Bestiari by CaboSanRoque wins the first Grant for Innovation in Popular Cul

The first Grant for Innovation in Popular Culture has been awarded. From the 48 proposals handed in, the judging panel have chosen Bestiari, a project submitted by the CaboSanRoque music company.

Bestiari features animals invented and created by CaboSanRoque, based on Medieval bestiaries and breathing life into the group's very own fauna. The show employs the same working method by which the group produces most of its pieces: recovering everyday objects and finding a different use for them, creating computer-controlled mechanical devices and musical artefacts. The project looks at our traditional bestiary from a different angle, with animals that can move by themselves and articulate a musical discourse through their movements and mechanisms.

The grant is an initiative of the Jaume Casademont Foundation in Girona and the Embat Cultural Foundation in Vic, in partnership with Fira Mediterrània of Manresa acting as Official Fair. The scheme is sponsored by the Abertis Foundation, Girona City Council and Vic City Council. The grant is for €5,000 and is awarded to support the production of an innovative popular culture show that successfully combines tradition and modernity.

The show will be premiered in November as part of the programme for the 14th Fira Mediterrània of Manresa, taking place from 3 to 6 November. Just before that, though, there will be a preview performance in Girona as part of the "Fires de Sant Narcís" festival.

Members of the judging panel awarding the grant were Tere Almar, Artistic Director of Fira Mediterrània of Manresa; Jaume Cruset, technical expert from Girona City Council; Bienve Moya, ethnologist and National Popular Culture Prize winner in 2009; Xavier Roviró, from Omnium Cultural Osona, and Manel Vilanova, from Xarxa Teatre.

article posted by:Laia Valls, Fira Mediterrània Manresa