"I have always been interested in culture in all its diversity. I am enthusiastic about the interrelation of the arts and, of course, theater. In fact, I am proud of my will to know, of my interest in almost everything. What interests me least is sport... I only like to know that Barça has won, but that's in honor of my father, who was a great culé!"
Francesc Viñas Faura has arrived in time for a glass of Corpinnat, "which has nothing to envy most French champagnes," before having a menu "of the first and second course kind, with a glass of wine and, above all, dessert." In the background, a varied musical selection is tolerated "until reggaeton plays. Then, please, change the station or turn off the radio."
He has worked as a literature teacher and has been the director of the Institut Arquitecte Manuel Raspall in Cardedeu, where, in addition to several generations of students, he has also trained directors of schools. Passionate about literature and theater, he was the director of the culture service of the Granollers City Council in the late 80s and is the conductor of the reading clubs Llegir el teatre at the TNC and in the Can Pedrals libraries in Granollers and Núria Albó in La Garriga. He also teaches the Literature and Arts course for the Popular University of Granollers (UPG) and actively collaborates with the Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (AELC).
In 2020, his love for culture was reflected in the publication of his first book, La Garriga i la literatura, dedicated to thoroughly studying the literary substratum of his hometown. Now, the parishioner returns to bookstores with the impressive El teatre de la natura a Catalunya (Godall): the first book that covers an untransferably Catalan phenomenon that developed during the first quarter of the 20th century and vindicated the landscape as the stage for theatrical work. "It's an unknown topic, but one that says a lot in favor of our country. Of French origin, outside of Catalonia this cultural phenomenon did not exist. A journalist from a Madrid newspaper of the time, attending one of the performances of the teatre de la natura, said that in Madrid they only like bullfighting and that's it," he laughs. Profusely documented and illustrated, the book sheds light on a way of making theater that was experienced in various Catalan towns in the full splendor of bourgeois Modernism.
The path from student to master
"Neither Catalan nor Catalan literature existed in educational centers in the 70s, it was deplorable," laments Francesc, who fondly remembers how all his coordinates changed when he was in his sixth year of high school: "For the first time, they made us read books by great Spanish authors and some French authors like Albert Camus and his L'étranger," he recalls, as the first course of the menu was just served. "That opened up a whole world of possibilities for me."
Those readings were the seed of a key moment in his life, "when, after finishing pre-university sciences, I decided to study Philology at the Universitat de Barcelona." Those were times of constant learning, of swimming in different directions in search of cultural references, many of which had been hidden under the weight of the long decades of the dictatorship and its forced institutional oblivion. They were also years of making history, in addition to reading it. "A very relevant event for me was my political participation in 1979 in the first democratic government that existed since the end of the war in my town, La Garriga, alongside the writer Nuria Albó as mayor." Those were intense and very exciting years.
The circle was to close when, "spurred on by my colleagues, I decided to accept the directorship of a secondary school. That was one of the great challenges of my life, which I undertook with a transformative will within governmental limits and constraints." This is how, that boy who had fallen in love with books and culture with Camus, became someone with a voice and a vote within a pedagogical system over which the silences, shames, and omissions of the previous regime no longer weighed.
Awaiting a new outburst
For Francesc, Barcelona is his reference city, "a unifying core where there are halls, bars, and restaurants of all kinds" to which he still goes once or twice a week to enjoy some cultural event. A way of experiencing the city that comes from his childhood, "when I came here with my grandparents once a month to eat in some renowned restaurant and then go to the theater to see zarzuelas or comedy shows. For me it was magical."
Later, as a young man, he experienced the cultural upheaval that shook its streets in the 70s and 80s. "I used to go to the Publi cinema to watch art house films and many nights to Zeleste, Jamboree, Cúpula Venus or Salón Diana. I also went to the Poliorama theater or the Barcelona theater, which was next to the station. With the emergence of small-format alternative theaters, a new season opened: Sala Becket, Tantarantana, Versus, Teatre Gaudí, La Gleba, and a long etcetera of venues that allowed you to connect with new authors and actors, beyond the official programming of the big stages. In parallel, I enjoyed the Tradicionàrius, a project that collects our musical heritage with today's perspective," he explains, already giving an account of the second course of his menu.
--- And how do you see Barcelona right now?
The regular frowns. "The trivialization of culture and the enslavement of big brands that spoil everything are contaminating and depersonalizing the city. I think we are going through a phase of certain lethargy, but little by little the explosion of a new time full of creativity and vigor is being fed, with a clear respect for the city's history." The old professor finishes his glass of wine and declares: "The new generations have the floor."
--- While we wait for the new generations to recover the cultural soul of the city, can we tempt you with a dessert?
Francesc Viñas Faura's face lights up. "Of course! Any pastry product without an excess of sugar I love. Sweets, 'roscones', cream pastries, chocolate carquinyolis... the important thing is that they are not from large supermarkets."
--- Oh no, everything here is homemade.
--- Well, say no more!