Very concerned about the alleged cultural decline of Barcelona, ​​I try not to fall into the traps that local propaganda sets for me. Today I will not pay attention to the bookish explosion of Sant Jordi and I will look the other way with disdain when they point out that it is only the tip of the iceberg of a publishing industry that bills more than 2,500 million euros and which is already talked about 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 lineup that this year includes Bob Dylan, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Coldplay, Harry Styles… Another act from propaganda that I attended was Bach’s Mass in B minor conducted by John Eliot Gardiner at the Palau de la Música, which will be followed by conductors 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 one can find Wim Wenders, who is participating in the grown BCN Film Fest (next week, Susan Sarandon). The theater billboard offers jewels such as L’oreneta by Guillem Clua, El temps i els Conway directed by Àngel Llà cer 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 unhealthy comparison with the great European capitals (apparently, it is a secondary detail that we have much less population than Paris, London or Madrid), but the exhibition on the art dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler at the Museu Picasso is one of those that alone justify a trip to the city.
Miquel Iceta pointed out on Friday, in his talk with Miquel Molina in Tribuna Barcelona, ​​that we should ask more strongly for works from the Prado to come. I would go further: not only the background, but the temporary ones, like the current one on Guido Reni.
In any case, compared to the optimists, those who prefer to cry will always have an advantage: they will find many places to applaud and lend them a handkerchief.
