Success of visitors to the 15th Art Route

Despite the rain in the first few days, there was a good number of visitors to the 15th Art Route of Castelló d'Empúries, which was held this past October 7, 8 and 9 in the county town. The buildings and spaces through which the Art Route has passed this year have been: the public washing machine, the Ecomuseu-Farinera, the Sanllehí House, the Cloister and Chapel of the Convent of Santa Clara, the Palau Macelli, the Local Parish Church, the Basilica of Santa Maria, the Paller d'en Melino, the Portal de la Gallarda, Casa Contreras, the Agricultural and Social Center, the Restaurant Les Voltes, the Curia and Prison, the Convent of Sant Agustí-Casa Torrecabota, the Convent of Sant Domènec (Town Hall) and the Municipal Hall.

As for the image chosen for this year's Route, and which has been the cover of the catalog, it is a forged sculpture, lent by the artist Ares and entitled Light in the distance, measuring 35 x 32 x 30 cm and which, like every year, has been drawn.

The collaborators of this edition have been: the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Barcelona and the curator of the participants of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Barcelona, Enric Teixidó. Parallel to the Route, a whole series of activities were carried out such as the Art Market, the opening ceremony at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Castelló d'Empúries, various music concerts, auditions of sardines, guided tours, the RutAst at the Mercat d'Art (wine tasting), rutaKids and Instagram drawing contests, etc...

One of the characteristics of this exhibition is that the spaces are rotating, that is to say, the same artist is never usually found in the same place, this means that the public takes a tour of the whole Vila Comtal, in addition it is tried to every year there are novelties, which helps to make it a varied and exciting show.

It must be said that in recent years due to Covid-19, a great effort has been made to maintain the relevant health measures. Sources from the organization have pointed out that "this year, as we have already mentioned in previous presentations, we are celebrating the 15th anniversary of a Route that we want to be younger, more diverse and maintaining its unique character of a show that combines the route through historic buildings of Vila Comtal enjoying a great variety of art in all its interpretations”.

According to the Painter and curator of the Art Route, Anna M. Constanseu "this edition is different from all the others, especially for the number of artists who add up to a total of 132, with the addition of students from the Artistic Baccalaureate of the 'Institut Josep Brugulat de Banyoles and of course, like other years, also those of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Barcelona which give us a young and renewed air, one of the characteristics of this exhibition, now that we could say that he is a teenager, because he is only fifteen years old and has a long way to go." For his part, the mayor of Castelló d'Empúries, Salvi Güell i Bohigas, pointed out that "this initiative serves to show our

visitors and fellow citizens the permanent architectural heritage of our house and at the same time cultural and artistic heritage that for a few days we show off in our village Castelló d'Empúries becomes an art showcase for a few days. But at the same time we want our visitors to be left with the aftertaste of coming back".

The associate professor of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the UB, Enric Teixidó, has commented on what it means for the Faculty to collaborate with the Ruta "for three years I have been in charge of curating the space of the Cloister Convent of Santa Clara, selecting and coordinating 3rd and final year students, and I must say that this is a great opportunity to make known what is happening in our classrooms and workshops, and to contribute to the spread of culture ” and adds that “this event is a unique opportunity to exhibit the students' work. On the other hand, if we scratch the surface a little, from the point of view of learning, the Art Route helps them become professional, to deal with aspects as complex as the interaction of their work with space , showing their production beyond the exhibition halls offered by the Faculty, while enabling them to relate to other established and emerging artists (colleagues).

It should be remembered that in 2008 the first Art Route was born in which forty artists participated in the eighteen architectural spaces and Galicia was the invited autonomous community. This is how the first Art Route was presented and, in its growth, every year it incorporates a different community or country. So far they have been invited: Galicia, Cantabria, Madrid, Poland, Castelló de la Plana and Brazil. As well as artists from Mallorca, Valencia, Finland, Catalonia... have contributed to growing the artistic quality of this event. Artists from the Basque Country and France have also participated in this year's edition.