The San Francisco press reported a few days ago about the “passionate ovation” that the local opera ballet’s Mere Mortals received, directed by the audacious Spanish Tamara Rojo and featuring production design and visual editing – with AI – by Hamill Industries. This is a name with reminiscences of Manchester’s manufacturing past behind which, in reality, the Barcelona creative studio of Pablo Barquín and Anna Diaz is hidden. Beyond the occasional success, what is really relevant is that the Hamills are not an isolated phenomenon.
That in Barcelona there is an emerging cultural scene in the triangle art-science-technology (with a clear component of technoethical activism) is a fact that has been noted in recent years. The novelty is that recent contributions can help this magma of scattered initiatives crystallize this year.
What should this crystalline solid be called? Or rather: it must have a name like Ars Electronica from Linz and, on the analog level, Madrid’s Arco, or we must let this convergence of multidisciplinary talent be a network without hierarchies or labels, only at the service of art and discovery?
Let’s recap. Barcelona, ??like so many global cities, has a vibrant community of artists. They are creators who often work in a network of creative cities. But Barcelona artists (native or by choice) have at least three competitive advantages over those from other places. The first would be the proximity of top-level science and technology institutions and companies led by people open to dialogue with art. To name just three cases, not all cities have a BSC, an Icfo or a UPC.
The second advantage is a happy coincidence: the fact that the city is home to two major global technology fairs, the MWC and the ISE. In fact, this week the ISE, the fair that Mike Blackman directs, is beginning to play the role of catalyst for technological art.
The ISE collaborated with Casa Batlló – another relevant asset – in the mapping of the artist Sofía Crespo, after it did the same in 2023 with that of Refik Anadol. Its stands have hosted guest artists such as Jeroen van der Most, but also those summoned by a Generalitat which, with the help of the Minister of Culture, Natàlia Garriga, and the general director, Marisol López, is working with perseverance to amplify this digital creative sphere. Within this framework, projects were presented such as those of Onionlab, Nomada Studio, Eyesberg or Hamill Industries themselves, which have also collaborated with organizations such as Sónar D and Cosmocaixa/CaixaForum.
In addition, the fair directed by Blackman projects a powerful focus on the Catalan industry of immersive reality – which is experiencing exponential development – and on the audiovisual sector. And finally, the ISE also sponsors the Llum BCN festival, which promotes Icub and is directed by Maria Güell. This weekend, the international Llum once again combines its status as a popular event with critical artistic proposals.
To complete the list of advantages that the Barcelona art and science community has, we must refer to Sónar D, created a decade ago as a meeting point for groups and people determined to explore the new frontiers of technology in name of the art. In comparison, there are other cities in the world – not many – that host macro-festivals of the dimensions of Sónar, but none of them have devoted so much effort and resources to promoting digital culture with an instrument of the type of Sónar D Thanks to the big sister festival, this satellite has a large potential audience.
In its line of programming for a large audience and not just for well-known experts, Sónar D has established itself as a must-attend event. So much so that you have to wonder if this festival will not end up being the embryo of a great annual event that will bring together many of the external initiatives in this field. If it isn’t already.
Beyond its own programming, this 2024 Sónar D is once again teaming up with the UPF to host the RAIN festival, dedicated to the use of AI in cinema. In this area, the AI ??Blockchain Creative Summit will also be held, in collaboration with UPF Ventures. In this context, already outside the perimeter of the festival, the global conference on video games Gamelab could be held on dates that coincide with Sónar D.
Sónar D can also be the stage for the presentation of the residences of the European program S-T-Arts in the City, of which the Barcelona hub HacTe is a part. The composition of the residency programs of S – T – Arts (, Technology , Arts ) is a very revealing photo of the Spanish panorama: eight Catalan partners participate in the eight sub-programmes this year (Barcelona Supercomputing Center; Fundació Èpica Fura dels Baus; RCR-LAB·A; HacTe; the UB; PAL Robotics; the UPF and the MWC) and only one from the rest of Spain (the AIMEN center in Galicia).
The internationalization of the local digital scene goes further. Other fronts are: the fluid relationship with Ars Electronica in Linz (the Catalan presence at this Austrian festival is always notable); the connection with the Arts at CERN program of the particle accelerator (its director, Mónica Bello, lives in the Catalan capital) and the involvement in New Bauhaus projects with the help of its advisor Francesca Bria.
If Sónar D is nowadays the pole around which multiple initiatives of technological creativity orbit, the CCCB develops a constant collaboration with the major scientific institutions. The last one is the exhibition on AI, in which the BSC participates.
Finally, a third pole is the Design Museum directed by José Luis de Vicente at the DHUB. The 2024 programming of this municipal center is a statement of intent: it starts with an exhibition, Patterns and recognitions, by the renowned London studio United Visual Artists, and will include a participation of the local collective Domestic Data Streamers – again – with amazing uses of AI.
Beyond these three poles, initiatives around art and science spring up in the city without stopping. The world of traditional gallerism has already opened up to participate in this scene with the organization of Focus Digital in 2023. Galleries such as Àngels Barcelona host experiences with AI. And last week, another project was presented as part of the collaboration between the Senda gallery, the Apolo hall and Screen Projects (Loop Barcelona) to exhibit the work of artists such as Ada Morales, Fito Conesa or Mónica in the venue Riki. The latter, by the way, is working on a suggestive project at S-T-Arts in the City: it concerns robot caregivers (or robot caregivers) and meets the requirements that characterize her work, which are artisanal craftsmanship and ethical reflection .
In this context, the Barcelona foundation Quo Artis (one of the most veteran participants in the local art and science scene) starts on the 7th its international project A sea change, based on creative innovation in the blue economy and with artists like Daniel G. Andújar, Robertina Sebjanic or Filippo Minelli
Meanwhile, on the editorial front, UPC-
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But watch out! No one is saying that this advantage should be used to attract tourists or capture digital nomads. It would rather be about putting it at the service of the general idea of ??Barcelona as a creative and innovative city. And, incidentally, to use it to improve local self-esteem, so devalued since the irrational discourse became predominant that to have good cultural experiences you have to get on the AVE.
