The generational shift in the cultural mainstream

Barcelona"Black bread"Manel and Pep Guardiola," Carles Capdevila said in the early months of ARA. As the newspaper's director, he was trying to adjust his perspective. Black bread, the film by Agustí VillarongaIt had premiered on October 15, 2010, thirteen days before the birth of the ARA. The group Manel released their second album, 10 miles to see some good armorIn March 2011. And Pep Guardiola was coaching FC Barcelona, ​​which won the Champions League on May 28, 2011, in London, with goals from Pedro, Messi, and Villa. Fifteen years later, the director of the ARA, Esther Vera, could say: "Rosalía, Carla Simón, and Lamine Yamal." Leaving aside football, which permeates everything but isn't the material with which the Culture pages are written, between Capdevila's words and those Vera might endorse, there's a whole shift in the mainstream Catalan culture, in cultural manifestations that transcend the sectoral sphere. mainstream It's not necessarily the best-selling or most popular product, but rather everything that forms part of a broader social debate and can impact society. At its best, it can have added artistic value and generate contexts that enrich the country's culture.

Who are the main representatives of mainstream What will the cultural landscape of 2025 be? Who is Jaume Cabré today? Who has taken up the mantle from the great Anna Lizaran? Which filmmakers does Carla Simón share the audience's attention with? Which musical group that hasn't announced its disbandment can still energize a segment of the population like Txarango did? Who is creating the architecture we need? Which poets are embracing or challenging the existing tradition? Who is writing the plays that explain current events? Before answering these questions, let's acknowledge a paradigm shift: women are more prominent than ever. Rosalía, Carla Simón, and... Aitana Bonmatí.

A film starring Carla Simón and Dani de la Orden

When Alcarràs won the Golden Bear Awarded Best Film at the Berlin Film Festival in 2022, Carla Simón (Barcelona, ​​1986) had already dazzled with the sensitivity with which she had filmed Summer 1993 (2017). The international award confirmed the strength of Simón's naturalist cinema, a trend present in other filmmakers of his generation, and was especially relevant because it was a film in Catalan. When it premiered in Catalonia, the public responded and Alcarràs made a hole in the prime time from radio talk shows, which are always a good barometer for gauging the impact of a cultural offering.

Simón is not the only filmmaker well-received by festivals. Albert Serra (Banyoles, 1975), arguably the most important Catalan filmmaker of the last twenty years, had already won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival by Story of my deathand with Pacification (2022) received two César Awards, the French equivalent of Gaudí Awards. And Isaki Lacuesta (Girona, 1975) won the top prize at San Sebastián (another A-list festival) twice: in 2011 with The double steps and 2018 with Between two watersAll three maintain the tension of the present and serve as beacons for filmmakers of subsequent generations. Just look at films from 2025 like Strange river, of Jaume Claret Muxart (Barcelona, ​​1998).

Also with international repercussions, and with a greater impact at the box office, there are JA Bayona (Barcelona, ​​1975), which premiered a year after the birth of the ARA Impossible (2012) and that in 2024 it achieved that The Snow Society It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Bayona represents the success of cinema forged in chess. And few things show the special nature of the mainstream Catalan, like a conversation between J.A. Bayona and Albert Serra, in which they praised each other quite naturally. Cesc Gay (1967), Pere Vilà (Girona, 1975), Neus Ballús (Mollet del Vallès, 1980), Mar Coll (Barcelona, ​​1981), Carlos Marqués-Marcet (Barcelona, ​​1983), Belén Funes (Barcelona, ​​1984), Clara Roquet (Malla, 1992) are other prominent names in contemporary Catalan cinema. However, the mainstream Catalan cinema could not be explained without the two major phenomena of recent years: House on fire (2024), by Dani de la Orden (Barcelona, ​​1989), and The 47 (2024), by Marcel Barrena (Barcelona, ​​​​1981), two films with socio-political implications that have fueled public opinion.

Three female artists

Catalan visual arts shine both nationally and internationally, in traditional and innovative styles. Painting by Maria Pratts (Barcelona, ​​1988) draws on references such as the abstract expressionists; the inflatable sculptures of Eva Fàbregas (Barcelona, ​​1988) allude to organs and membranes in full growth and adaptation, and in the field of new technologies, the modified robots of Mónica Rikić (Barcelona, ​​1986) challenge the standards of care for the elderly.

Irene Solà and Eva Baltasar

Contemporary Catalan literature is not immune to a double tension: that exerted by a publishing sector that chases after the star of Sant Jordi's Day, and the love-hate relationship with a tradition that often stifles new creation. Two authors manage to escape this grip: Irene Solà (Mallà, 1990) and Eva Baltasar (Barcelona, ​​1978). Each in their own way, they have achieved commercial (also international) success while forging a solid and unique body of work: Solà with the diptych published by Anagrama I sing and the mountain dances (2019) and I gave you eyes and you looked into darkness (2023), and Balthazar especially with Permagel (Club Editor, 2018) and Boulder (Club Editor, 2020), which was a finalist for the Booker Prize. Equally unique, and with tight and precise prose, Alba Dedeu (Granollers, 1984) has become another name to watch thanks to the novel The conformist (L'Otra), one of the most critically acclaimed titles of 2024, written alongside a prolific and significant career as a translator.

The success of autofiction, and especially of Panties in the sun (La Campana, 2022), by Regina Rodríguez Sirvent (Puigcerdà, 1983), has led publishers to almost desperately search for female authors who can replicate the formula. And this is to occupy a space in the mainstream Literary, alongside authors with a long-standing readership, such as Xavier Bosch, Gemma Ruiz, and Silvia Soler, as evidenced by the Sant Jordi bestseller lists. Among the voices firmly establishing themselves are poets Adrià Targa, Mireia Calafell, Juana Dolores, and Xavier Mas Craviotto; novelists like Borja Bagunyà, Pol Guasch, and Elisenda Solsona; and essayists such as Ingrid Guardiola and Raül Garrigasait.

From Rosalía to La Ludwig Band

There is no artist who better embodies the mainstream cultural that Rosalía, above all Rosalía from the album LuxNo one else can occupy the center of attention like she can. In a broader sense, the artist from Sant Esteve Sesrovires and Silvia Pérez Cruz have opened a window of artistic possibility for many female creators. It's no exaggeration to say that Catalan music is experiencing one of its best moments in history thanks also to other women like Maria Arnal, Rita Payés, Lucía Fumero, Tarta Relena, Julia Colón, Anna Ferrer, Maria, Queralt Lahoz, María Jaime, María Hein, the Arannà sisters... Furthermore, there are the remarkable urban contributions, brimming with self-confidence, of artists like Bad Gyal, Julieta, Aitana, Mushkaa, and Lia Kali. And like them, men like Baya Baye, Higo Flawas, The Tyets, 31 Hambre, Triquell...

The dissolution of Abrint Pas, Txarango, and Zoo, and the announced farewell of Oques GrassesWon't these losses be easily offset by new proposals emerging from the festive-protest sphere? After all, what group will be able to energize a segment of the population like Txarango and Oques Grasses have? There is indeed more activity surrounding rock, especially thanks to La Ludwig Band, Cala Vento, Remedio de Ca la Fresca, Minibús Intergaláctico, and Dan Peralbo y el Convoy, among others, heirs to varying degrees to a tradition that links Pau Riba, Sisa, Els Pets, Nueva Vulcano, and Els Surfing Sirles.

In the realm of composition, the most relevant tracks are Raquel García-Tomás (National Culture Prize for opera) Alexina B., premiered at the Liceu), Hector Parra (the most internationally renowned Catalan composer) and those whom the Palau de la Música identifies as Generation C: Juan Magrané, Bernat Vivancos, José Ollé, José Vila, Carlos Prat, and Anna Capmany. The picture of the classical and early music scene would be incomplete without the Casals Quartet, the Gerhard Quartet, the Kebyart Saxophone Quartet, and the Vísperas de Arnadí Orchestra conducted by Dani Espasa, among many others, who share the stage with leading figures like Jordi Savall. And in the realm of vocal music, the scene is very exciting thanks to singers such as Núria Rial (a guarantee of Baroque excellence), Serena Sáenz, Marta Mathéu, Anna Alàs i Jove, Lidia Vinyes-Curtis, and Carles Pachon, among others.

Victoria Szpunberg, Berta Prieto and La Calórica

Catalan theatre is experiencing exciting times. Victoria Szpunberg (Buenos Aires, 1973), the playwright and director of the moment, triumphs at the Lliure de Gràcia with The categorical imperativeA portrait, full of reason, of the absurdity caused by speculative capitalism, and its premiere at the National Theatre The third escapeA story of exiles that resonates with family history and the history of the 20th century. From another generation, but also fiercely connected to the present, Berta Prieto (Barcelona, ​​1998) surprised Beckett with From fandom to trolling, a satire of blah-blah-blahRosalía had among the audience of a performance. It's theater that people talk about after the show, as happens with the works of The CaloricLa Calòrica is the company that, for now, best explains today's concerns. Proof of La Calòrica's central position is the packed houses at every premiere and revival. This company has reached both large and commercial theaters because, before Joan Yago, the T6 generation and Catalan dramaturgy—symbolized by the new Sala Beckett, Marta Casanovas, and others, including Victoria Szpunberg—had already paved the way. And what La Calòrica is in theater, it is also in dance. La Veronal, the company directed by Marcos Morau.

The box office also confirms that the mainstream It has no secrets for Joel Joan, rewarded by the public in both installments ofEscape roomNor for Àngel Llàtzer, who continues to dominate musicals. Musical theatre has consolidated its position as a breeding ground for audiences thanks also to the success of the latest Sea and sky from Dagoll Dagom, and that has managed to get public theaters to also contribute and increase their budgets. Soul, which opened the 2024-25 season at the National Theatre and that next year he will be performing at the Tivoli.

From Úrsula Corberó to Oriol Pla

Both theater and film (and also television series) have fostered a generation of magnificent performers born in the 80s and 90s. Ventdelplà to The body in flames, Úrsula Corberó (San Pedro de Vilamajor, 1989) has become a star known everywhere, especially for his role in The Money Heist, which has allowed him to make the international leap. Enric Auquer (Rupià, 1988) is an essential presence in film and theater, two disciplines in which she moves with the same intensity regardless of the medium. In film, from the tormented character of He who lives by the sword (2019) in the exciting role in The teacher who promised the sea (2023) and in the lovesick fool of House on fire (2024). In the theater, in the overflowing physical display ofWatusi Day, under the direction of Iván Morales.

Auquer never hides the admiration he feels for Oriol Pla (Barcelona, ​​1993), undoubtedly the greatest actor of his generation. Pla has made a significant impact in shows such as Ragazzo (what a great creation he made), Travy and Throat, in films like Hail Mary, alongside Laura Weissmahr (another of the great young actresses), and in series such as I, addict, for which he has been nominated for best actor at the International Emmy Awards. Pol López (Barcelona, ​​1984) is another of the actors of the moment, forged in the Compañía Solitaria and expanded in roles of the category of Hamlet, Enric V, the Alceste ofThe Misanthrope, the Raskolnikov of Crime and Punishment and Vladimir of Waiting for GodotAside from theater, Pol López has shown his best work in series such as See you in another life (with an extraordinary performance) and in films like Cork (2022), where he worked with Vicky Luengo.

The impact of the Pritzker Architecture Prize

Since the restoration of democracy, Catalan architecture has been an international benchmark, and one of the most striking moments of this recognition came in 2017 The Olot RCR studio received the Pritzker PrizeThe Nobel Prize for architects. From the younger generations, several studios are innovating in fields such as public space and housing, including Maio, Cierto Estudio, and Peris+Toral. And the Harquitectes studio is forging the new image of some of the country's major cultural institutions: the extensions of the MACBA and the MNAC, the rehabilitation of the Foneria de Canons to create a digital arts center, and the Teatre Arnau.