Since I have retired from social events, I only receive news occasionally and try to ensure it does not disturb my work or take up my time, which is so necessary for its completion. However, lately, there has been an uproar across the entire world that seems to have no end. Culture, being a reflection and contemporary of these events, suffers from tachycardia and stress. I hear a clamor emanating from this dizzying carousel, which even the solid walls of my castle cannot stop. From the Department of Culture, in an interview published on the digital platform Tarragona 21.cat, which serves as a kind of pulpit from which one can pontificate at will, Councillor Mr. Josep Maria Prats attacks all the work carried out in Tarragona over the last forty years, and without mincing words and with an irritating authority, after having closed the Teatre del Camp de Mart and shut down “El Teler de Llum,” thereby abruptly destroying the concept of ephemeral art, he wields his sword against festivals, the REC film festival, and the SCAN photography festival, as well as against the programming of the city’s other theaters, and as if that were not enough, against the artists—all of whom, in his opinion, lack the desirable level. A radical stance worthy of the most furious Dadaists. If Arthur Cravan, Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, Tristan Tzara… and others had been able to read his interview, as I have, Mr. Prats, they would applaud him wildly.
Ah! Those times when Picasso and his companions, in the early morning, upon leaving the tavern
would shout: “Death to the pompier painters! Death to the pompier painters,” while Don Pablo took out his
pistol and fired a few shots into the air, amidst the applause of his friends and the fright of the
neighbors.
As I have been able to deduce, distilling the words of the Councillor, for forty years the king has been
naked, and no one has ever dared to tell him. Now, all of a sudden, an enlightened voice has made him see his
nakedness amidst the rags that, all this time, everyone mistook for silk. A
radical behavior, typical of Dada, whose centenary was commemorated last year.
Precisely on these dates, as I am writing this article, “Museum Night” was being celebrated everywhere, just as
it is this year. I presented a documentary: “Opus Dada,” by Pep Escoda and
Carles Izquierdo, at the Museum of Modern Art of the Diputació, with the collaboration of Oriol Grau and
Mónica Lopez, from the defunct “Sala Trono,” during the reading of the poem: “Demolition Company,”
found inside a bottle on Platja del Miracle, published in a pamphlet produced by Silva
Editorial. A couple of months ago, during a pre-arranged visit with Mr. Prats, I gave him
a copy, and I would not want the content of this pamphlet, specifically the poem, to have
been the trigger that caused the current upheaval. But if that were the case, it should be considered
a complete success. Dadaist stances are more typical of radical adolescent
artists. That they have reached the Department of Culture of the Tarragona City Council. It is a
triumph!
All this has happened while the extraordinary Portuguese jazz singer Salvador Sobral, with
a ballad that is almost a whisper and a performance on the verge of a shiver, pulverizing
all clichés, has won the Eurovision festival, and has made Dylan’s words come true: “The
times they are a-changin’.”
It is advisable to destroy everything to create anew. That is not bad. But it must be taken into account that the
Dadaists only thought that everything had to be destroyed, and in the brief period of their
existence, before being swallowed by the Surrealists, they never thought of creating anything new,
and they did not realize that while they were destroying, they were also creating, because these are
two indissoluble actions, just as leisure and culture are. The City Council
desires high-flying culture and proposes a solid cultural approach. Leisure remains for the private
sector. Forward! If forty years ago institutions had created the necessary bridges of collaboration
between the two worlds, things would probably have turned out differently. Now,
after what has transpired in the last ten years, I doubt that a single company remains willing
to invest in financing culture. In any case, the desire to carry out the project of the “Library
Network,” which I have already had the pleasure of hearing about from previous councillors of various
parties, and which has never quite succeeded, will be good for the future of the city. Man has the capacity,
it seems innate, to fantasize. You, politicians, from the position granted to you by your
elected office, and with a guaranteed salary, can do so full-time. Now, Mr. Prats, it remains
to be seen if, under your command, the city of Tarragona becomes a spearhead of contemporary
culture. I return to my castle and look at the sea from the balcony, waiting.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Josep Maria Rosselló 20/5/2017– — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
