The Moving Barcelona collection is a series of eight still and one video artworks derived from Moving Barcelona, the eighth film in an ongoing project entitled Moving Cities - an award-winning body of work by UK-based artist Jevan Chowdhury.
The project aims to capture and celebrate the unique identity of cities and the people within them, through movement and dance. This transformative project has won 21 awards, engaged with 800 artists and creators, and reached over 44 million people worldwide, building an impressive canon of work.
Since its inception in 2013, Moving Cities has received international acclaim, and has been described as a fusion of cinema and regenerative art. As an ever-evolving body of work, it manifests as films, photographic exhibitions and place-making installations.
Moving Cities renews urban spaces and transforms them into permanent theatrical installations. The works offers a deeper insight into familiar settings, presenting local people and architecture as part of one cityscape. As an ongoing project, Moving Cities seeks to meld together community, artists and architecture, and to redefine and humanise transient spaces. Iterations of the project have been created in cities around the world including Hong Kong, Dallas, Yerevan, and Paris.
Moving Barcelona (2021/2018) is the latest iteration of the Moving Cities project and was shot on location in Barcelona before the start of the pandemic.
Through this captivating short film and accompanying series of still photographs, Chowdhury offers a magical yet realist portrayal of the Catalonian capital, an autonomous region in the Spanish State, as it seemingly contends with an identity crisis. In this depiction, Barcelona is a city that is full of life, yet haunted by the ghosts of its past. Despite much progress, it is still unearthing old wounds.
Narrated by celebrated Spanish actor Pep Munné, an appeal is made for calm and there is a sense of reassurance that all is okay. The movement of the city however tells a different story, and the narrator is resigned to the fact that things, inevitably, are the way they are. Barcelonians, in pursuit of happiness, find themselves on a treadmill to nowhere in this tale of modern-day life.
In the creation of Moving Barcelona Chowdhury led, managed and directed a pioneering group of young dancers from renowned dance company IT Dansa. The work showcases many iconic buildings in the city including Gaudi’s Casa Batlló.
Credits Writer & Creator Jevan Chowdhury Film Direction by Jevan Chowdhury & Laura Obiols Narrator Pep Munné Executive Production by Catherine Allard, Antoni Gutiérez-Rubí Production by Sugheili Serrano and Ximena Duque Coordination Nora Sitges Sardà and Mathilde Van Meerendock DOP Jevan Chowdhury Camera Assistant Alberto Balazs Behind the Scenes Photography by Pepa Yepes Costume Design by Magda Cano Music by Kevin Matley Music Production by Ninad Ganage and Woodlock Choreography of ‘balcony’ by Alexander Eckman Sound Recording by Enrique Bermejo, Studio Kamikaze
Dancers Javier Ara Elia Baguena Wilson Baptista José Blasco Anna Borràs Anna Casasola Tanit Cobas Katherine Collings Rafael Damasceno David Djilali Escribà Marina Escoda Nicolas Frau Natalia Garcia Paloma Gastelurrutia Jessica Goodfellow Mari Ishida Laura Lliteras Mathilde Lin Andrea Martin Laura Obiols Alex Pacheco Marina Pérez Luis Jerónimo Ruiz Nils Enric Taugbol Sau Ching Wong Pepa Yepes
Edited by Jevan Chowdhury Subtitles by Hoang Trung Vuong Special Thanks Josep Font (Centre Penitenciari La Model) Mario Scattoloni (Balcony in Balmes) David Canals (Port de Barcelona) Gary Gautier, Encarna Segura, Ingrid Olmo and Emilio Bayo (Casa Batlló) Pere Avellà and Maite Rodriguez (Damex Containers, Port Barcelona) Cristina Arellano, Charo Canal and Raquel Castro (Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya) Jordi González (Piscines Picornell) Sole Dacosta and Eva Rodriguez (Sant Adrià) Daniel Martínez (Rodajes ADIF) Isona Passola (Academia Cinema Català) Carlota Guerrero (Catalunya Film Commission) Oscar Espuña (Barcelona Turisme) Elena Gonzàlez and Sergi Marcen (Delegació Generalitat Catalunya Londres) Mar Perez and Mercedes Peral (Generalitat de Catalunya) (Barcelona Film Commission)
