Cover

Comments

• Responses

  RE: James, yes it doesn't seem coherent. I also find it ironic that Telenoika's projections this summer at the CaixaForum (part of Nits d'estiu and the Grec Festival) were intended – whether they liked it or not – to be enjoyed by tourists too. CaixaForum sent us a press release on it (in English) and I know from having met with their Difusió i Públics department that CaixaForum specifically target tourists and local expats as part of their communications strategy.
  
  RE: Mark, the "the ordinance on coexistence" is a translation of "ley de convivencia" which I understand to mean the "Ordenanza de Medidas para Fomentar y Garantizar la Convivencia Ciudadana en el Espacio Público de Barcelona." This is Barcelona's so called “civic ordinance” passed in 2003 by the City Council that enacted sanctions on urban art (graffiti), panhandling, solicitation of prostitution (as if this solved the problem), noise, urinating in public, botellón and using soap in public showers, among other incivic behaviors that are exclusively the responsibility of drunk English tourists.

  Posted by Michael Mueller December 05, 2011 19:22:26

• Question

  What does this mean "the ordinance on coexistence"?

  Posted by Mark December 05, 2011 14:27:06

• More thoughts

  It's funny the more I think about their response the more ridiculous it seems. I also presume when they do their international gigs they also avoid flying on budget airlines which have done as much as anyone to promote affordable tourism around Europe and when they go to a new city obviously they don't lower themselves to research their destination in one of the devil's own books like a Lonely Planet or Time Out Guide, they just instinctively know where to go to find what they want. They'll also obviously avoid any gigs connected with the Barcelona Ajuntament who have had an aggressively pro-tourist agenda since the Olympics.
  
  The more you think about it, the more hypocritical and ridiculous their response becomes.
  
  

  Posted by James December 05, 2011 09:53:28

• Re: James

  Thanks for your comment James. Yes I found it an odd response, particularly since Telenoika actually have quite an international profile. They publish a summary on their group in both English and French (in addition to Catalan):
  
  http://telenoika.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=16&Itemid=57
  
  And as I noted in my reply to their response, Telenoika travel frequently to participate in international festivals. Over the past few years in fact they have brought their video mappings to Portugal, France, Italy, Netherlands, UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Romania, Norway, Turkey, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Japan and Australia.
  
  Presumably, when they traveled to these festivals, they were not "destroying" the cities they visited, on the contrary.

  Posted by Michael Mueller December 04, 2011 17:24:09

• Odd response

  Personally as a long term Barcelona resident I enjoy your magazine as I always find somewhere new to go and interesting events that I would otherwise have missed.
  
  I don't know what the actual agenda of Telenoika is but it certainly partly involves taking money from large unethical banks and big business for corporate events so to refuse an interview from a magazine enjoyed by lots of Barcelona residents and a few tourists seems rather odd.
  
  I did notice that their website is only in Catalan so perhaps they are still in denial that Barcelona is an international, multi-cultural city these days which, ironically for visual artists, is rather short sighted.

  Posted by James December 04, 2011 14:04:36