Photo by @engelengele

THE DAILY EVENT

As always, there were issues behind the scenes.

With the enormous increase in this years attending artist count, new rooms and sections of the ancient halls of Can Vivot have been unlocked for us to use. Very animal crossing-esque.

Through weeks of battling with the onslaught of problems, national blackouts, mounting massive metal gongs or general confusion about the generators, the floor is well and truly prepared to receive the crowds of the opening night party on the 9th.

Photo by @leyre.lopezdelapaz

This is my favorite thing about XTANT.

Not the picture, don’t be silly.

Ducking and weaving through the crowds and sandstone colored walls, amidst masses of people and works gathered from all across the globe.

Besides the wide staircase the works of interior designers from India or Portugal, an open-to-public tea ceremony, master hat makers explaining their craft and a short ten minute walk away — In the halls of the Es Baluard Museu — a collection of artists in their element, creating and moving in the open for all who pass by.

It’s a living, breathing community that changes and warps with each passing day.

It’s far from finished or in any way complete, but as we see it, in the process of setting this whole thing up, this is perhaps the closest we’ve gotten to what we envisioned XTANT would be a whole half-decade ago.

Photo by @leyre.lopezdelapaz

WORKSHOPS

The final rush for Workshop slots has begun! Slowly but surely, the number of open slots ticks further downward in the week where the most people seem to place their orders.

We don’t judge. Despite the long months of prep work the team is involved in we are still human, and to be human is to procrastinate.

Of course the downside of placing an order now is that despite being the widest selection of workshops we’ve ever had, a lot of them have in fact already sold out.

Not to mention one case where complications with Visas made us have to entirely change our plans. Seriously, don’t take your free travel zones for granted.

With all that said, this year’s collection of workshops really does have it all: From repair, willow basketry, fabric based sculpture, Nuno techniques fusing wool and silk, hand spinning with historical looms, embroidery, to even the making of the sacred adornments present at Japanese temples and shrines.

It’s a packed schedule, more so than we ever thought it’d be. So give it a look! It’d be a shame to miss out on it.

Photo by @engelengele

Time waits for no one and, while there is a lot more for us to discuss — what with the conversations series, the VIP opening party on the 9th, or even the new-fangled environment design made for the floor of Can Vivot — maybe it’s best to call it a day and point towards the direction of the newsletter archive page.

In this moment of exhaustion and general malaise it can be easy to get lost in the amount of noise the news has us absorb. But, at the risk of putting a bit too much of myself into this, I’ve come to appreciate that things really do clear up when your brain stops constantly pacing about what you’ll do tomorrow and you let yourself really take it in the sights around you.

When you treat a walk like travel rather than a commute. The wonder and pause for the sounds and smells that people only really allow themselves to notice when out of their country. It really does remind you that even if you have nothing else, you at least have this.

So, whether you’re visiting from the furthest corners of the world; or you’re already very well acquainted, we hope you can make your time here inspire some wonder, or at the very least bring some calm.

And, if that involves looking at pretty works of art, all the better for us at XTANT right? That being our trade and all.

It really has been fun. Hope to see you all at the event.

CHECK OUT OUR REMAINING WORKSHOPS!