Culture
The museum space becomes a place of unexpected encounters and discoveries
Drafting
Barcelona
When we walk through the halls of a museum, we tend to focus all our attention on the works on display. Often, the audience around us becomes mere background figures that we barely notice. But what would happen if, for once, we paid attention to the visitors we meet on our way? What could we learn by discovering their personal experiences, desires, concerns or interests?
The Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporánea is once again a pioneer in offering content and formats focused on bringing culture closer to citizens
That is exactly what he proposes to us. CCCC Stories, a ten-episode microseries, filmed entirely at the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània (CCCC), in which, in just a few minutes, a series of actors and actresses from the Valencian Community star in short stories of love, friendship, vindication or forgiveness.
The vision of the museum space as a living and diverse place, in which the people who inhabit it take on special importance, is the leitmotiv of this fun and ingenious fiction, as confirmed from its first chapter, appropriately titled “Perspective”, in which two young people who had a relationship some time ago and who stopped seeing each other without giving each other any explanation meet again by chance in front of a work of art.
After the initial awkwardness, the conversation turns to the inevitable mutual reproaches of complicity and empathy. As the title indicates, both learn to look at art and also at life from a new angle. This production by the CCCC, together with the production company Pausa Dramática Films, is a determined commitment to connect with younger audiences by an institution that, since its reformulation in 2016, has shown great interest in accommodating a wide variety of artistic and cultural manifestations (linked to contemporary art, but also to urban art, dance or electronic music).
“With CCCC Stories, we want to show everyday stories that deal with current issues with a fresh, close and realistic vision,” says José Luis Pérez Pont, director of the Consorci de Museus and the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània. To do so, they have relied on a technical team, headed by directors and scriptwriters Sergi Merchan and José Luis Lázaro, made up of promising young Valencian audiovisual artists.
CCCC STORIES is a fiction microseries from CCCC
In addition, the more than 20 characters that walk through the museum's halls and corridors have been played by a cast of actors from this same community such as Raquel Ferri ("Ni oblit ni perdó"), Ana Conca ("Es una lata el trabajar"), María Zamora ("Las de la última fila"), Pau Vercher ("La llave magia"), Paola Navalón ("La Benvinguda"), Tania Fortea ("El que sabem"); and also by prominent influencers such as Araceli de la Concepción, Fran Tudela (better known as 'Cabrafotuda') or the drag queen and former contestant of the talent show led by RuPaul, Choriza May.
As Merchan and Lázaro explain, “we wanted to portray moments in the lives of diverse people who, without knowing it, have crossed paths in the halls and corridors of the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània. Throughout ten self-contained chapters, we want to make the public witness to an amalgam of everyday moments that often go unnoticed, but which undoubtedly make up the soul of a unique and special place for us as creators: the CCCC.”
For Merchan, their aim was to “give the museum a new twist, humanise the space, see what moves people who decide to visit it and connect with them, awakening their emotions”. To do this, they have created narrative capsules that are developed in an agile and attractive language, “close to the Instagram format”, but which do not renounce the quality and texture of cinema.
It features a cast of actors and influencers, such as Cabrafotuda and Choriza May
“We wanted the fluidity and effectiveness of a message that could reach everyone to coexist with a careful production, created with artistic will,” adds Merchan. The episodes themselves are a sample of the transgressive spirit, a lover of risk and experimentation, that guides the programming of the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània. “We have allowed ourselves to play with genres and break traditional structures,” says Lázaro. “That is why we have alternated episodes based more on conversation with others that are very different, such as a musical focused on dance, or another in which we dare to break the fourth wall.” On Sunday, November 6, a general screening was offered open to the public, which was attended by the cast, technical team and directors, and in which the 10 episodes of the series were screened.
The premiere was a huge success, with more than 400 attendees. Since then, a chapter has been published weekly on the CCCC's YouTube channel and social media profiles. For Pérez Pont, “ideas are our main driving force for change, the force that transforms reality. Creativity, dynamism and innovation define the model of cultural institution that we have been developing in recent years at the Centre del Carme.”
The series portrays moments in the lives of diverse people who, without knowing it, have crossed paths in the halls and corridors of the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània
This work, which now adds a new link with the audiovisual creation of CCCC Stories, has turned this institution into an indispensable reference point for the cultural life of Valencia, as demonstrated by the more than 300,000 visitors who, during 2022, have attended its many exhibitions and activities.
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