As Kaospilot students with various backgrounds we all have different reasons for choosing this project as our outpost project in Barcelona; it varies from exploring the artistic field to the possible learning outcomes within this project. Coming into the project with excitement and uncertainty, Frank Nesi has from the beginning been a help and resource in navigating in another field and city.
Our job has been to bring the initiative forward, and doing so by establishing contact to possible collaborators, as well as to get their perspectives on opportunities for the festival.
This resulted in a workshop designed and executed by us.
The intention with the introduction was for everyone to arrive and start the day with an introduction by Àngels for her to share the ideas and thoughts behind the initiative. The introduction culminated in a small assignment where the participants were asked to think and write down a moment where they have seen architecture and dance meet before, before letting the conversation loose between them one and one.
Through a practice hosted by Mireia and Roger, who is respectively a choreographer and an architect we physically explored the correlation between dance and architecture. Afterwards, in order to create a common understanding of the actual setting of the festival, Teresa Macia from MUHBA spoke to give a historic context the mountain.
The walk on the mountain was intended to spark creativity, inspiration and seeing opportunities by being on the actual location of the festival. It was also intended as an explorative walk to uncover hidden, unknown spaces at Montjuic. However nature has its own way and made us explore Montjuïc with wet socks. The groups were selected with a wish for a diverse representation of professions to enhance the amount of perspectives and to build bridges.
The participants documented their walk on the mountain through photographing with their cell phone cameras. They were given different assignments on the journey in order to discover hidden or unknown place that they found interesting, beautiful or that talked to them.
See some of the wonderful photos below!
Mercat de les Flors inhouse restaurant La Solea provided a delicious two course meal - a moment to step out of the "game" and talk, reflect and get creative ahead of the afternoon.
With inspiration from the walk every participant were invited to record their individual thoughts in a short audio clip. We put these clips together into a soundscape of inspiration that later closed off the day. Listen to the soundscape below.
The intention of the conversation café was to bring this inspiration from the walk into dialogues and ideas of what the participants could imagine for the festival - based on professional experiences, as well as individual excitement and ideas. Many interesting conversations between groups of architects and choreographers took place as can be seen in the harvest of insights.
After the workshop we have spent time gathering and clustering the answers from these notes. A lot of inspiring things were written and some clear patterns arose. Below are some of the main patterns we could find from what you wrote and said. Under that you will find all the notes.
Acknowledging the Montjuïc mountain for what it is - an for all of what it is. Seeing and using the mountain as a whole by exploring the hidden places, showing the public the unknown sides and to avoid the more touristy places. Re-discovering, re-building, re-getting-to-knowing. How can this festival become the antidote for the city to redefine the mountain?
Recognizing the historical and political context of the mountain and the area is important to show the reality of it. The festival could be used as a way of changing the current view on the mountain, yet with the importance of not neglecting the past.
Combining disciplines as a way to build bridges and relationships. Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue! One thing is building, moving, doing together - another thing is sharing perspectives and experiences in order to create something new. Use dialogue as a way to engage participants, creators, performers. Value different perspectives and that there’s always two sides to the story.
A festival for the city - not only for the disciplines. Acknowledging the historical and political context for bringing inclusivity and diversity in the festival.
A wish for openness in the sense of welcoming perspectives, working with the limits of the spaces, as well as to make the festival interactive for the participants and creators of it.
The exploration of power structures and dynamics in terms of professions, as well as the position of the mountain in relation to the city of Barcelona and its citizens.
Using the cultural aspects as a tool for transformation and the fact that art can change people, habits and transform societies.
Not all five of us were present during the conversation café. This was due to running out buying socks, as well as editing sounds and photos that have been taken and recorded previously. The intention with the ceremony was to end the day with a visual showing of all the thoughts and ideas that had been generated by the participants. This was furthermore a way to show our appreciation and gratitude towards the amount of engagement during the day.
As we are leaving beautiful Barcelona soon to go back to Denmark, we will be leaving this project too. This means that further contact and initiatives will be initiated by Àngels Margarit, who will share her thoughts and information regarding the project.
Amalie Falk, Mikkel Skov, Simon Ahlgren, Eske Touborg and Helen Busch with the person that made this collaboration possible - Frank Nesi.
Here is a list of the participants of the workshop.
Architects
David Bravo
Alessandra Fararone
Valerie Merola
Fabrizia Pacifico
Zulema Josa
Anna de Torróntegui
Pepe Ramos
Miquel Santos
Pere Buil
Roger Llimos
Choreographers
Mireia de Querol
Raquel Gualtero
Emma Vilavechia
Constanza Brncic
Georgia Vardarou
Amaranta Velarde
Magí serra forasté
Anamaria Klajnšček
Other
Frank Nesi, process consultat
Teresa Macia, historian
Do you want to know more about the Kaospilots?
The Kaospilot 3-year educational Enterprising Leadership program is for students who want to develop in business creativity, personal mastery and enterprising leadership to create positive social change. They are trained to develop ideas and solutions that are original, relevant and that serve multiple needs: those of their clients and their collaborators, those of the wider affected communities, along with contributing to the broader change needed in the world. Besides this the students possess skills within facilitation, process design and project management amongst others.
https://www.kaospilot.dk/
Simon Ahlgren
Email: ahlgren@kaospilot.dk
Phone: +46 73 758 89 86
Helen Busch
Email: helen@kaospilot.dk
Phone: +45 30 26 21 66
Amalie Falk
Email: afj@kaospilot.d
Phone: +45 27 64 46 44
Mikkel Skov Madsen
Email: mikkel@kaospilot.dk
Phone: +45 29 90 64 01
Eske Touborg
Email: eske@kaospilot.dk
Phone: +45 23 95 58 85