Liceu presents OPERA PRIMA, a new opera co-creation initiative with the Raval neighbourhood

Liceu Press Conference: OPERA PRIMA https://youtu.be/H9fPprQem7c

On February 1st, Liceu opera house held a press conference about its OPERA PRIMA initiative, which integrates the philosophy and technology developed within the European project TRACTION. The OPERA PRIMA initiative is born from a vision of using art as a pillar of transformation for people, as well as with the will of facilitating social inclusion through culture.

Every three years, Liceu will produce a new opera through community processes in which professionals will coexist with citizens, who will be involved in the whole process of artistic creation; from dramatisation, to musical interpretation and technical construction. In fact, this is the main challenge of the project: to find the link between professionals in the arts and residents in the neighbourhood by sharing experience and knowledge that can contribute to the production of an opera.

The first opera will premiere in the 2022-23 season. Entitled La gata perdida, the opera will be co-created by Liceu and residents from Barcelona’s Raval neighbourhood, the district in which Liceu is located. Within Raval’s 1.1km2, it boasts a population of more than 40 different nationalities and the highest density of associations in the European Union.

The TRACTION project, led by Vicomtech and developed by nine International partners, will be responsible for growing the project by adding a technological layer to increase accessibility and citizen participation. In addition, it also seeks to ensure that the co-creation work being carried out in the Raval neighbourhood has synergies and interactions with other community opera projects being carried out in Ireland (with the Irish National Opera) and Portugal (led by SAMP). This will foster the internationalisation and visibility of the project, as well as sharing best practices in community opera making.