A journey through the history shared by Catalonia and Chile: from celebrating defeats, waves of migration and exiles either side of the Atlantic to their recent dictatorial past, tortures and the latest public protests.
Palta is the Chilean name for avocado. When Projecte Ingenu, a Catalan company, travelled to Santiago in Chile a couple of years ago in an artistic exchange with Espacio Checoeslovaquia, they found themselves in the middle of the palta (avocado) strike: record prices meant local people could no longer afford avocados. Speculation provoked by massive avocado exports to Europe and the USA had gripped what is a basic food stuff for Chileans. All that was happening while in Catalonia avocados were being praised for their nutritional properties and included in vegetarian, vegan and super-healthy diets. It was clear that colonialism hadn’t ended, as the history books say. It had merely changed its guise.
La ruta de la palta (The avocado route) is a journey from a vegan restaurant full of tourists on the Barcelona Rambla to areas of Chile desertified by extensive avocado farming; from water privatisation under Pinochet to the effects of climate change on the Siurana reservoir; from the songs of Víctor Jara to those of Ovidi Montllor, from Violeta Parra to Maria del Mar Bonet, or Joan Brossa to Nicanor Parra; from the assassination of Salvador Allende to the execution of Salvador Puig Antich; from Plaça d’Urquinaona to Plaza Italia; from asking how shared our history is... to celebrating it.
Projecte Ingenu is a Catalan company that was set up five years ago with a profoundly humanistic vision of the theatre. So far it has brought its Shakespearian Trilogy (Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and I was Prosperous) to the stage and its Dissatisfaction Trilogy (Yerma, InFaust and La dona pantera). This time they are working with TeatroPuerto from Chile, one of the most nationally and internationally renowned companies in the Coquimbo region. Some of their members enjoyed an artistic management residency at the Nau Ivanow in 2016. The project is the result of Projecte Ingenu and TeatroPuerto working together. Two companies with something in common: their relationship with the Nau Ivanow performing arts creation space.
A 2020 Barcelona Grec Festival, Nau Ivanow, and the collaboration of Espacio Checoeslovaquia.
The De Grec a Grec programme is subject to the recommendations of the health authorities and the uncertainty of the current situation.
Creator: A Projecte Ingenu creation Director: Marc Chornet Artells Performed by: Georgina Avilés, Cristian Chaparro, Toni Guillemat, Neus Pàmies, Martí Salvat, Daniella Santibáñez, Xavier Torra Produced by: Nau Ivanow
