URBAN NATURE

By Haug / Huber / Kaegi / Wetzel

In 2008, for the first time in the history of humankind, there were more people worldwide living in cities than in the countryside. And in the year 2050, this proportion will increase to 68%. Throughout the 20th century, industrialisation concentrated populations around factories in ever more densely populated settlements, shifting industry away from cities themselves in the process. In fact, the age of post-Fordist globalisation has seen industry move ever further from its context. The work now done in cities is mainly digital, focused on creating value – including for a constantly growing property market. An apartment in Berlin, Barcelona or Brisbane is no longer simply a place to live; it is now first and foremost an investment.

But with COVID-19 this value is changing. Property prices have been reassessed and offices have dropped in value. Sections of private homes have been converted into offices. Even if the option of living in the countryside with a good internet connection seems increasingly more appealing, from an ecological point of view, concentrating populations in large cities makes all the sense in the world. But what population density are we willing to live with? At what point does proximity become dangerous? And to what degree do we see other cultures as enriching our own? How do the different economic models relate to one another? How much inequality are we willing to tolerate around us? Cities are the microscopes that allow us to see the extremes within society.

During their visit, members of the public take on different roles. These include a financial adviser at a private bank, looking to diversify investments in excess of €2 million, or a prison worker who, in a reconstruction of a cell within the exhibition space, explains how many of the inmates earn more in the prison than when free.

Theatres and museums are typically used in opposing ways. Whereas theatre audiences are normally immobile for one or two hours as the performance takes place on the stage before them, in museums the public moves through the exhibition.

URBAN NATURE blends these two modes of reception: while some visitors follow life stories individually as active spectators with a tactile tablet device, others experience the exhibition as a group. All are able to observe how others take on different perspectives, but they are also challenged to look at themselves in the mirror and experience dependence between different positions and their freedom for personal action.

 
A short documentary film 
 
Cast: Calamanda, Camila Verde, Miguel Ferrer Jiménez, Leyla Mancebo Zamora, Christian Perez Vignau, Enric Tello, Siham 
And additional appearance of Jorge Carlos Da Silva
 
Concept, text and direction: Helgard Haug, Stefan Kaegi, Daniel Wetzel
With the assistance of: Andrea Bel, Martín García Guirado, Estela Santos, Georgina Surià, Carolina Vouga
 
Concept and scenography: Dominic Huber 
With the collaboration of: Cristina Todorova 
Scenography assistance and furniture: Laura Galofré 
With the assistance of: Júlia Bauer, Georgina Marquès, Mireia Oltra
 

Exhibitions Director: Jordi Costa

General Management
Carlota Broggi (CCCB) and Juliane Männel (Rimini Protokoll)
Touring: Chloé Ferro
Coordination, research and casting: Clara Duch
With the collaboration of: Judith Paletta, Meret Kiderlen and Montse Novellón

Coordination of the setup: Mario Corea

Audiovisuals
Shootings, edition and postproduction: Joan Carles Rodríguez, José Antonio Soria, Raquel Coll
Sound mastering: Òscar Villar
Installation: Roc Codó and Servei audiovisual del CCCB 
 
Synchronization
General synchronization: Mediapro, Alex Lucena 
With the collaboration of:  Joan Ramírez
Installation: Iñaki Sainz and l’equip de xarxes del CCCB
 
Illumination
Design and programming: Pau Farreny with the collaboration of: Carles
 
Installation: Francisco Garcia, Gabi Porras, Rosó Tarragona
 
Setup: Standecor and Nogales
With the collaboration of: Lotema and SIT
Signage marking and painting:  Pepo Carreras Nicolau 
Fountain construction: Carles Piera
 
Subtitles: Sublimages
 
CCCB communication design: VELKRO
 
A production of Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona – CCCB and Rimini Apparat.
In coproduction with Kunsthalle Mannheim, Nationaltheater Mannheim and Grec Festival
de Barcelona. Funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Senate Department for Culture and Europe. In collaboration with Mediapro and Institut del Teatre.
 
Urban Nature at CCCB is funded by Ajuntament de Barcelona, Diputació de Barcelona
In  collaboration with Universitat Pompeu Fabra-Barcelona
Media partner: El Periódico