Mercè starts the year with new cultural and training proposals

The La Mercè Cultural Center starts the year with new cultural and training proposals. The Municipal School of Art (EMA) begins the exhibition season with the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the birth of the Girona painter Pep Camps and joins the extensive retrospective dedicated to him in four spaces in the city: the Casa de Cultura, the Fita Foundation, the La Mercè Cultural Center and Casa Masó. The exhibition, which can be visited at La Mercè from January 19 to March 10, is entitled "Preludes" and reviews a series of works by the artist where the influence of his travels can be appreciated, which they have served him to form a vital position and to build his artistic singularity. It is an exhibition that has the collaboration of the Girona Art Museum and the Diputació de Girona, which have lent two works for the exhibition. The inauguration will take place on Thursday, January 19, at 7 p.m. On February 16, at 6 p.m., the artist will offer a master class.

"Culture is a key element to foster a critical, active and cohesive citizenry. This objective depends on the ability to bring culture to everyone and everywhere, bringing it closer to the groups with less cultural consumption and making it accessible to everyone", assures the Deputy Mayor and Councilor for Culture, Quim Ayats, who remarks that "I am very proud that the Mercè Cultural Center fulfills all these objectives, of a Girona that offers accessible and quality culture".

Another year, La Mercè becomes home to the Pepe Sales independent art festival. Among the activities it will host, the collective exhibition Subconscient stands out. Alice in the country of the seen Milena Rodríguez Gutiérrez, which can be visited in the cloister spaces and in the Pati room from January 21 to February 8. The inauguration will take place on February 21, at 8 p.m., during the opening ceremony of the festival, which will feature the performance La condesa sangrienta . The presentation of the event will be carried out by journalist Xavier Mas de Xaxàs. This year's edition of the festival is dedicated to the poet Alejandra Pizarnik on the 50th anniversary of her death.

Also of note is the exhibition organized by the Friends of the Girona Art Museum dedicated to the Girona painter Ricard Renart Castells (Girona, 1952 - 2013) and which can be seen in the Pati room between March 3 and 31 .

The group exhibition L'altre ubic will also arrive at La Mercè. Migrations of the fragmented body, curated by Mercè Alsina, produced by the Granollers Panoramic Festival 2020 and promoted by Roca Umbert Fàbrica de les Arts and the Granollers City Council. The exhibition is part of the traveling exhibitions program of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya. The artists Teemu Mäki, Mar C. Llop, Mengwen Cao, Isa Fontbona, Francesca Steele, Itziar Okariz and Ricardo Muñoz, raise questions about identity in relation to physical appearance, sexual orientation, gender and social attitudes, as well like the existential doubts we face daily.

Once again, the Mirades Festival, a biannual photography contest, will show the winning photographs of the public call for proposals opened last autumn in the cloister of La Mercè. Through this initiative, the festival aims to spread and exhibit the work of emerging artists and give the opportunity to several photographers to exhibit their creations.

Continuing with the programming of the EMA, the artistic project Sculptures in the cloister will show visitors the work of two artists. First, from January 16 to March 6, Blanca del Olmo will show the sculpture VR vs. AR , modeled with plasticine and clay, designed with virtual reality and 3D printing, and to view complete with augmented reality (from a mobile or tablet). Linked to the sculpture, the artist will hold a master class on January 24, at 6 p.m. Sculptor Alexander Yancee will take over, who will exhibit The Whole and the Parts , a work created in collaboration with Maria Nieto. The sculpture can be seen between March 13 and May 8 and will also feature a master class on March 21, at 6 p.m.

The EMA's winter program will be completed by the mural works of the Propi Art panel, intended to give visibility and to exhibit the work of students and ex-students of the school. From February 3 to March 24, Eva Ramos will show her work Selva , and from March 31 to May 26 it will be Valentina Kalaydjian's turn with A taula .

Regarding the programming of the Municipal School of Humanities, the equipment has started its activity with a new edition of the Trias Club for essay reading, organized jointly with the Ferrater Mora Chair of Contemporary Thought of the University of Girona The chosen reading is Fronteres, by Vicent Partal. The sessions will take place on January 10, February 14 and March 7.

Within the proposed offer, the new and converted edition of the cycle "Music and philosophy" stands out, which, like its predecessors "Literature and philosophy" and "Art and philosophy", will reflect on 6 composers from different periods and the great challenges philosophers who raise some of his works. The series is made up of six sessions distributed between the La Mercè Cultural Center (February 13, 20 and 27, at 7.30 p.m.) and the House of Culture (March 6, 13 and 20, at 7.30 p.m.), and are coordinated by Maria Carme Pardo Salgado, professor of music history at the University of Girona. It will have the participation of Anna Bofill, Francisco Jarauta, Rubén López Cano, David Picó, Magda Polo and Joaquim Rabaseda i Matas

The program will continue with the cycle "Bòlit. Thought", in collaboration with Bòlit. Center d'Art Contemporani de Girona, which will arrive with two new reflection activities. The first will be on March 1, at 6.30 pm, with "The weight of a body", a dialogue between Begoña Méndez and Victòria Szpunberg. Then, on March 31, at 6 p.m., the "POV" workshop and performative conference will take place, with Núria Guiu, National Culture Award 2022.

The Writing Room will also soon start the second semester of the 2022-2023 academic year with modules 2 and 4, and two monographs. Every Tuesday, from January 19 to February 9, from 6 to 8 p.m., teacher Assum Guardiola will teach the course "Who, how and why. How to create fictional characters”; while Rafael Vallbona will carry out the course "The house of black and detective classics", on black novels.

Apart from the center's own programming, La Mercè will also host other cultural proposals. Highlights the meeting of industry and creators of the NEU Festival! From January 27; the Freedom first concerts. Keith Lamar & Albert Marquès, Momi Maiga and Jack Jack Broadbent, which will take place on February 1, March 10 and March 26 within the Black Music Festival and Folkestoltes activities, from March 3 to 5. The Auditori de La Mercè will also become a room of the Municipal Theater with the program of four shows: Hermafrodites a cavall or La rebellió del desig , by the collective Que No Salga de Aquí, on February 9; the children's show La casa mes petita , from the company Campi qui pugi, on February 12; Hoy puede ser mi gran noche de Teatro en Vilo, on February 17, and La Reina del Arga , by Estefanía de Paz Asín.