{"id":16645,"date":"2024-07-30T10:57:16","date_gmt":"2024-07-30T08:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kingkong-mag.com\/?p=16645"},"modified":"2024-08-28T11:45:08","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T09:45:08","slug":"catalonia-in-belgium-72-hour-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingkong-mag.com\/en\/catalonia-in-belgium-72-hour-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Catalonia in Belgium \u2013 72 hour mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\nOn June 21, KIKK hosted a Catalan delegation consisting of 15 arts structures (businesses, artists, organisations). On the menu: pitches, encounters, the opening of an exhibition, tech culture\u2026 and beers. OF COURSE.\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n

It is quite laughable to admit that when we learned that this delegation was coming to Namur, we didn\u2019t necessarily have an image in our minds of a Catalonia active in the cultural and creative industries sector. Stereotypes about the south are hard to shift, and rather than imagining a profuse cultural hotbed in the tech and digital domains, we instead saw in it a somewhat antiquated tradition. Let us tell you that quite the surprise was in store for us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To establish the context, it was the Ministry of Culture<\/a> which, through the Catalan Institute for Cultural Companies (CICC)<\/a> and its internationalisation brand Catalan Arts<\/a>, organised a 72 hour mission on the theme of digital cultures for 15 Catalan enterprises. This delegation travelled through Rotterdam, Leuven, Brussels and finished its business trip here with us, at KIKK. This pilot mission had a triple objective: on the one hand, to discover and gain in-depth knowledge of the basic infrastructure in the two countries\u2019 CCIs; on the other, to promote the Catalan sector abroad to establish links and opportunities for future joint projects, and finally, to bring together a digital and creative community in an exciting, professional, people-centred pilot mission, factoring in beers, chips and karaoke!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a9<\/strong> hamillindustries<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The delegation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In fact, we welcomed very interesting people. First of all, let\u2019s talk about the organising bodies<\/strong>: Catalan Arts, represented by Maria Basora, N\u00f9ria Bult\u00e0, Paula C\u00e1ceres and Eva Colom, badass women who act on behalf of the CICC\u2019s internationalisation brand in B2B contexts. In other words, they provide assistance to artists in their marketing, in establishing contacts and networking, making available an address book of counterparts and\/or potential buyers, the accessing of resources and in the creation of events to boost their commercial activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also had the opportunity to meet the Ministry\u2019s Department of Innovation and Digital Culture (represented by Marisol L\u00f3pez and Dani Gimeno), whose main goal is to support and promote projects and initiatives which connect art and culture with the digital industries. Through doing so, we got to discover a colossal plan: Catalunya Media City<\/a> with Marc L\u00f3pez Ribes and Ribera Garcia Rojo. In brief, Catalunya Media City is the transformation of the Tres Xemenneis zone (between the Sant Adri\u00e0 del Besos and Badalona municipalities) into a new urban district dedicated to creativity, digital innovation and the audiovisual sector. A kind of creative, technological and economic epicentre which will have the use of installations, experimentation and laboratory spaces, an audiovisual park, training sites and services to support and galvanise the Catalan CCI ecosystem. A Silicon Valley, Catalan-style, if you like.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, the floor was given to the delegation itself<\/strong>, consisting of the 15 Catalan cultural and digital studios, associations and organisations selected: Blit.studio<\/a>, Desilence<\/a>, Eyesberg<\/a>, Gabriel Casanova<\/a>, Grup Lavinia<\/a>, Hamill Industries<\/a>, Insectotr\u00f2pics<\/a>, Mouawad Laurier<\/a>, Mutacions<\/a>, New Art Foundation<\/a>, S\u00ednoca<\/a>, Tigrelab \/ Tiler Gab<\/a>, XR Wellness<\/a> and Zertifier<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a9<\/strong> Tigrelab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There is absolutely no doubt that we are right in the thick of the digital realm: immersive technologies, mapping on a New York scale, mauve neon lights, hypnotic light shows so incredible our head is left spinning. Each organisation evidently has its specific DNA, its technical preferences, its specialisation, its audience. They are all unique. Yet, during their brief ten-minute presentations, a common denominator jumps out very obviously: the meaning behind the practice. A lightbulb moment strikes when Anna Diaz Ortu\u00f1o from Hamill Industries takes the floor: \u2018yes, we explore new formats; yes, we do performance, but above all, we \u201ccraft\u201d.\u2019 And once she had insisted on crafting, artisan practices, we listened to the following pitches with a very different mindset: before being, in some cases, international studios, they are all artists who wish to create, explore, test out. So yes, there is inevitably always some mention of basic needs, of the sinews of war (a.k.a. the dough), but every time, during each discussion, we go back to the meaning and to what really makes them tick. It is perhaps that which the artistic process and the artists embody, when all is said and done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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