Presentation of the II Gaudí Prizes of Poetry
and Short Narrative 2004

Last May 19th 2004, the Gaudí & Barcelona Club presented the prizes of the second edition of the Gaudí Prizes of Poetry and Short Narrative 2004 in the “Círculo del Liceo” of Barcelona.

Joaquim Calvo, president of the Círculo del Liceo and one of the jury’s members, punctually welcomed the guests who filled up the whole ceremony hall. In his discourse he put emphasis on the Círculo’s enthusiasm to be part of the cultural life of Barcelona.

Read the whole intervention of Joaquim Calvo

During the presentation of the prizes, Joan-Jordi Bergós, President of the Sagrada Familia Temple Building Committee and also one of the judges of this competition, emphasised how the ongoing efforts of the Gaudí & Barcelona Club has helped to share with the world the life and work of the genius architect. Bergós was very satisfied with the results of the competition but added with good cheer that the high quality of the large number of works presented in Catalan, Spanish and English made it difficult for the judges to choose the winners.

Read the whole intervention of Joan-Jordi Bergós

Other members of the jury included Josep Maria Garrut, director of the House-Museum Gaudí of Park Güell; Joan Bassegoda, conservator of the Real Cátedra Gaudí; Ana María Férrin, journalist and biographer of the architect; Teresa Martínez, member of the Sagrada Familia Temple Building Committee and Fabià Matas, director of the “Área de Relaciones Externas” of the Committee; Juan Miguel Muñoz Corbalán, professor of the Department of History of Art at the University of Barcelona; Juan Francisco Jiménez, poet and deputy director of the magazine “Lateral”; Eduard Solé, president of the Gaudí & Barcelona Club.

With his usual sense of humour, Professor Joan Bassegoda, conservator of the Real Cátedra Gaudí and one of the jury’s members, developed an entertaining discourse about Gaudí’s relation to music.

Bassegoda talked about the difficulties of a young and unknown Gaudí, an architecture student who had just arrived at Barcelona and who had to introduce himself in the influential circles of the high bourgeoisie of Catalonia and therefore attended the “Gran Teatro del Liceo”. With examples and anecdotes he described the personality of Gaudí’s figure; he revitalised the close connection the architect has always had with nature, admired his enormous capacity for creation and deplored how little of Gaudí’s work has been conserved.

Professor Bassegoda let us enjoy, once more, his outstanding oratorical talent y extensive knowledge about the genius architect.

Read the whole intervention of Joan Bassegoda

After that he proceeded to present the prizes to the winners.

The prizes

First prizes

Winners:
Category of Poetry: Maria Rosa Andorrà i Llargués, for “La Tortuga”
Category of Short Narrative: Esther S. Ayuso, for “Más allá de los sueños”

Second Prizes

Winners:
Category of Poetry: Eumelia Sanz Vaca, for “Memorial del Gran Gaudí”
Category of Short Narrative: Montserrat Escartín i Gual, for “Geometria reglada”

Third Prizes

Winners:
Category of Poetry: Lluís Gassó i Carbonell, for “Oda al gran arquitecte Antoni Gaudí”
Category of Short Narrative: Marc Carol Fontcuberta, for “La història de l’Ernest”

Honourable mentions

Winners:
Category of Poetry: Álvaro Morales Rodríguez, for “Antoni Gaudí, el arquitecto de la Gloria”
Category of Short Narrative: Stephen W. Coffin, for “Gaudí, the Gardener”

Maria Teresa Andorrà and Lluís Gassó read their poems and received a long ovation from the public.

Virtuoso Manuel González interpreted pieces of Scarlatti, Albeniz and Tárrega and as usual he overwhelmed the audience caressing his guitar.

After some cava and Gaudinian sweets, the ceremony ended with a guided visit to the Círculo del Liceo, where we could admire its works of art with the outstanding impressive collection of modernist paintings of Ramon Casas.

The Círculo del Liceo

Situated in the building of the “Gran Teatro del Liceo” itself, the Círculo del Liceo has a privileged location: it lies on the famous “Ramblas” of Barcelona, the most lively and emblematic esplanade of the city. It was inaugurated on November 20th 1847, half a year after the inauguration of the Theatre, corresponding to the needs of a rich and flourishing Catalan bourgeoisie interested in art. Today this exclusive private club, in its finest English style, has more than 1100 members.

The Círculo is an authentic museum of arts. All its rooms are decorated in a rich modernist style with stained glass, furniture and sculptures, and it possesses a gallery with enamels, engravings, etchings and oils of the best Catalan artists from the end of the 19th century, such as Alexandre de Riquer, Santiago Rusiñol, Modest Urgell Inglada and Francesc Miralles. Its patrimony also includes an important collection of bibliographic works.

Yet the jewel of the Círculo is undoubtedly the collection of paintings which the modernist painter Ramon Casas dedicated to the Liceo Theatre in 1902. It concerns 12 big size oil paintings with the music and women in the “Rotonda of the Círculo” as a guideline.

Press Release
Program

Organizers of the II Gaudí Prize of Poetry and Short Narrative 2004:

Círculo del Liceo

Collaborators: