April

In Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, an imaginary Marco Polo tells the Great Khan of the marvels of the cities in his empire. Of the city of Ipazia, Marco narrates the subversion of all the usual codes that guide travellers: there, the palace of power is the house of slaves, the sage spends his day in the children’s playground, and the highest pinnacle is perhaps the place to wait for the ship for the return voyage. Likewise, in lockdown Barcelona, you can pedal hands-free along the great deserted avenues, breathe the emptiness of the markets, give a concert from your balcony to an imaginary public, and see how the street is the realm of those who cannot be saved. Like in Ipazia, every instant in the confined city requires a new key to understand time and space. And it leaves the sensation of the traveller who tries in vain to reach Zora, a city that “forced to remain motionless and always the same, in order to be more easily remembered, Zora has languished, disintegrated, disappeared”.

Directing, photography and editing: Alberto Bougleux
CCCB Production: Víctor Diago

Related to Soy Cámara online, Thinking About the Pandemic

29 May 2020