Study visit: Local events with global impacts Cities Strengthening their international creative position through world-class cultural events & facilities Barcelona, 14th June 2017
Barcelona provides an ideal setting for culture and creativity:
- 2,000 years of history and architectural heritage with 9 UNESCO humankind heritage sites
- A society with a strong cultural identity but loving multiculturalism and mixture, open and respectful of minorities, thoughts, aesthetic and unorthodox lifestyles, a magnet for the creative classes
- A city that has been one of the cradles of European avant-garde cultural movements of the twentieth century such as modernism, surrealism, cubism, modernism, LGTB counterculture, abstract art or electronic music The creative and cultural industries are one of the most significant for the Catalan economy both its current size as its future perspectives
Main indicators*: - 108,000 workers in the creative industries in Barcelona (49% of the total creative industries jobs in Catalonia)
- 7,320 companies of the creative industries sector
* Source: Barcelona Creative Metropolis Report 2013
Assets of the creative industries sector in Barcelona and Catalonia
1.- Large tractor companies that reach the global market: Mediapro, Planeta, La Fura dels baus, Focus, CCMA
2.- A large ecosystem of SMEs covering the entire value chain of the cultural and creative production that enable an efficient and competitive sector
3.- Good vocational arts & media schools and universities, an excellent ecosystem of R&D+I at universities and Tech Transfer Centres, including some large companies with their own research departments: Institut del Teatre, Escola Massana, Emav, Esmuc
The Barcelona Culture Institute was created by the Barcelona City Council in 1996
Mission: to position Barcelona's culture as one of the primary assets for the development and projection of the city
ICUB manages municipal cultural facilities & services and promotes the emergence and consolidation of cultural platforms promoted by private initiatives and projects throughout the city.
THE BARCELONA ART FACTORIES PROGRAMME
Since 2007 this programme has created a network of 11 buildings (mostly former factories) bought by the Barcelona City Council, that have been refurbished for its use by artists, cultural agents and organisations involved in the promotion of creation
Mission:
1) Expand the city’s network of public facilities designed to support cultural creation and production. 2) Strengthen the city’s networks and enrich its cultural fabric to become benchmark centres creating new discourses and contents based on excellence and quality.
Grec Barcelona Summer Festival
Since 1976 The Barcelona Summer Festival - Grec features a comprehensive offer of theater, music, dance and circus shows.
The festival’s main venue is a greek theatre built on Mount Montjuïc in 1929 for the Barcelona International Exhibition. The Festival has since become a symbol of Barcelona's cultural life and a key event on the European festival calendar.
152,000 spectators (2016 Edition) (Municipal network of Libraries)
Main figures: 40 municipal libraries 350 workers 50,000 m2, "the city’s largest cultural centre“ Wi-Fi access in all the libraries A total of 27 multimedia libraries More than 45% of the population of Barcelona has a library membership card More than 20,000 people visit the libraries of the city every day
Main Municipal Museums in Barcelona:
These are some of the most relevant museums managed by a public consortium integrated by the Barcelona City Council and other public administrations such as the Government of Catalonia, the Government of Spain or the Barcelona Provincial Council
The National Theatre of Catalonia is a public theatre created by the Department of Culture of the Government of Catalonia, the building was designed by Catalan postmodern architect Ricard Bofill. The building, like the Royal National Theatre in the UK, contains three theatre spaces: Grand hall, Small hall Seats 1366 and Workshop hall, showing many different types of productions mainly in Catalan.
Seats 800
Founded in 1976, The Teatre Lliure de Barcelona (The Free Theater of Barcelona) is one of the most prestigious theaters for the performing arts in Spain. It is currently headed by one of its founders, Lluís Pasqual. It has two venues, one in Montjuic with a large and a small theater rooms, and one in the Gràcia District, with a medium-sized theater room. In these venues the theater presents theater plays based on texts, ideas and proposals from various fields and scenic languages, always following the aim to reflect reality. Mercat de les Flors - Movement Arts Centre
Seats 670 Mercat de les Flors – Centre de les Arts del Moviment (Flower Market Movement Arts Centre) is a municipal theater opened in 1983 in the Palace of Agriculture, built for the International Exhibition of 1929 in Montjuïc and which later housed the central flower market (now in Mercabarna), where it takes its name. From its beginnings the Mercat de les Flors has been and continues being a space of reference of the scenic arts in general in the city of Barcelona. At the moment it is considered a center of reference for the Dance & Movement Arts research, production, creation and dissemination. On 2007, Mercat de les Flors - Movement Arts Centre became a consortium, participated by the Barcelona City Council and the Governement of Catalonia with the collaboration of the Spanish Ministry of Culture Higher School of Theater & performing arts
Institut del Teatre – Higher School of Theater and Performing Arts was created by the Barcelona Provincial Council in 1913, the Theatre Institute has over one hundred years of history as a centre for teaching, creativity, research, conservation and promotion of heritage in the field of performing arts. During all these years has played a key role in the modernization of the Catalan stage.
Since 2000, is headquartered in Montjuïc in Barcelona, and shares the space surrounding the Margarida Xirgu square with the Free Theater and the Flower Market Movement Arts Centre. The building occupies 24,000 square meters, including Studio theater (seats 130), Ovidi Motllor theater (seats 130) an exhibition hall and a specialised library. The Institute has satellite venues in Terrassa (Alegria Theater and Sala Maria Plans and in Vic (The Chamber lab).
The Premio Planeta de Novela is a Spanish literary prize, awarded since 1952 by the Spanish publisher Grupo Planeta to an original novel written in Spanish. It is one of about 16 literary prizes given by Planeta. Financially, it’s the second most valuable literary award in the world after the Nobel Prize for Literature with the winner receiving €600,000. In terms of a single book prize, it is the most valuable in the world 718,000 daily readers 448,000 daily readers (both Catalan and Spanish editions) (both Catalan and Spanish editions)
and the HQs of the other 2 nationwide newspapers in Catalan (ARA, EL PUNT AVUI) and more than 50 nationwide magazines in Spanish and Catalan
(40% of the Spanish TV production)
Barcelona Municipal Media School - EMAV ESCAC - Catalonia Higher School of Cinema & Audiovisual
Live concerts 67.5 Million Euros turnover and festivals
7.7 Million attendees
CDs and 10.2 Million Euros turnover Streaming platforms 7 Catalan Record Labels ESMUC Higher School of Music of Catalonia
Gran Teatre del Liceu Music Conservatoire Barcelona’s Municipal Music Auditorium HQs of OCB – Catalan National Orchestra HQs of the Music Museum (The largest of its 3 music halls seats 2,200)
Gran Teatre del Liceu Opera House Montserrat Caballé & Josep Carreras opera stars started their careers at this world famous Catalan opera house built in 1847 (seats 3,000)
Palau de la Música Catalana Hall of Music Jewel of the Modernista (Art Nouveau) style, The Palau is comparable to New York’s Carnagie Hall or London’s Royal Albert Hall for its excellent acoustics (seats 2,049)
Palau Sant Jordi Olympic Arena for large scale concert (seats 18,000)
Barcelona’s Retro swing, indie & electronica dance & concert hall (seats 1,000)
Barcelona’s jazz & indie dance & concert hall (seats 1,500)
Barcelona’s indie & electronica music concert hall
(seats 4,000) Large independent music festival that takes place each spring* in the huge seaside Parc del Fòrum. It is one of the largest music festivals in Europe with an attendance over 200,000 (2016). The festival is twinned to a professional congress (PrimaveraPRO) and a satellite festival NOS Primavera Sound in Porto (Portugal) With a budget of 11 million Euros, and a public subsidy by the Barcelona City Council of 330,000 Euros, the festival has a direct economic impact in Barcelona’s economy of of 100 milion Euros
* Primavera means spring in Catalan & Spanish
When ? Thursday, Friday and Saturday in mid June, with Sonar by Day and Sonar by Night sessions Where ? Sonar by Day + Sonar+D: Barcelona Trade Fair Montjuïc venue* 1 outdoor stage + 3 indoor stages + food truck area + chill out oasis + Sonar+D congress venue (keynote presentation stages and business networking facilities)
Sonar by Night: Barcelona Trade Fair Gran Via venue* 2 outdoor stages + 3 indoor stages + food truck area + chill out oasis
* Europe’s 2nd largest Trade Fair venues
Budget of Sonar + Sonar+d: 8 Million Euros
Economic contribution of the Barcelona City Council to sonar: 300,000 Euros
Areas of Barcelona City Council involved in the cooperation agreement with Sonar: - Enterprise, Culture & Innovation - Ecology, Urban Planning & Mobility Why does the Barcelona City Council support Sonar?
Sonar is interesting for the City of Barcelona for the following reasons:
1.- It acts as a magnet for the attraction of creative and & tech talent
2.- It strengthens the international positioning of Barcelona as an international hub of high added value sectors as creative industries, ICT – mobile & media
3.- It boosts the local economy with its great ability to attract high income international visitors, creating jobs, promoting entrepreneurship and increasing the activity of tourism related local SMEs
4.- It promotes the consolidation of an innovation ecosystem with cross fertilization between technology-intensive and creative sectors, the industry, universities and final consumers
5.- It’s a city-scale culture and educational event that contributes to Barcelona’s social cohesion (for example with intergenerational programmes as SONARKIDS)
Objectives of the Barcelona City Council cooperation agreement with Sonar
PROMOTION OF TRAINING & PROMOTION FOSTERING EMPLOYMENT IN OF ART & CULTURE ENTREPRENEURSHIP CREATIVE & TECH PROFILES
STRENGTHEN THE INTERNATIONAL TERRITORIAL STRENGTHEN PROJECTION OF PRESENCE OF SOCIAL COHESION SONAR AND THE SONAR IN THE CITY OF BARCELONA NEIGHBOURHOODS facts & figures
Sonar Economic impact: 72 million Euros + 732 direct jobs Sonar + parallel events: 124 million Euros + 1,200 jobs facts & figures
12 Creative Industries (San Francisco & Barcelona HQs) (Luxemburg HQs) Venture Capital (Geneva & Silicon Valley HQs) funds at Meet
the investors (Germany, Denmark , UK, Israel & Barcelona HQs) (USA HQs) 100 pitching sessions (Milan HQs)