The old Fabra i Coats factory transformed into Barcelona’s Centre for Contemporary Art

Barcelona (ACN).- The Fabra i Coats industrial complex was a spinning mill in the nineteenth century. Located in the neighbourhood of Sant Andreu in Barcelona, it was bought by the City Council in 2006 and in 2008 they agreed to transform it into a Centre for Contemporary Art. Four years after this decision and with the project’s budget reduced due to the crisis, the factory opens its doors with the first exhibition called ‘Això no és una exposició d’art, tampoc’ (‘This is not an art exhibition, either’) based on ‘performance’. This exhibition – located on the ground floor – is the first phase of the whole project which will occupy three floors of the front wing of the old factory. It will have 2,450 square metres of exhibition space and will house the ‘Creation Factory’, a socialization space for artists which is already running. The Fabra i Coats’ is the eighth centre for contemporary art in Catalonia, strengthening the cultural offerings. “Catalonia is seen as the fifth cultural cluster in the European Union (EU) in cultural production capacity. […] It is essential that we are able to keep it, increase it and strengthen it”, stated the Catalan Culture Minister.

At the moment the factory’s exhibition surface is the ground floor, where the first exhibition is displayed. However the whole project is planned to be over three floors in the front wing of one of the buildings of the Fabra i Coats industrial complex. It will occupy 2,450 square metres.

Moreover, this new Centre for Contemporary Art in Barcelona also has a working space for artists to come up with their creations. This is called the ‘Creation Factory’, a socialization space for artists which is already running. Once fully completed, the art centre will consist of the ‘Creation Factory’, the exhibition spaces, an auditorium, offices and workshops for artists.

The coexistence of the Centre of Contemporary Art and the ‘Creation Factory’ seeks feedback from both institutions, with the idea of developing a “strategic potential for the cultural and social development of the city”, according to Barcelona’s City Council.

The first exhibition

The exhibition ‘Això no és una exposició d’art, tampoc’ (‘This is not an art exhibition, either’) is the first and, at the moment, only one that this new Centre for Contemporary Art is hosting. It is commissioned by David G. Torres. Visitors can see pieces that are developed in front of the public in real time. Besides this, the exhibition is defined as a cycle of ‘performances’ which also include documents, videos, a publication and a website.

Catalonia, fifth in the European Union

This new Centre for Contemporary Art is the eighth centre of this kind in Catalonia: centres welcoming and strengthening artistic creativity. According to Catalonia’s Minister for Culture, Ferran Mascarell, “Catalonia is seen as the fifth cultural cluster in the European Union (EU) in cultural production capacity”. “It is essential that we are able to keep it, increase it and strengthen it”, he has concluded.