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LOOK INTO THE ART AND CULTURE OF EMPORDÀ THROUGH ITS CHARACTERS

Travel notes

EMPORDÀ: GAME OF CONTRASTS

By Cristina Mengual @theslowmediterranean Photo Andrea Ferrés

I'm truly fortunate to be able to call the Empordà my home and experience its magic and essence every day. I love strolling past and glancing at olive groves and vineyards that spread across the horizon or swimming in the coves of the Costa Brava and feeling the cool water of the sea. And the region’s typical dishes can’t be beat. I cherish discovering the history of the Empordà that families share with me. 

Bernat Daviu

"WORKING WITH PEOPLE HAS MADE ME A BETTER ARTIST"

By Gisela Chillida Photo Andrea Ferrés

Bernat Daviu is an artist and gallery owner. His artistic practice is focused on creating images with discordant levels of meaning that often address the topic of combining life and art. Painting is present in most of his projects, along with videos, costume design, food, and performance, which enables him to generate dynamic social situations in physical and collective spaces. 

No walls, no clock, no wifi, just calma.

EMPORDAN DESIGN

By Redacció

Calma is an outdoor furniture brand whose main value is to transmit design with each piece or collection. They don’t follow trends and each product has its own character and reason for existing. Respect for tradition, simplicity, honesty, and warmth are the basis for the responsible design they’re committed to, design with creative and cosmopolitan character. 

 

The most intimate Dalí

IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

By Anna-Priscila Magriñà

It’s said that the early years of our lives are decisive for our future. After persisting for thirty years, the city of Figueres is opening up the Salvador Dalí birthplace and home to the public, where the local genius’s early years can be discovered. Welcome to the only space in the world that interprets every side of Dalí.

b1n0

"EN EL EMPORDÀ SE ESTÁ CREANDO UNA COMUNIÓN DE ARTISTAS INCREÍBLE"

By Agus Izquierdo Photo Lluís Tudela

Emili Bosch y Malcus Codolà son b1n0, un tándem electrónico arraigado en la Bisbal que ha conseguido hacerse un sitio, con plena legitimidad, en la escena catalana. Entre la periferia y la música bailable, este proyecto nacido en plena pandemia ha conseguido trabajar en poco tiempo con artistas de la talla de Núria Graham, Tarta Relena, Fernando Palau, El Pequeño de Cal Eril o Pau Vehí (PHOAC). Exploradores impávidos de terrenos inhóspitos, b1n0 son más navegantes que músicos; más descubridores que productores. Ahora, después de bi (Foehn Records, 2021), trabajan en un nuevo EP que utilizará una voz creada con inteligencia artificial. Hemos conversado con la mitad de la formación.

Vivaldi in the Aiguamolls de l'Empordà

UNIQUE ECOSYSTEM

By Emma Aixalà Photo Dani Salvà

The Fluvià and Muga rivers irrigate the 5,000 hectares of crops, fields, and lagoons in the Aiguamolls de l’Empordà Natural Park. Out of the total, 800 hectares form a comprehensive reserve, a valuable ecosystem that can be visited all year round thanks to a vast network of trails.

Víctor Dolz

GAZES INTO THE ABYSS

By Eudald Camps Photo Lluís Català

Víctor Dolz (Begur, 1945) is something of a secret artist. He is indifferent to the comedy that the art world never tires of representing. He paints in a regular and methodical manner somewhat on the sidelines in his studios in Begur and Palafrugell. He works without haste, conscious of doing just what he needs to do. Dolz carefully manages his words just like his artwork, where everything tends to become essential, but is generous when observers approach his works along with the bareness they expect.

Cap Roig

THE DREAM OF AN ENGLISH ARISTOCRAT AND A RUSSIAN COLONEL

By Emma Aixalà Photo Fundació ”la Caixa”

History is full of fascinating spots just waiting to be discovered. When this happens, time stops and a handful of characters, landscapes, and passions come to life and captivate us forever. The Cap Roig castle and gardens in Calella de Palafrugell are one of those stories now shining with their own legendary tale. This is possible thanks to the archival work that the ”la Caixa” Foundation has carried out with an impressive range of archives that reveal the extraordinary Empordanese adventures of the couple Dorothy Muriel Webster and Nicolau Woevodski.

Welcome Empordà

THE PLEASURE OF SEEKING OTHER PEOPLE'S HOMES

By Emma Aixalà Photo Bèla Adler

When Carlota Calvet and Jorge Alcover met, they set out on the long Way of Saint James. “If you manage to finish the way with each other” they where told, “you’ll stick together.” Since then they have become partners in a business project.  

Art i Flor

FLOWERS FOR THE HAPPIEST MOMENTS

By Cristina Gaggioli Photo Paula da Lua

Imagine a movie without a soundtrack. Try watching it without music or special effects that reinforce what the images show. Strange, no? Well, that’s what mother and daughter duo Lourdes Blanco and Mercè Thomas do at Art i Flor in Rupià. With their flowers, plants, and bouquets, they compose a floral soundtrack to the great events that are celebrated in the triangle formed by Palafrugell, La Bisbal d’Empordà, and Torroella de Montgrí. They design ivy coverings to accommodate large banquets, columns as if they were tree trunks, flower centerpieces on tables, and compose the color note that’s always just right for these celebrations.