th anniversary and 15 years since Barcelona and Shanghai’s twinning. The exhibition is set to be “an example of Catalan culture’s projection around the world”, representative of the Catalan Government, Pilar Pérez, explained.

With a 350,000 euros budget, the ‘Casal Català de Xangai’ expects that ‘Barcelona Catalonia Culture Week’ will display key aspects and the more popular assets of Catalan culture in a deep and innovative way.

International symbols

More than 30 activities are programmed; from live music to food exhibitions, but one of the main attractions is the participation of the ‘Castellers de Vilafranca’. More than 200 people from this group of ‘Castellers’, one of the most popular in Catalonia, will display the traditional human towers all around the city.

 

Art is another of the central axes of ‘Barcelona Catalonia Culture Week’. Two internationally renowned figures of Catalan art, surrealist painter Salvador Dalí and modernist architect Antoni Gaudí, will be at the core of the exhibitions. ‘Dalí and media’ will offer a retrospective of the peculiar relationship between the painter and the mass media through more than 200 works. ‘Discovering Gaudí 3D’ will show the most iconic buildings of the Catalan architect using 3D technology.      

Barcelona and Catalonia as “business and investment destinations”

There is also room for innovation and economic promotion in ‘Barcelona Catalonia Culture Week’. Conferences to present Catalan projects which are international examples in terms of technological and social innovation will be held during the show. Platforms ‘Catalonia Trade and Investment’ and ‘Barcelona Activa’ will organise several meetings with Chinese companies to “present Barcelona and Catalonia as a business and investment destination”, Alexis Roig stated.

Live Music

‘La Màlaga’ and ‘AupaQuartet’ will be the bands in charge of the musical section. Their mixture of Jazz, Funk, Cuban Son and ‘Flamenco’ will exemplify the variety of Catalonia’s music scene.  

Gastronomy shows

In the last years, one of the key assets of Catalan culture has been its cuisine. Renowned and awarded worldwide, Catalan gastronomy will land in Shanghai via the hands of chefs Jordi and Albert Servalls. They will display their knowledge and specialities to the Chinese audience but also to Chinese specialist chefs.