reading the “freundeskreis street-art berlin” blog, i came across the film trailer “bcn – rise and fall”. this documentary reports on barcelona’s zero tolerance policy, which has led to the disappearance of free spaces for artists. when I asked about remaining spaces, one of the artists from the video gave me a tip: visit la escocesa.
la escocesa is an art center that is a bit further away from the historic city center, located in an old industrial site. one can roughly compare it with the tacheles in berlin.
i tried to visit it spontaneously on a weekday. from the outside, the facade looks rundown: most of the windows are bricked over and a good deal of the plaster has fallen off. only the gate is colorfully painted in a lively manner, giving a hint of what creative treasures lie hidden behind the walls. i was lucky, as the gate was open and there was a quiet atmosphere on site. all the studios were open and a few artists were working away in undisturbed fashion. you could walk around and photograph the site in detail. at the time, there were still many works from the la escocesa mural festival.
the best way to visit is to simply go to an exhibition or event there; otherwise you should arrange to meet with one of the artists. or just try your luck during the week from 3 to 6 p.m.
here’s a tip: don’t wait too long before this space is torn down to make way for new buildings.
Leave a Reply