RESIDENT ARTIST

Looking to the Future 2.0

This year’s unifying theme is golden seams. And the truth is that I’ve been thinking about it for days and a lot of ideas come to mind... Seam (in general) as the beginning of a crisis of what is old and needs to be restored or... demolished. Seam (in a wall) as a fissure that lets us see, or sense, what lies behind, which is, after all, the function of art. Seam (in a tectonic plate) that is the beginning of a continental drift that makes a new world appear at the end of time with a nature that has evolved in an imaginative and surprising way. Seam (in time) as a resurgence of a new stage...

I believe that it is in these seams where the Art Council of the Gran Teatre del Liceu has done its work since I joined it. In the presentation of the first season, 2020-2021, I entitled my text Looking to the Future and, re-reading it now, it occurs to me that this introduction should bear the same title, but with a 2.0, which is what you do with software versions as they are improved. Because I think that’s what has happened with all the challenges we set ourselves: educating children, arousing young people’s interest, attracting audiences in their 20s and 30s, and broadening the tastes of adult audiences. And this thanks to a programme open to everyone, with extremely varied styles, a notable presence of women creators and a commitment to young talent – Oh!pera – or doing social work – La Gata perduda (The Lost Cat), which integrates residents of El Raval district – or educational work – The Monster in the Maze, a participatory opera for school-age students –or seeking the youngest audiences – La Torre de Nadal (The Christmas Tower) went to Plaza Catalonia. We are working with projects for young dancers connected to both the Theatre Institute and the city of Barcelona. And we must not forget the success of Under35, whose tickets sell out to young and enthusiastic audiences, future spectators of our opera house. And the twinning of the Liceu with different arts has led to all kinds of artists using the theatre’s spaces.

Is it possible to ask for more? Of course it is! And, in fact, all of us who work on this project called the Gran Teatre del Liceu are already looking to the future with version 3.0 in mind. However, for the moment I would like to highlight the work done and the great dedication of all the theatre’s teams. And, from my point of view, I am especially excited about the presence in the 2023-2024 season of wonderful names in stage direction such as Christof Loy, Elkhanah Pulitzer, Nuria Espert, Calixto Bieito, Graham Vick, Bob Wilson, Emma Dante, David McVicar and, in the field of choreography, Alexander Ekman, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Sasha Waltz.

After all, we all live perpetually in a seam in time.

Àlex Ollé Stage director

Barcelona, February 2023