A new manager and a change in cultural orientation. This is the future of Sala Barts, the performing arts and music venue on Paral·lel. The consortium created by the cooperatives Quesoni and L'Afluent, together with Sala Upload, will be in charge of carrying it out. The coordination of the project, called Músiques en Paral·lel, will be handled by cultural manager Anna Cerdà.
The cultural proposal has won the municipal tender to manage the venue for the next four years (renewable), after proposing an intensive use of the space combining quality, connection with the local and international sector, and new programming elements, as well as the best economic offer, in the proposal presented in the tender called by the Barcelona City Council, according to the Institut de Cultura de Barcelona (Icub).
The change in management comes after the city council, owner of the venue located in the old Teatro Español, announced the reorientation of its programming in accordance with the municipal plan Casas de Cultura de Barcelona, which aims to deploy new strategies in facilities and spaces that already have a cultural and artistic trajectory in the city to become a pole of revitalization in different disciplines.
The purpose of the city council is that in this new stage the venue becomes a space dedicated to the local fabric, but with a national and international vocation, connecting with entities. Thus, the tender criteria determined aspects such as working in close coordination with the Xarxa de Fàbriques de Creació of the city of Barcelona and more specifically with Fabra i Coats, as well as with the network of Civic Centers and other publicly owned music venues such as L'Auditori, among other conditions.
This was one of the main reasons that led the until now manager of the space, the music promoter The Project, not to submit to the municipal tender to renew a concession it has operated since 2012 and which will end on April 17. The Project argued that it has made the venue "a reference model, both locally and nationally, due to the multiplicity of artistic projects it has programmed over almost 10 years," a period that attracted 1.5 million spectators. For the music promoter, "the content of the new tender, which limits its use only to music, makes the continuity of what Barts is and what it has been, and its transversal and multi-scenic proposal, unviable. This fact has determined the painful decision not to submit a proposal."
According to the Icub, Músiques en Paral·lel "proposes an intensive use of the venue with a formula that combines quality, connection with the local and international sector" and new programming elements linked to education, innovation, experimentation, and proximity. "The Músiques en Paral·lel project connects the two venues (Main Hall and Club Hall) with a very coherent and complementary program, demonstrates a great knowledge of the territory and the cultural and associative reality of the city, presenting numerous links and commitments between associations, institutions, and private spheres with the presented project," assures the Institut de Cultura.
The economic offer has also been a significant factor. The tender rules stipulated a fixed annual fee of a minimum of 30,000 euros, and the offer presented by both cooperatives and Sala Upload increases it to 91,000 euros, in addition to committing to allocate 20,000 euros to education-related projects and 20,000 euros to production projects.
Regarding the promoters of Músiques en Paral·lel, the Quesoni cooperative promotes festivals such as Say it Loud and is present in various collective spaces such as La Comunal, l'Ateneu Cooperatiu del Vallès Oriental, CulturaCoop, or the Xarxa de Festivals de Catalunya.
Afluent is a cultural services cooperative, which currently manages the artistic direction of BAM, the VOL concert hall, and the Vespres de la UB cycle.
While Sala Upload has an extensive program and promotes festivals such as Gambeat Weekend, Barcelona Psych fest, and the Picnic Beat outdoor concert series.