• Català
  • Castellano
  • English
Areas Social action Culture and Historical Heritage

This Saturday, Leonmanso performs at Casa del Poble in la Mola

leonmanso 1For lovers of singer-songwriters, the Formentera Council (CiF) Office of Culture is pleased to announce a performance by Leonmanso this Saturday, April 30, in promotion of the artist's newest CD, Jardins de brutes basses. The Minorcan performer's sound is described as a mixture of folk pop and singer-songwriter traditions, while still distinctly reminiscent of typically American sounds.

The private universe of Llure Marquès (aka Leonmanso) is made up of magical anecdotes, intimate experiences and universal reflections. In this, his second disc, the ensemble is tied together in a package of multicoloured craft paper. Autobiographical stories (Com ells, Sa mamà cuida ses flors o Com tronc corrent avall) appear alongside dreamworld jaunts (Es tren and the hit Darrer intent) and even the odd nightmare (Es vell malalt). To be sure, the sound is bare bones, very well steeped. The dry brand of folk harkens back to Marquès' own youth where both grunge and traditional Minorcan performers like Joan Fandango were present.

Jardins de brutes basses was recorded and produced by the artist's friend (and former Spectrum rival) Quim Torres, himself a member of music group Delên. The album was recorded in a house in the Minorcan countryside with the benefit of simmering pots of home cooking, friends, shaggy pets and family. Jardins is the first offering from Velomar Records, a fledgling Minorcan record label that is already teeming with bright ideas and exciting projects.

The concert will take place Saturday April 30 at 8.30pm in la Casa del Poble in la Mola. The event is part of the Institut d'Estudis Baleàrics' initiative Talent Ib. For more information, head over to: http://velomarrecords.com/leonmanso/

Beni Trutmann honours nine of 87 participants

1e Premi Blanc i negre Entre Lineas. Jose TomasYesterday at eight in the evening, not only did jurors name the winners of the 14th Beni Trutmann photo contest, the Formentera Council Office of Culture pulled up the curtain on an exhibition of prints from this year's competition. The showing will remain on display from Monday through Friday, 10.00am to 2.00pm, until May 7 at the municipal gallery (Sala d'Exposicions) of the Ajuntament Vell.

Since its inception, the Trutmann competition has focused on Formentera nature in all of its forms —landscapes, flora and fauna, humans in nature— as the reflection of an unwavering environmental commitment. When he died, Trutmann bequeathed more than 30,000 photos to Formentera, all of which show the photograph's deep love for the natural beauty of the island. The idea of a photo competition came about as a way to pay tribute to Trutmann, said CiF culture councillor Susana Labrador.

New category, smart phone

To teach Formentera's youth about this important local figure, this year, organisers of the competition decided to propose a new category to participants: photos taken on smart phones. The category is open to anyone between 12 and 18 and, according to organisers, participants have already taken a shine to it. The Polaroid company signed on to participate as well, offering photo material as prizes for this year's contest.

Eighty-seven people participated in the 2016 Beni Trutmann competition. In black-and-white and colour, 48 photographers submitted a total of 131 prints. In the new smart phone category, 39 individuals sent in 109 photos. All submissions will now become part of the Council's photo archives.

The jury for the competition was formed by a representative from the Formentera branch of the Balearic birdwatching and nature group, a representative from the local arm of Obra Cultural Balear, two individuals with experience in visual arts and one staff member from the Council's Office of Youth Services.

Councillor Labrador congratulated all of this year's winners, listed as follows:

Black-and-white
First prize: €500, José Tomás Rojas
Second prize: €300, Federic Vicent Marí Held
Third prize: €200, Ricardo Lamín

Colour
First prize: €500, David Hernández Martin
Second prize: €300, Sergi Torres Costa
Third prize: €200, Aleksandra Maria Rozej

Smart phone
First prize: Polaroid SNAP instant camera, Victoria Jiménez García
Second prize: Polaroid Cube action camera, Julia Tur Mayans
Third prize: IF045 sports camera, Randa Ben Hamza Shaim Abja

Ramon Pérez Carrió lays cards on table with 'La Baralla de les Meravelles'

Cartell baralla meravellesThe Formentera Council Office of Culture welcomes to the island La Baralla de les Meravelles. With a title twisted off the Catalan word for the naipes and roughly translated as “the deck of marvels”, the exhibition from Ramon Pérez Carrió opens today as part of the Sant Jordi activities programme. An opening attended by the artist is scheduled for 8.00pm in the old town hall (Ajuntament Vell). It is the first time the exhibit stops in Formentera, though the island features as one of the four suits that comprise the deck of playing cards. The show will run from April 18-24 in the municipal gallery (Sala d'Exposicions) before relocating to the La Caixa gallery for a stint from April 27-May 7.

The collection is composed of 42 gouaches that Pérez has crafted in the colourist tradition. El Llibre de les Meravelles, from universal Majorcan thinker Ramon Llull was a spur for the idea, as were the culture, history and alchemy of the four Balearic islands. The paintings resemble the 40-card naipes deck with two notable jokers thrown in: Llull himself and the famously-hermitic abbot turned saint Felix of Rhuys. Each one of four suits represents a different island of the Balearic archipelago. Clubs stand in for Menorca, gold coins for Mallorca, cups for Eivissa and swords for Formentera. What is more, each number from one to ten coincides with the books that constitute El Llibre de les Meravelles (Llibre dels Elements, dels Metalls, del Cel, de les Plantes, de les Bèsties, de l’Infern, del Paradís, de l’Home, dels Àngels i de Déu).

The symbolism of the images relies on a blend of history, tradition, mythology and the immense cultural wealth of the unique geological and geographic traits of the Mediterranean corridor. Pérez draws on inspiration from the gnostic, alchemistic and cabalistic iconography of the thirteenth century humanist sage's medieval codices. The paintings in La Baralla are also an unmistakeable nod to art history and the Platonic thought that Llull emboldened during his lifetime.

Ramon Llull christened his philosophic technique “Art”, so it is no great surprise that “plastic” is often used to interpret his work. Llull fathered the idea of a language based on binary code, as well as the Lullian wheel and the tree-shaped conceptual diagram. He is also responsible for putting forward the first postulations about play-inciting areas of the brain and something he called “the art of finding marvels”, a technique that included crafting mosaics of possibilities capable of leading us to understanding and absolute knowledge.

In 2003 Fundació Baleària commissioned Ramon Pérez Carrió for this project and offered a luxury-format of La Baralla for the maiden voyage of the transport company's Ramon Llull fast ferry. The originals were displayed in Terminal Drassanes of the Barcelona port before embarking on an art tour of the Balearics. Hoisted aboard a freighter called Illa de Botafoc, the collection made its way across the ports of our island community. In 2004, when the foundation launched Fundació “Baleària-4 Illes”, a reduced version of the deck was rolled out and the originals were placed on permanent exhibition in Cura, Mallorca, in a hall which is dedicated to Llull inside the Santa Mkaria monastery. Both of the two editions of the card decks are now out of print.

Llull is considered the father of cult Catalan prose. History recognises him for the lexical solutions he found for describing philosophical ideas in a language still short on resources. That explains why the exhibit has been employed by a poets' encounter called Un mar de paraules, a gathering of vocational Catalan hikers and as a background for spaces like Espai Comunicacional Ramon Llull, which symbolises regional unity. With the sea travel connections it offers, the Baleària company makes communication possible between territories that share a language and culture. The company's foundation, Fundació Baleària, has also signed on to commemorate the seventh centennial anniversary of Llull's death with the dissemination of La Baralla de les Meravelles.

http://www.ramonperezcarrio.com/?serie=baralla-de-les-meravelles
http://ramonperezcarrio.blogspot.com.es/2015/10/exposicio-baralla-de-les-meravelles-39.html

Next week Joan Marí Cardona conference series returns

Presentacio jornades fotoEarlier today the CiF Office of Heritage announced the specifics of the department's upcoming round of conferences titled Joan Marí Cardona Jornades d'Estudis Locals. As explained by department head Susana Labrador, the series, now in its fourth year, “began in 2011 as a way to promote field research on subjects relevant to Formentera's cultural heritage”. The seminars will run from Monday April 11 through Friday 15 and be held at 8.30 pm in the Sala d'Actes of the Formentera Office of Culture.

Conferences

First up, a presentation by Maria Bofill Martínez, PhD candidate at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, concerning her study of lithic and osseous artefacts left by the prehistoric communities of Formentera. A specialist in archaeology, Bofill was awarded the CiF's research grant in 2014.

Next, Javier Rodríguez Pandozi and Sebastià Munar Llabrés present their study of the S'Espardelló remains in Formentera's surrounding waters. On Wednesday, historian and Formentera-native Santiago Colomar will present his research concerning the smaller of the two Pitiüsa islands as a “forgotten frontier”, describing the island's use from 1571 to 1650 as a base for North African pirates, or, as they were once commonly known, “corsairs”. Next day, Dr Olga Cardona Guasch will lead a conference on the use by easement of local roads. Finally, on Friday, Enric Ribes Marí will present an approximative look at local toponymy.

Labrador reported that this year for the first time, Formentera's teacher resource centre (CEP) has opened up participation in the Joan Marí Cardona conference series to local teachers. Attending staff from educational centres will now have the possibility of receiving credit from the Govern Balear's Regional Ministry of Education. CEP head Ariadna Soler pointed to the interest local educational staff have already showed in the series. The morning presentation of the Joan Marí Cardona Jornades d'Estudi was also attended by Jaume Escandell, a staff specialist at the Formentera Office of Heritage.

Saturday 'Parasceve' takes stage in Formentera

parasceve 2 copiaThis Saturday at nine pm in the Sala de Cultura (Cinema) the Office of Culture of the Formentera Council will host Blai Bonet's Parasceve, the author's only production written for the stage. Included on the events calendar for the Sant Jordi holiday, the evening of theatre is also part of the programme Illa a Escena.

Playwright

Though poet, storyteller and Mallorca-native Blai Bonet (Santanyí, 1926-1997) is celebrated for the universality of his reach, in his lifetime he would only produce one work of theatre: Parasceve. The play is a portrait of the people, families and whole societies held prisoner by war. Bonet focuses on his characters as individuals rather than political figures to convey the familiar quality of this emotional tale.

Production

Based on the story of the Skiud household, Parasceve stands as a psychological family-portrait in a time of war. Faced with a tale that is so intensely personal, those in the audience are hard-pressed to remain safe sideline spectators. The message, then, becomes timeless and one that is unbounded by time. Before the transversal commonality of war, any other barriers fade into the periphery. Faithfully representing the playwright's original text, the company guides the audience through the cleansing process that must accompany any tragedy. Hence, the theatre and stage are transformed into ritual ground.

The current production of Parasceve is an unmissable opportunity to see Blai Bonet recoup human form. What T-SHOCK manages to convey scenographically with Parasceve is the savageness inherent in the choices we make; a representation of nothing less than devastation itself. Though purely symbolic, the universe created becomes a scene of conflict for truly dark forces.

Brought to the stage by the T-SHOCK company, Parasceve is directed by Jeroni G.Obrador and includes acting by Marta Barceló, Guillem Juaneda (from the film El perfecto desconocido) and David Pérez. Parasceve is involved in Circuit Talent IB, a talent circuit for music and stage productions that is promoted by the IEB and the Balearic Islands Regional Ministry of Culture. Circuit Talent IB is aimed at promoting cultural exchange between Mallorca, Menorca, Eivissa and Formentera. It has already brought to the island Fràgil (from Eivissa group Clownidoscopio) and is behind performances this month from Mallorca theatre group Circ Bové (Es Cirquet) and Menorca singer-songwriter Leonmanso.

More Articles...

Page 127 of 132

127

Xarxa de Biblioteques

Institut d'Estudis Baleàrics

Enciclopèdia d'Eivissa i Formentera