I live in barcelona for 10 years now, after living the first months in the barceloneta district, I moved to poblenou to escape the crowd of tourists. I immediately felt at home in this old industrial area, a mix of factories, small modernist houses, graffiti, families on the rambla de poblenou and workers. it was a forgotten place in barcelona, far away from the touristic itinerary.
then, I saw the construction of 22@, a modern trade center, offices, universities and art foundations together. some chimneys and bricks buildings are cohabiting with skyscrapers. it’s fine to me, a normal expansion to bring modernity to barcelona, but the mood of the district was changing already.
so more and more creative people were moving here as poblenou became « trendy ».
meanwhile lots of huge hotels are built from scratch in the place of old façades in small streets that had the patina of past decades. and many more hotels are under construction…
this is a big trauma. I don’t recognize anymore some blocs, the rambla de poblenou is not familiar anymore, and the menu of the day in some trendy new restaurants is « paella and sangria » which get nothing to do with barcelona, but a cliché for the increasing number of tourists.
there are still plenty of great places in the neighborhood as poblenou is a vast district.
it will take a few more years to change the entire area, but on the way to the flea market this morning, I mind that some more houses, bars and workshops had disappear…
So I feel the urgency to archive in my sketchbooks this poblenou that disappears.
I know that the battle is not fair, I can only sketch to fight the gentrification, but I need it to keep in mind what made poblenou special to me.
4 commentaires:
Oui, même moi qui suis toute récente dans le quartier je le vois changer très vite. Merci de ton travail d'historien visuel poète. Je pense souvent à tes dessins lorsque je vois une petite masure branlante qui clairement vit ses derniers mois dans les rues juste autour de moi.
A good thing to do, and i like these drawings, which are very different from your usual pages- just shows your ability to do entirely different. Nice.
@mélanie: merci. n'hésite pas à m'envoyer des spots si je passe à côté d'un endroit en péril…
@rob: thanks. I'm glad you notice the different approach for this sketches.
Hola,
soy del barrio desde hace 39 años y es de agradecer que un artista cómo tu haga además crítica social y denuncie con sus dibujos y su arte. Realmente son dibujos muy buenos pues con sólo verlos ya he sabido de que calle se trataba y me he sentido muy identificado.
Poblenou es la última frontera en Barcelona para las constructoras y especuladores pues la gran cantidad de fábricas gigantes dejaron terrenos muy apetecibles. 22@ fue desde el principio un engaño a las vecinas pues nos prometieron respetar la actividad tradicional (industrial), cosa que es evidente que no ha sucedido. Hay que agradecer a la mafia PSC conjuntamente con ICV que fueron los impulsores del Plan y sin ningún remordimiento se bajaron los pantalones a la iniciativa privada.
En fin, gracias por tu contribución, toda ayuda es necesaria en éste contexto de gentrificación, turismo masivo y desparición de nuestra identidad como barrio.
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