A new hub of cultural creation has emerged in the Raval. Abacus has opened a space that will centralize the cooperative's content creation, and it has done so at number 4 Peu de la Creu street, which was home to historic publishing houses, before housing the Memorial Democràtic until two years ago. Now converted into Casa Abacus, the building will host all editorial and audiovisual projects developed by the entity.
In this new center, Casa Abacus becomes the space for publishing houses and imprints with extensive trajectories, such as La Galera, Univers, Navona, Viena, Elastic Books, Ediciones Invisibles, and Catedral. It also serves as the headquarters for Abacus's main publications, and will house the cooperative's audiovisual content production.
This new space represents for Abacus "taking another step, faithful to the legacy of the founders, renewing it and responding to the current challenges of culture and education," according to the cooperative's president, Maravillas Rojo. The location of the new center, moreover, is not accidental, but responds to a desire to "be useful for Barcelona, in an emblematic Raval that breathes diversity and creativity," according to Rojo.
And one of the center's objectives is to revitalize the neighborhood, where activities and live music have been organized to publicize the new space, called to act as a cultural engine for the Raval and Ciutat Vella. All this at a time of "maximum importance for the creation of content in Catalan," highlighted the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni.
With this underlying objective, Casa Abacus "will be a space where culture, content in Catalan, and ideas that advance the world come together to create editorial and audiovisual projects that bet on quality, creativity, and commitment," as defended by the president of Abacus Futur, Jaume Roures.
Casa Abacus was inaugurated at an event with about 300 personalities from the Catalan cultural and political world, in a gathering that also served as a prelude to Sant Jordi. During the event, pens were given to authors so they could write dedications to their readers during the day. In a new tradition that Abacus will promote every Sant Jordi eve, the first pen was given to the illustrator and writer Pilarín Bayés.