The Fundació Joan Brossa and Barcelona City Council have co-published a book linked to the exhibition “Altres Brosses. Joan Brossa i la poesia d’acció, el parateatre” [“Other Brossas. Joan Brossa and action poetry, the paratheatre"]
This book offers a complete overview of the world of Brossa in the field of action poetry. More than just a documentary catalogue, it examines new aspects and the relevance of the poetic discourse of Joan Brossa and even challenges the very concept of paratheatricality in order to continue playing, to continue creating.
The world of transformation, surprise and enchantment
There are still other Brossas to discover, to claim. Joan Brossa deployed a paratheatrical imaginary in all areas of his poetry: visual, objectual, literary and stage. And now he invites us to participate with him and his work in the world of transformation, surprise, enchantment and occurrence. Fregoli and the carnival of revolt; magicians, clowns and trapeze artists; puppeteers, circus performers, mime artists, striptease artists; film that doesn’t want to rehash old plots, and shadows made with the hands. Joan Brossa and action poetry, live; at a time when no-one was talking about performance, he was already doing sleight of hand.
The book includes a study or essay by Joan Minguet about Joan Brossa and paratheatre featuring images and documents on the work of Brossa and documents from that period.
A scenographic cover
The design of the book Altres Brosses is inspired by the paratheatrical universe of Joan Brossa. So the cover, the cover flap and the binding are designed to be reminiscent of a performance space. The cover, with a rectangular design, represents the audience; the dust jacket, the curtains, and the spine, the backstage area. Inside the book the show posters of the paratheatrical functions have been used as a reference. Posters that fascinate due to the typographic freedom with which they were created.
Presentation at the Centre de les Arts Lliures – Fundació Joan Brossa
The book presentation will take place on Friday 5 May at 6:00 pm in the Centre de les Arts Lliures – Fundació Joan Brossa. Participants include the president of the Fundació Joan Brossa, Vicenç Altaió, and the institution’s director of Visual and Textual Arts, Maria Canelles. Joan Maria Minguet and Alba Font, from Taller Torrents, will take about the road from the book to the exhibition. Following this, “An experiment: from paratheatre to the round table and vice versa” with Eduard Olesti.