The Art of Jerusalem

Picasso once said, “Todo lo que puede ser imaginado es real” (Everything that can be imagined is real). So when Ahmad and Oren imagined a safeguarded space for citizens of Jerusalem where they could express themselves through art and leave behind any cultural, political or religious differences, they made it real.

They first found a rooftop in no man’s land in the old city of Jerusalem. A misused space full of garbage somewhere in between the Christian, Muslim and Jewish quarters. Anyone who has visited or lived in the Holy City, will know that the population usually stays around their own neighborhood and rarely intertwines with their neighbors. So, to find a place which is easily accessed from the different quarters appears to me like a sign that this project, called Jerusalem Art,  was simply meant to be.

Finding my roots in Israel

A trip eternally postponed. I recall my father repeatedly expressing his desire to go on a trip to Israel to visit his aunt since I was a small kid. And I confess, for some years, I wasn’t exactly thrilled to visit a country that appears on the press as being almost constantly on war. Also, being a teenager, you don’t listen much to your parents or you just want to do the opposite of what they tell you.

Anyway, long story short, after many years of indecision we finally packed our bags and left for 9-day trip to Israel last August, a month before my father’s aunt turned 100 years old.

For some reason I knew this wasn’t going to be an ordinary trip, but I didn’t expect I would feel the connection I felt. It’s called the Holy Land for some reason, there is a special energy at the place.

Follow the red balloon path in Barcelona

On my way home yesterday I decided to go through la plaça Sant Jaume challenging the tourists crowds that often take on Barcelona’s Gothic quarter. Fortunately, the square was not crowded, however something caught my attention immediately: a series of red balloons randomly scattered around.

Everybody seemed to wonder what they represented and who had placed them there, (even the police, who after checking one of them decided they were no harm to anybody).

The image was beautiful and soon I discovered that there was a red balloon path going up Sant Honorat street and followed it.

I didn’t have to wait long to find out about the responsible of the installation as at the crossroad with Sant Domènech del Call I noticed two girls dropping some balloons. They told me they were from BCNLandscape a platform uniting several architects and environmentalists working on different types of projects all related to landscape.

I kept following the path that ended up at Plaça Sant Felip Neri. There I couldn’t help but smile at the views of school kids on their lunchbreak holding a red balloon and running around the square. There was some kind of magic in it, something so simple as a balloon can still catch the attention of kids and make them happy. A little victory over our technology dominated world.

In the end I didn’t find out what was exactly the purpose of this action, but like many pieces of art, it’s better not to ask why and just enjoy the beauty in it.

What do you think?

 

Once in a lifetime

Some months ago I participated as an extra for the shooting of a commercial of BASE, a phone company from Belgium (by chance, the same company I was using during my Erasmus student exchange program in Ghent).

They chose a wide square in the outskirts of Barcelona and filled it up with white balloons. We were all spread accros the square and had to be extremely careful not to touch the balloons or they could get loose. The scene was beautiful and as we had to use our mobile phones during the shooting, so I took the change to take some photos.

The main point of the commercial was that all the balloons had to be set free at the same time. So there was only one possible shot, no second chances.

Just as some things only happen once in a lifetime. Thinking about the best times I’ve had this past year, I recall I wasn’t thinking about the past or future, I was just enjoying the present moment. For the upcoming year I just wish I can be more present and take any chances that might come!

Here are some pictures I took and how the commercial looked in the end, hope you like it!

The boat kid

I’m thins kind of person. I tend to start things with unstoppable energy and motivation, I constantly think of new things to do and new ways to improve what’s already done, a word, an image triggers my imagination and I picture in my head a new blog post, a new way to tell a story.

However, as routine bites hard (especially now that I have a job consisting in blog writing) and I feel I cannot dedicate as much time and energy as I’d like to, I sometimes rather stop creating than doing something halfway. This explains my silence during the past months, today I break it for good.

Some stories have to be told. Halfway maybe, not as profound or clear or original as I’d like, but they certainly deserve we remember them and tell everyone about their existence.

This is the story about one of the warmest hearts I’ve ever encountered. This is the story about Bob and the exhibition in his memory “El noi vaixell” ( The Boat Kid). (I will tell you another day about Bob the writer and artist)