Homage to Antoni Vila Casas, the great radiator of light

BarcelonaAntoni Vila Casas (1930-2023) chose three songs that were to be played when the foundation bearing his name turned 40: Mi amante amigo, one of the compositions by Manuel Alejandro that was popularized by Rocío Jurado; Cançó per a Joan Salvat-Papasseit, by Joan Manuel Serrat; and the Virolai, by Jacint Verdaguer and Josep Rodoreda. All three were performed by singer Myriam Swanson, guitarist David Soler, and accordionist Edurne Arizu on Thursday at the Can Framis Museum, the jewel in the crown of Vila Casas the patron of contemporary art, the man who "created a pharmaceutical industry from a pharmacy; and a cultural institution for the country from a small art collection," as stated by Montse Viladomiu, vice-president of the Vila Casas Foundation and head of the Health Area.

Manuel Alejandro's song stirs the waters of unbridled passion with a touch of melancholy. Serrat says of Salvat Papasseit: "I promise nothing / I only walk [...] And what they think of me / does not interest me at all". From the Virolai, come the verses "illuminate the Catalan land / guide us towards heaven". It is as if Vila Casas had wanted to explain himself through three songs, borrowing verses to synthesize the autobiography of a passionate and mischievous man, committed to the country and a lover of the transcendent capacity of art.

As Viladomiu recalled, Antoni Vila Casas created the foundation to "promote socio-sanitary research," and later incorporated contemporary art into it, convinced that culture is also "a path to well-being." Health and art, or pharmacy and songs, as Andrés Calamaro would say, were present in a tribute organized in two parts presented by journalist Helena Garcia Melero: a first, more intimate one, and another designed as a public event. In the first part, with former president Jordi Pujol among the attendees, friends participated such as Ricard Julià (who read a letter from Vila Casas); Miquel Vilardell, president of the Royal Academy of Medicine; Joaquim Uriach, president of the Orfeó Català-Palau de la Música Catalana Foundation, and from the pharmaceutical field like Vila Casas; Javier Lucaya, former medical director of the Diagnostic Imaging Institute at Vall d'Hebron Hospital; Xavier Trias, former mayor of Barcelona and professionally linked to the health sector; and Glòria Bosch, former art director of the Vila Casas Foundation, who highlighted his dialoguing character and artistic curiosity, undoubted given that, when very young, Vila Casas sold his motorcycle to buy some paintings by Josep Cusachs that fascinated him, according to the anecdote that Viladomiu explained.

Uriach, after glossing over business ventures, recalled that the honoree was "a person very passionate about pharmacy and a great entrepreneur," and completed a portrait that Vilardell had begun by proclaiming "the values" of Vila Casas: "Friendship, which requires effort and dedication; humanism and creativity," values at the service of both scientific research and art.

Subsequently, at the public event, Bernat Puigdollers, the foundation's current art director, spoke imbued with the phrase that illuminated the entrance to Can Framis: "Let us celebrate all that we can become". Puigdollers, the last person Vila Casas incorporated into the team, highlighted the patron's playful character. "Once he told me: 'While I am here, we will do it my way. But afterwards, it will be up to you'". And yes, now it is others' job to continue giving meaning to "a legacy with titanic objectives". By the way, both Puigdollers and Viladomiu expressed their condolences for the victims of the Toledo train accident, and the art director also remembered Robert Llimós, the painter who died on October 27th and to whom the Vila Casas Foundation will dedicate an exhibition that will open on November 9th.

The event also featured two special artists: Tom Carr, author of the artistic intervention that radiated light and color at the tribute, and Bernat Daviu, author of a cake, "a gastronomic intervention" in artistic language.

The attendees were able to dine, some standing, others treasuring seats like atavistic possessions, and later were exceptional spectators of a Mishima concert with special collaborations by Maria Rodés, Clara Aguilar, and Magalí Sare. All in all, to celebrate a great radiator of light, health, and art.