Bread with tomato, rumba, and an (awkward) enya: this is the exhibition about Catalonia in Osaka.

OsakaJapanese visitors who arrived at the Spanish pavilion at the Osaka World Expo around 5 p.m. on Wednesday found themselves in a real party. It was the opening ceremony of the Catalan Week at the venue, and a Catalan rumba group, Muchacho & Los Sobrinos, brought guests and officials (including the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa) to their feet with the classic "La rumba." Gypsy witch Peret. Dozens of Japanese gathered on the pavilion's steps—made by Cumella, the same ceramists as the Sagrada Familia and the Santa Caterina Market—and then made their way up to the pavilion, where a large screen welcomed them to the Catalonia (spelled with ñ) space of Spain within its pavilion at the Universal Exposition, where 159 countries are participating and which will be open until June 1st (shifts have been established among the seven autonomous communities that have requested to be there: the two Castillas, Extremadura, Catalonia, the Canary Islands, Andalusia, and Galicia). There are strong bets for this exhibition: Catalan gastronomy, the art of Miró, and the most cutting-edge technology developed in Catalonia. The event's motto is, in fact, Land of innovation and avant-garde. The material produced by the Government for the exhibition is entirely in Catalan and Japanese, while the graphics with the name "Catalunya" written in Spanish were created by the Spanish government for the region where each autonomous region is promoted when it is their turn, according to sources from Acció Exterior.

From the pavilion's gastronomic space, chef Josep Barahona, a pioneer in bringing Catalan cuisine to Japan 25 years ago, offers tomato bread workshops (in perfect Japanese) to the 600 Japanese who pass through each day and who, during the week, will also be able to attend wine tastings led by sommelier Óscar Sal. In another room, visitors can stand in front of an AI widget that recognizes their emotions and turns them into a work of art on a screen, and then make a tour through Catalonia to the metaverse through virtual reality glasses. They also have a camera at their disposal that reads their features and integrates them into stories. For example, that of Sant Jordi, as Illa was able to experience firsthand when he visited the exhibition and saw himself transformed into the Catalan knight in a comic strip.

The cultural culmination of the exhibition is a workshop organized by the Fundació Miró so that visitors can paint as the Catalan artist did, resembling the design he made, precisely, for a building at the Osaka World's Fair in 1970. Isla also visited it, while a group of young people did the garganta, later gargots, painting scribbles on pieces of paper from the palette of Miró's work. Miró is one of the most successful Catalan artists in the country. and, during his lifetime, he also showed special devotion to traditional Japanese culture.

The Catalan Week program is complemented by performances by Aranese folk artist Alidé Sans and dance shows by Pere Seda, who fuses contemporary and Catalan-rooted dance, and the acrobatic Wonderground Company. Closing the lineup are Muchacho & Los Sobrinos, the group that played at the opening, but unfortunately was incomplete: Muchacho He was injured, and ultimately only the Sobrinos were able to travel to Osaka. Besides Peret's hit, they played other Catalan rumba songs with lyrics that also winked at Catalan gastronomy. The performance ended with a chant of "Visca Catalunya!"

Also at the opening, Joan Roca and Carme Ruscalleda took to the stage of the pavilion (made of Japanese wood) to give a talk on Catalan cuisine, as they had done at the World Gastronomy Region dinner held in Tokyo on Monday, taking advantage of the Catalan president's trip to the country. In his speech, Illa celebrated the fact that the Spanish pavilion can convey a "plural and diverse" image of the state and invited the Japanese to get to know Catalonia, which will welcome them "with open arms."

But do the Japanese know Catalonia? "It's a region in the north, right? I know it from sports," Takuya tells ARA, while queuing for a bite to eat at the bar (the menu includes a selection of Spanish cuisine). Takuya is one of the few Japanese people in the queue who speaks English, and he smiles when people talk about Barça, Espanyol, or Girona. Standing further back, Kazumi and her husband say they're unfamiliar with Catalonia, but are eager to travel there to try paella and pinchos. Profiles like these are what the Generalitat (Catalan Government) has set out to attract by pivoting its promotion, above all, around gastronomy. According to the Catalan Tourism Agency, Catalan culture and cuisine are what most attract Japanese people to the country, a loyal audience who, once they've visited Catalonia, tend to return. Between 20,000 and 30,000 people pass through the Spanish pavilion every day.

Island in Osaka

After leaving Tokyo, the President of the Generalitat focused his third day in Japan on Osaka, where he met with the mayor, Yokohama Hideyuki, and discussed the possibility of opening a direct flight between Barcelona and the city. Although the Government wants to continue pushing for the non-stop connection between Barcelona and TokyoThe executive branch admits that exploring the possibility of a flight to Osaka, the country's third largest city, is also a good option. The president's office (not a tradition in the country) is also interested in the "excitement" Osaka has felt when Catalonia sent its highest institutional representative to the exhibition.

Isla was also accompanied by the Spanish ambassador to Japan, Iñigo de Palacio, with whom he dined on Tuesday at his official residence in Tokyo. On the facade, he discovered a detail that captivated the Catalan delegation: a representation of the Black Madonna. No one knows where it came from, but the ambassador has pledged to investigate. "I have my theories," he commented during the inaugural lunch of Catalan Week, which opened with a toast from Isla using the Japanese word for good health. kanpai.