Photograph of @kavitaparmar

CAN VIVOT

Photograph by ‘Vistylestudio.com’

Pretty…

Florence may be best known for them but Palma doesn’t slouch when it comes to palazzo’s. Case in point, our main venue.

Can Vivot is a beautiful, sandstone colored, wide terraced and ornate Mediterranean palace.

It’s tanned warm colors and overcast shadows slot it quite nicely into the surrounding cityscape despite the fact that the building is older than the Spanish empire itself.

No, You did read that right. A palace all the way back from the 15th century, a time when Spain wasn’t even a unified country and the concept of ‘countries’ itself was still a bit murky.

It did, admittedly, see very significant reforms in the following centuries. Among them, the baroque reform of the 1700s was the one that would eventually form the wide open and well lit courtyards our event calls home.

Photograph by ‘Vistylestudio.com’

Between Corinthian-capped pillars, and under a wide textile canopy filtering in the rising late spring sun, an enormous group of artists and artisans carefully line up their works in the patio.

The finished product feels so natural people never seem to question or notice it, but the difference in atmosphere, in the space as a whole, before and after is mind-blowing.

Photographs by ‘@leyre.lopezdelapaz’

Am I right? Or am I right? (I’m right.)

Unlike the vast majority of old properties and palazzo’s of old, Can Vivot is one of the very few that remain a family home.

We are truly lucky to have had the cooperation and understanding of Perico and Maida (Can Vivot’s owners) these past two years and sincerely hope that the impression we’ve left on our guests is as awe-inspiring as the one we’ve been given by their home.

MUSEU D’ART ES BALUARD

Photograph of ‘@Kavitaparmar’

Contrast, is a literary device meant to emphasize-

You get it. The Museum of contemporary arts put between the walls of a 16th century fort, applause and gratuity at the gates please.

It was only recently that the Puig de Sant Pere — home of the museum — was put to its current use, handed from military to private hands and then left largely un-utilised for the second half of the twentieth century.

It’s a blessing if you think about it, as it is now a space that masses of people come to visit.

It’s amazing view of the far off cathedral, wide courtyards and repurposed industrially sized cisterns give a storied aesthetic that clashes strikingly with the sections of bare concrete and austere white museum rooms.

And above that- hang on…

We’ve been here before…

Yup. Much like Can Vivot, Es Baluard is yet another location that has been with us for a long time now.

Hosting as the event’s main venue in the first, uncertain, yet very successful year of XTANT 2021.

It is very easy to fall into the trap of romanticising the past, when the present mode of social organisation is at best dismissive of artisanry. But if there’s one way that you can be sure to convince absolutely no one it is by living in the past.

Artisan and smaller artistic productions are not just part of the present they are, hopefully, the textile industry’s future.

So maybe its not that meaningful to other people, but there is a symbolic vindication in showcasing our community’s efforts at a Museum of contemporary arts.

Well, anyways, please enjoy some pictures.

…? What-

FOUR NEW WORKSHOPS HAVE BEEN ADDED!