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Barcelona-Shanghai, a project by Tactical Tourism, 2005
(www.tacticaltourism.org)
Contact: Consol Rodríguez · Tel: +44 - 79 8577 5999 · Email: consol@tacticaltourism.org
Barcelona-Shanghai
"We can see the surprising similarity that existed between the
historical fate of China and Spain, two pivotal countries of the
Multilateral Commerce and the Triangular Commerce China-
Filipinas-Spain, that evolved from prosperity to decline. Therefore,
we think that this history is not only an important chapter in the
relations between China and Spain, but also an important topic
of study from which the two countries can compare parallel
experiences and make use of the historical lessons."
History of the Sino-Spanish Relations, Zhang Kai, Elephant Press,
Madrid, 2003.
This chronology would also display historic events of a more commercial kind, e.g.,
when Chinese products were first imported to Spain, when the first ship set sail
from Barcelona to Shanghai and vice versa, what the transported commodities
were, etc.; or it would also put a stress on the year of 1973, when China establishes
diplomatic relations with Spain, or on the moment in which the Chinese community
settled in Barcelona (from the 80s on).
The chronology would end up with the date when the first direct passenger flight
departed from Barcelona to Shanghai, the 8th of July of 2005.
This way, this chronology would also reveal globalisation not as a recent phenomenon,
but as one that goes back to the origins of capitalism.
·Research into the recent social and commercial history of the cities of
Barcelona and Shanghai. This investigation would have its starting point
in the mid 19th century, moment that saw the beginning of trade between
both cities after the opening of the Suez Canal and its immediate and
dramatic effect on the world trade, East and West.
·Creation of a chronology of outstanding events for the history of both
cities based on the data gathered at the first stage of our investigation.
·Localisation of the places where these historical events took place and
that relate one city to the other. This localisation would be documented
by photographic images and would be carried out in two ways: 1) through
a collection of images proceeding from publications and historic
archives that would show places of Shanghai’s and Barcelona’s past
related to the mentioned chronology, 2) through the creation of an
archive of contemporary images realised in situ: relevant places in
the history of the two cities would be visited and photographed in order
to capture their essence and reality as they are nowadays. For this
investigation in situ we would like to count on the help of Shanghai
Duolun Museum of Modern Art and their Artists Residency Programme
2006. Due both to the nature of the Artists Residency and the team
working strategies and budget, only two of the members of the group
(Consol Rodríguez and Mariano Maturana) would realise the stay in
Shanghai.
·Design of a map of each city containing already gathered historic,
social and commercial information and a proposal of a tour or route based
on the localisation of each city’s relevant historic locations.
·Production of a web space at www.tacticaltourism.org/bcn_sha aiming
at the creation of a public written and graphic archive that would present
the results of the research stage of the project Barcelona-Shanghai.
This second stage, to be realised once the research stage is already finished
and accessible online, could be summarised as: 1) design of the publication
including written and graphic historic material on the cities of Barcelona and
Shanghai, maps with localisations, a proposal of a route through the history
of both cities, a chronologic line, etc, and 2) the realisation of the intervention
on the direct flight Barcelona-Shanghai and Shanghai-Barcelona.
This third stage of the project would consist of the realisation of an installation
that takes the shape of a shop or bazaar of souvenirs and that would take
place both in Barcelona and Shanghai.
The Show: Tactical Bazaar would consist of the exhibition and sale of a
group of objects of very diverse nature and that have been acquired in both
cities during the investigation process of the project. These would be objects
of popular origin, traditional objects, artisan objects, souvenirs, second-hand
objects, etc.
The buying-and-selling deals of these commodities would become a suggestive
proposal for a cartography of the everyday in both cities. Due to their popular
background, this collection of objects would reflect the character of the people
and the places where they come from. Altogether, The Show: Tactical
Bazaar installation would prompt us to reflect on the effective role played
by trade and tourism in our contemporary times as a way of interrelation and
interchange amongst different cultures and countries.