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Until the 26th of February, the exhibition ‘Cézanne et Paris’ will be open at the Musée du Luxembourg. The exhibition is organized with the collaboration of the Petit Palais and the Fine Arts Museum of the City of Paris. it gathers close to 80 works that come from different collections from around the world to explore the great subjects that Cézanne worked on, such as Paris, nudity, portraits and still life.

The exhibition, commissioned by Gilles Chazal, the director of the Petit Palais and Maryline Assante di Panzillo, curator of the Department of Paintings of the Petit Palais, tries to show a Cézanne that is actively looking to defy both tradition and modernity.

Paul Cézanne was born in Aix en Provence in 1839. Son of a bourgeois family, whose father was a wealthy banker, his studies took place in Bourbon College, where he established a close relation with Émile Zola. Despite his love for drawing and painting, he registered in the Law School to satisfy his father’s expectations. But his passion was stronger and he dropped out to fulfill his vocation.

His first studio was organized in his family’s country house and, by 1861, he moved to Paris, financially supported by his family. In Paris he met Zola again, and he signed up at the Swiss Academy to manage to pass the entry exam to the Fine Arts Academy. In his first incursion at the Louvre Museum, he was astounded by the works of Velázquez and Caravaggio, who marked his paintings.

He went back to Aix en Provence to work with his father for a short period of time and after he went back to Paris, set on continuing his studies in the Swiss Academy, where he met Pissarro and Guillaumin, who strongly influenced his work by liberating him from the aesthetic strictness of the academy.

In the Salon d’Automne of 1886, he presented his paintings for the first time, but was rejected. This would repeat itself on various occasions, without him ever abandoning painting, despite the deep frustration due to the rejection and the critique of his work, that obviously provoked this disappointment in him.

Annoyed with the art circle in Paris, he went to live with the model Hortense Fiquet to L’Estanque, where he developed prolific work, made up with landscapes and still life, made in natural sceneries just like impressionism demanded.

His return to Paris would be shaped by his landscape work at Louveciennes, but it would take until 1895 until he received recognition, when the art critic and merchant Ambroise Vollard organized a successful exhibition of his work, and Paris fell in love with him. In 1904, the Salon D’Automne was dedicated to his pictorial work. Two years later, Cézanne died, leaving behind an open wound in art avant-gardes.

His work opened the door to fauvists and cubists and it inspired surrealists such as Picasso, Dérain and Braque, among many others.

For more information: http://www.museeduluxembourg.fr/fr/expositions/p_exposition-4/

Nancy Guzman

Start 2012 full of energy and enjoy the great prospects that the City of Light has for its visitors by renting apartments in Paris

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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Tags: art, Avant-gardes, Cézanne et París, culture, impressionism, modernity, Musée de Luxembourg, painting, paris, Petit Palais, visual arts

Every country has its own dances and traditions, the way of representing itself on a stage. But further than representing a region, one dance seems to be some sort of conjunction of moments and steps that surpass mere performance. And so, if we realize, history goes through a dance since its very beginning or since the first times that it was tried to be performed, proposed or dared to be dance. Anyway, the regional character of every dance is present in the staging of dance. The details of that way of life of a population can in some way be portrayed in a specific dance, jump above all the rest with a little hip movement and a hand in the air: the identity that is formed from the dance itself.

You don’t have to think about it too much to remember that flamenco is probably the dance that most relates to Spain. It is, undoubtedly, a dance that has gone around the world and that thousands of professionals and fans practice with fervor and joy. Flamenco condenses, in the spirit of its sound, a grave melancholy that moves, a sensuality that culminates in a voice and rhythm, in the clapping that echo during one step and the other, the shoes dialoguing with the floor in a constant recognition of time that is made with the clash of the sole and the floor. The sensuality of singing and body combine, as well as a histrionic load dose.

Flamenco was undoubtedly born in Andalucía and it has been influenced and has evolved from the gypsy and Sephardic dances. Considered intangible heritage by UNESCO, this important dance is still conquering fans all over the world. Equally, despite that flamenco is still a traditional dance, at present it explores new branches and representation techniques; it is known that its musicians have a knowledge of jazz among other genres and also that the dancers have undergone courses of performing art and ballet. It’s more frequent, also at present, to see flamenco sessions on the street and, of course, in Barcelona, where one can get closer and get to know more on these rhythms. Due to all of this interest, also, they celebrate the De Cajón! Festival, that is ongoing until the 29th of March.

This sixth edition of the De Cajón! Festival has four unmissable dates if you’re in Barcelona and you want to see four fabulous performers of this art. On the 22nd of December they present the great Estrella Morente; on Saturday the 11th of February there will be José Mercé; on the first Thursday of March there’ll be Los Evangelistas and on Thursday the 29th of March, to close the festival, Miguel Poveda. Book your tickets in advance. For more information and direct purchase on the internet, visit the following website: http://www.theproject.es/en/festival/festival.php?idfestival=52

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Barcelona and let yourself be captured by its vibrant music scene. If flamenco is your thing, rest assured that you will come across different presentations and events that will bring you closer to this interesting song and dance genre.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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Tags: 15M, andalucia, andalucian, canto, catalunya, city, dance, dancer, de cajon, estrella morente, experimental, feeling, Festival, flamenco, guitars, hipster, jazz, José Mercé, los evangelistas, love, Miguel Poveda, outraged, romance, song, tourism, tragedy, uber alles, unesco

If Real Madrid was declared by FIFA as the best football club of the twentieth century, the XXI century so far seems to clearly belong to Barcelona in a  fourth place in the rankings that crowned its rival as the most dominant team of the last century.

Indeed, Barcelona has not only raised three European Cups, two European Super Cups, one World Club Cup, five Spanish leagues ,the Cup of Spain and five Spanish Super Cup since 2003 but, even more significantly, has astonished the world with one of the best teams in the entire history of football, possessor of such a daring, dazzling, magical and seductive style of play, as overwhelming as it is dominating, which safely can be said marked a before and an after and set a standard that we dare to suggest will take long time to be matched.

All this would be a reason enough to awaken the desire in the football enthusiast to visit the of FC Barcelona Museum http://www.fcbarcelona.es/camp-nou/museo with its flagship and beautiful stadium the Camp Nou, with the largest capacity in Europe which can take almost 100,000 followers  along with and the cute Mini Stadium, the Palau Blaugrana (home of the meetings of the very powerful and very prized other sport disciplines that includes basketball, handball, roller hockey and indoor soccer ), the Palau de Gel, the official store and club offices.

One of the highlights of the visit to this environment is the FC Barcelona Museum , ​​where  the countless trophies won by the different sections of the club in its 112 year history (up to 33 European Cups between them all)not only can be seen  but through different interactive video walls you can understand and enjoy  an institution whose motto and hallmark is  “more than a club”

The museum is structured around four areas defined by what the leaders of the Barcelona-not without some controversy, recently revived by the signing of a multimillion dollar contract with the Qatar Foundation in exchange for advertising the Foundation in the players’ shirts – consider the four essential and indispensable values ​​of the club, ie, the Catalan feeling , universality, social engagement and democracy, which must be added to the time devoted to different samples and the exhibition of the six cups won brilliantly under the direction of Pep Guardiola in the memorable year of 2009 when the football team won all the competitions in which they participated.

Paul Oilzum

The Museum visits include a tour of the stadium, including the players tunnel and the press area that regardless of their color, will not leave football fans who rent apartments in Barcelona indifferent.

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Translated by: Marc
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Tags: barcelona, Camp Nou, deporte, F.C. Barcelona, Fundación Qatar, fútbol, Guardiola, Mini Estadi, real madrid

Barcelona is a city with a lot of History, not only of its political movements of resistance, Franco’s dictatorship or its constant quest for independence, but also because of the unique and individual stories of its inhabitants, common people but with a long list of public figures, artists, politicians, musicians and writers. Those stories are still tying and untying the streets of Barcelona. Its players today are also different. In addition to the hordes of tourists who seek a place for relaxation, wildness and adventure in the city as well as the variety of immigrants currently living in this beautiful city, give a rich cultural scene in the Catalan capital.

Barcelona is home to citizens from Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The great migration has occurred for many reasons including the economic boom in construction for several years and the open frontiers of the European Union, among others. With the current economic crisis in Spain, it is very easy to blame it on the immigrant or foreigners, as an automatic reaction of the crisis. On the other hand, the variety and cultural enrichment that the city has got thanks to the immigrants is negated. Xenophobia seems to be daily bread in Spain. Talking about personal stories and experiences, the city grows, and with it the appliances, utensils, objects and clothes that you can also find in Barcelona. These stories create new culture, new movement in the streets, new meanings, new scripts.

Sant Antoni Market can give you a clear mapping of this phenomenon. And if what you like is going in search of trading cards, comics, magazines, cards, postcards, posters, movies, old books, records, etc., Every Sunday you will be able to find that on the side of Sant Antoni Market; a variety of unique gadgets, which will transport you in time. If you look carefully at all these, what some people call “garbage”,  you will see the rich culture that is forming. All these artifacts of collection; from stamps to coins, in languages and backgrounds that were previously unsuspected, and have big fans due to the memories of other times that they bring. An old book condenses all the power of reading, all other meanings given to them.

You can find all this, on Sundays, from 8 am until 3 or 4 pm. We recommend you to come early and find the best things with fewer crowds around. Bargaining outside Sant Antoni Market “is a must”. It is always affordable for everyone and suitable for all ages and interests.

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Barcelona and enjoy its cultural diversity. Barcelona is a city with a very rich cultural life coming from all latitudes. Feel at home just one step from the Mediterranean.

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Translated by: Hans
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Tags: ancient, bargain, books, Catalan, catalunya, Catalunya uber alles, cheap, comics, Eastern Europe, eixample, europe, flea market, history, hunting, immigration, india, market, movies, pakistan, Poble sec, politics, porn, Pornography, posters, romance, sale, San Antonio, South America, Spain, stamps, trading cards, Vintage, xenophobia

Until the 4th of March, Arts Santa Mònica in Barcelona has opened the exhibition Invisible Fields. Geographies of the radio waves. (‘Campos Invisibles. Geografías de las ondas de radio’ in Spanish). The exhibition addresses the outlook of technique and science from conceptual art, and it’s produced by Plataforma Cero, Centro de Investigación, Producción y Recursos de LABoral.

The exhibition is commissioned by Honor Harger and José Luís de Vicente, and it looks to shed light on the imaginable landscape that’s built from radio waves. For that, they’ve designed an interdisciplinary work platform that analyzes through sociologic optics what culture and social change encompasses, scientific communication and artistic practice.

The exhibition includes works by the artists Trevor Plagen, Thomas Ashcraft, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Anthony DeVicenzi, Timo Arnall, Joyce Hinterding, Job Ramos, Semiconductor, Matthew Biederman, Clara Boj y Diego Díaz, Rasa Smite & Raitis Smits (RIXC), Luthiers Drapaires, Irdial Records, Guifi.net, Luthiers Drapaires and Plataforma Cero LABoral.

From the appearance of radio in 1897, when Marconi installed the first radio transmission in the Isle of Wight, up until today, a lot of water has gone under bridge. Radio began as a non-profitable technological scientific crusade and only man’s dreams were involved to change the natural barriers of communication. Shortly after it became a way to transmit more complex messages and bring the events that were taking place to its most immediate environment. Radio, together with the telephone and later the teletype, were inventions that managed to unite continents and turn communications into something instantaneous during the 20th century. Thanks to it, the events of WW2 and the great historical landmarks that shaped mankind were got to be known live.

However, we don’t know much about what’s behind the radio and how do those waves are transmitted through the atmosphere. We also don’t know how a radio works and what interests it has behind it. We also don’t know how much it has actually influenced us in our behaviour and in the actual form of society but we do admit that nobody can be without it and that it’s part of our everyday customs.

Also, this interesting exhibition has given way to the making of a series of workshops that Arts Santa Mònica has organized with Plataforma Cero de LABoral. David Pello is in charge of an introduction to the world of satellite technology, while Pedro Soler and Joanna Griffin will explore imaginary space and the satellites through its stories, names and origins, as well as how the future is shaping up for these space intruders. The activist and investigator Alejandro Duque will show his critique vision on satellites and will show how to trace them down, hack into them and decode the secrets that they have inside.

For more information: http://www.artssantamonica.cat/EXP/EXPOSICIONS/tabid/128/any/201110/language/es-ES/Default.aspx#exposicio51

Nancy Guzman

Don’t torment yourself with the prophecies for 2012. Rent apartments in Barcelona and forget about all the bad vibes that the futurologists are predicting by enjoying the best days of the year.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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Tags: art, Arts Santa Monica, barcelona, Communication, culture, exhibition, Invisible Fields, modernity, Radio, Satellites, sociology, Technology, workshops

Acrobats performing artists and the most important circus performers of the world will gather in Paris from the 26th to the 29th of January at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain (World Circus Festival of Tomorrow), one of the most important competitions in the world of circus which reaches its 33 th edition in 2012. A prestigious jury of producers, artists and directors in the world of tents, have the difficult task of qualifying participants, who are eager to be the winners  in the competition, and who will leave their soul on the stage to give everything they have. Renowned artists such as Dima Shine, Vertical Tango, Anatoly Zaliewski and The Taquin Brothers have participated in this famous event that was first held in 1977.

Lively music and a deep and piercing strong voice invades the essence of your body while you dance to the nightingale that happily sings forever. Didn’t you wake up already? You were blinded by the body movements of the artist in front of you, who dares to show himself in  such an intimate way that you have take a step back overwhelmed by the incredible beauty that sweetly is pulsating in your soul, sensual passion that is pure energy that can no longer stand being cooped up in the walls of your being. Another thunderous applause, strangers are awoken but something has changed, now you can feel it!

For more information visit:

http://www.cirquededemain.com

Hans

Get apartments in Paris and discover the best art shows in the world! Get caught by the magic of the circus!

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Translated by: Marc
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Tags: acrobatas, artes escenicas., artistas, circo, Cirque du Soleil, Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain, paris, payasos, trapeciastas

Petritxol Street is the perfect meeting place for hardened gourmands and art lovers. The street is only two hundred meters long, but on it lies the Sala Parés, famous for hosting the works of such important people as Ramon Casas, Santiago Rusiñol and Pablo Picasso. This famous gallery opened in 1840 and marked the evolution of the area, becoming an attraction for artists. It ‘led to the opening of numerous exhibitions and shopping centers of articles for Fine Arts, but also to chocolate shops that constituted the perfect meeting place for Bohemians artists. How many world famous works emerged thanks to the smell of hot chocolate?

We will never know the answer to this question, but we are so fortunate that we can still taste the sweets that of our ancestors ate. Two of the farms of yesteryear have survived in time and are still delighting us with the same traditional recipes. The oldest of these, is La Granja Dulcinea, a place whose origins date back to 1789, although it was in 1930 that it passed from being a tavern to become a farm. Through its door illustrious people as Salvador Dali or Angel Guimerà have passed. They were all delighted by the high quality of its products. Neither we can forget the Pallaresa, the farm in the number eleven Petritxol Street, which was founded in 1947 by Mr. Magin Cases, formerly occupied by a dairy shop. It is an ideal place to taste a good Swiss and has nothing to envy to its predecessor.

Many bars have tried their luck in Petritxol Street, but not all have endured over time. Fortunately, the ill-fated Xocoa left us an enviable legacy. Xocoa is a chocolate store “franchise”, which opened a chocolate shop and a café in this historic street, but succumbed to its competition and closed the doors of the bar. However, its shop still delights us with the best chocolate recipes from the city, so it has become the perfect complement to their former competitors. If you have time, do not hesitate to try a delicious hot chocolate in these places full of history. by the way, you can take home some chocolates. I assure you, you won’t regret the experience. At the end of the day, the Petritxol Street holds the title as first Pedestrian Street in Barcelona, not only because of its three meters width, but also because of the charming stores that makes it a perfect visit.

Enrique Ríos

If you like chocolate you know, Petritxol Street is where you go. Do not forget to rent apartments in Barcelona for you to have a nap after your hot chocolate

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Translated by: Hans
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Tags: chocolate, Pablo Picasso, Parés, Petritxol, Ramon Casas, Santiago Rusiñol

The Auditori in Barcelona has organized concerts of Dvorák (even though he’ll be accompanied by Brahms and Saint-Saëns) on the 27th, 28th and 29th of January at different times (11am, 7pm and 9pm) to adapt to all possible timetables. Under the direction of Jakub Hrusa, the Barcelona and Catalunya National Symphonic Orchestra (OBC) and the piano of Simo Trpcevski will perform the ‘Tragic Overture’ by Brahms, the ‘Concert for piano and orchestra number 2′ by Saint-Saëns and the ‘Number 8 Symphony’ by Dvorák. Both local and tourist music lovers can access the following website http://www.auditori.cat/ct/concert/13-lhimne-a-la-natura-de-dvorak-2122.aspx where they’ll find more practical details and, even, purchase the tickets online for any of the sessions of the event.

The czech musician Antonin Dvorák (1841-1904) composed ‘Symphony number 8′ in his summer villa of Vysoká, close to Prague, in 1880. Although it was eclipsed by the popularity and the fame of the next one, the ‘Ninth’ or ‘New World’, this composition hits all the romantic notes that Dvorák liked so much. And it’s not strange that the organizers accompany this symphonic piece with a composition by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), because both artists maintained a close friendship and a fruitful collaboration. Also from 1880 is the ‘Tragic Overture’, the piece that starts the concert at the Auditori in Barcelona and that has been interpreted in all sorts of ways due to its fiery and even fast character. Despite all of these readings, that are more or less accurate, Brahms imposed to all of his work a purely musical character without entering discourses that could be translated into literature. And, lastly, completing the programme we have the French composer, contemporary of the previous musicians, Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921), who progressively moved away from romanticism to fully enter impressionism through his work in the National Music Society.

The well-known ‘Concert for piano and orchestra number 2′ by Saint-Saëns was composed in 1868 and is dedicated to an enigmatic Madame A. de Villers, née de Haber, of which we know little or nothing of today.

The Auditori in Barcelona, open to the public since 1999, programmes season after season of music concerts of all types in its spectacular building designed by Rafael Moneo. We’ve allowed ourselves to point this one out because we’ve especially liked the programme. But the venue has a tight calendar with a varied offer: there are bands, old music, chamber music, choir music and, even, an abundant programme prepared and adapted to the younger ones. It’s, of course, an unavoidable reference in Barcelona’s cultural scene.

Candela Vizcaíno

The traveller who is in the Catalan capital during these dates and doesn’t want to miss these concerts, will also have had to book any of the excellent apartments in Barcelona in advance, where he can recover from the agitated cultural and artistic lifestyle of this beautiful Mediterranean city.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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Tags: Antonín Dvorák, Auditori Barcelona, Barcelona and Catalunya National Symphonic Orchestra, Camille Saint-Saëns, Jakub Hrusa, Johannes Brahms, Tragic Overture

Paris always takes the lead in fashion and it is expressed in every aspect of its inhabitants’ lives. They invented haute couture, nouvelle cuisine, and gourmet restaurants, as well as having imposed an appealing lifestyle and entertainment. For you to know what are the best places in this city we will make an overview so you can visit all of them when coming to.

Le Bar á Bulles has a pleasant atmosphere and very good cocktail preparations, as well as international beer brands. Here you can have a drink to the rhythm of good music. If prefer dancing, there are good DJs who enliven the evenings in the Club Lounge.

If you like live music concerts, La Maroquinerie it’s your place in Paris since it has one of the best music agendas of the city. It also has an amazing restaurant, very good atmosphere and a first class menu. The menu prices range between 6 and 19.50 Euros and it is located at 23 rue Boyer.

Gibus Club is a club which opened in 1967, many important people and rock idols have offered their shows in this club, but time passes and thanks to its musical style transformation, it has managed to remain in the circuits of hot spots in Paris. Today his rap music, hip hop and R & B still and the frequent presentation of famous DJs of the French and international music scene, make it the ideal place to go dancing. The facility has a capacity for 600 people and has rooms for private parties and theme parties. Address: 18 rue du Faubourg du Temple.

La Machine du Moulin Rouge is a complex, which since 2010 provides a space for concerts and performances, a bar and a dance club with very good DJs programs. Its concert agenda is one of the most desired by the Parisian music lovers of rock, punk, indie and other currents of contemporary music. Address is 90 bd de Clichy, 75018.

Carpe Diem is a fashionable place in Paris. Located in des Halles, its cuisine has charmed French people and it has imposed a trend that others try to follow. Described as experimental, with an exotic blend of flavors and textures, this charming place makes it impossible to resist for those who like trying new sensations. It has a capacity for 58 people who have declared as a conceptual fantasy roasted Camembert cider caramel, nuts, salad, or grilled chicken farm ginger with exotic vegetables. Address is 21 rue des Halles. It opens for lunch from 12:00 to 15:00 and dinner from 19:30 to 23:00.

Nancy Guzman

For you to feel the real spirit of the capital of France, rent apartments in Paris and enjoy these places known as the French innovations to catch a rapidly changing world.

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Translated by: Hans
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Tags: bars, clubs, Cocktails, concerts, culture, dancing, dating, dining, fashion, Having fun, live music, nightlife, paris, Pubs, style

Among all the groups hurriedly lauded by British critics in the last ten years, the band from Sheffield Arctic Monkeys, who will present their latest album, Suck It and See (name taken from a scene out of  Stanley Kubrick’s film A Clockwork Orange, a name in accordance with the bands known carefree and irreverent side) at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona (http://www.bsmsa.cat/index.php?id=24&L=1) on the 28th of January is probably one of the most genuinely interesting ones.

The rebellious and mocking spirit the Arctic Monkeys reflected in the title of the album has found its true expression in the many moments of their career where they made fun of the pointlessness of the music industry that has been so interested in them from the beginning but never taking them seriously due to outrageous moments as in that famous occasion when they dressed up as Village People to pick up a major prize.

That northern British teenager arrogance  is in as way irresistibly attractive as the the first Beatles were, but has a more nuanced expression in this new CD. Suck It and See is sufficiently representative, because although there are songs like the frantic Library Pictures that seem to remember that teenager arrogance despite its delicious chorus, its most genuine in its  primordial essence, the album reflects primarily an increasingly more sensitive attempt to lower the adrenaline rush for a more classical flavor compositions. This is not to say that the songs have become more domesticated but they show a working approach to the work of the great masters, something that can give us a clue is recent covers by the group, such as the interpretation of  Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds or the particular tribute to Leonard Cohen by Alex Turner (guitarist and lead vocalist of the group) on the soundtrack of the film by Richard Ayoade Submarine-his recognized growing interest in Lee Hazlewood would be another example of the phenomenon.

Parallel to this expansion of their tastes and inclinations, Suck It and See has led them to yet again work with James Ford, the producer of their first two albums, resulting in a full and rich sound of the best British tradition  with more than an echo from bands like the Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen, and this has raised fears among some of their followers due to the unexpected elegance, subtlety and interest in new subject matters such as the passage of time, the evils of love and a sense of sentimentalism and melancholy that somehow was born in Sheffield, creating a different challenging group effect for which they are essentially known for so far.

Paul Oilzum

A concert is naturally the best idea to get rid of any doubts and judging by the quality of the new songs, they are playing on the current tour we know something really good is going to happen. Make up your own opinion if you rent apartments in Barcelona

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Translated by: Marc
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Tags: Arctic Mondays, barcelona, Echo, Smiths, village people