Since I can remember I have wanted to live in Seville. Maybe because from a very young age my parents instilled in me a love for the Andalusian capital, taking me whenever possible. Eight years ago, when everything in my life was blown up, a little light went on: the time had come to move and, finally, fulfill that wish.
But don't let this love letter confuse you. Deep down, the image he had of the city was full of prejudices. Seville is monumental, fair, traditional and smells of orange blossom (all that is true), but I always thought that, beyond the Alameda, there was little to scratch in terms of avant-garde.
I don't want to sound paternalistic, quite the opposite, rather I am ignorant or I let myself be dragged by routine and what is known. I stood in line for hours to get into the Moma, in Bilbao I didn't skip a visit to the Guggenheim and every time I go up to Madrid I love stopping by La Fiambrera and yet in eight years, the only time I set foot in the CAAC was to go to a festival. Luckily, this job allows me to meet great people and a few weeks ago they invited me to spend a weekend sightseeing in Seville and of course, I said yes because I am always up for a good time. sarao.
A weekend looking at Seville in a different way
It's not the Guggenheim, it's the Barceló Sevilla Renacimiento
The weekend started well. The hotel itself looks like a museum (the Guggenheim specifically), I knew it, I had always seen it from a distance but without paying too much attention to it, basically because it is on the other side of the river. Friday night began with a little wine, tapas and an exhibition inside the hotel itself. It was part of Art Hub, a project with which they are filling their spaces – which are many, the hotel is immense – with contemporary art and, above all, giving space to artists from here.
It was not the typical solemn exhibition. The artists themselves were there, having a drink with us and chatting, all quite natural. Among them, one of the organizers, Rocío Valseca, a Sevillian artist involved in the project. There were several works, but the one that caught my attention the most was that of Teresa Díez de Rivera. Among other things, because it could be touched. And yes, it seems silly, but it is not. The feeling of touching a painting and especially of the artist herself asking you to do so is super interesting, very analogical and fun, like doing something forbidden, you don't know how to define it. In the end, more than a “visit to an exhibition” (with all the burden and seriousness that implies), it was a quite pleasant way to start the weekend.
One of the works of Teresa Díez de Rivera
That same night we decided that we also wanted to visit a gallery of a Sevillian graffiti artist who was a colleague of one of the artists and we went there the next day. Delimbo (that's its name) is on a street I've passed millions of times since I moved and I'm still pretty disappointed in myself for not noticing it sooner. It has such a modern vibe that it has little to envy of the most avant-garde ones in Madrid. Is there anything else? cool than a modern art gallery set up by a graffiti artist? (Thank goodness I was wearing my Tabi ballet flats, I don't know about art, but it's a bit modern).
Delimbo
That same Saturday they took me to the Andalusian Center of Contemporary Art, the old Cartuja factory that for me was little more than a concert hall until that moment, to see the work of Cachito Vallés. Another Sevillian artist who is sweeping ARCO and who is a kind of engineer of the arts. He himself guided us through the entire exhibition (which can still be visited) and the truth is that it was enjoyed in a different way. We spent the rest of the afternoon painting ceramic plates with Pablo Little and seeing firsthand that being a visual artist is not my thing.
Cachito Vallés exhibition at the CAAC ''The eternal present''
Of course, there were also walks through the center and food with views of the Torre del Oro but what really made my head explode is seeing first-hand the powerful community of artists in this city, who break the mold and who stand out beyond Despeñaperros. Sometimes, we insist on going out and seeing the world without paying attention to what we have at home. And the worst thing in my case is that I am a repeat offender in these things, it already happened to me with Huelva, but I will tell you that story another day.
