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The Cat, by Fernando Botero will at long last leave the realm of Oblivion and Abandonment into which had been thrown by the authorities for years, but the Colombian sculptor does not seem to agree with the new location for the animal.It arrived in '87 to Barcelona and it has already been moved twice. Now the decision to move the feline and place it at the new Rambla del Raval, seems definitive, after a full year (!) of indecision on the part of the official department responsible for these affairs, the Consejo Asesor de Esculturas (CAE) headed by the Culture department deputy, Ferran Mascarell...
After three years without placing any new sculpture in a public space of Barcelona, the City Hall will henceforth deal with them as if they were architecture items. The decision will be first taken by the districts quality Committees, under the presidence at the Head Architect, Josep Antoni Acebillo, and only then will it be studied by the CAE. This body will gather at the beginning of the next month and decide the fate of the black Cat. On behalf of the world recognition that Botero enjoys and the quality that the piece itself displays, nothing else could be better than to take the fat and nice feline out at a dark location unknown to the great majority of locals and tourists and place it elsewhere.
The author of this work of art has however shown disagreement with the decision of the Ciutat Vella district, taking into account that the authorities had promised to place the cat in front of
MACBA. It is alright to revitalise a whole quarter, like El Raval, traditionally marginalised and full of conflicts, taking further in mind its recent urbanistic redevelopments and its cultural dynamics, but one cannot help understanding also Botero’s frustration. The artist has after all, similar works of art in the main thoroughfares of Madrid, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Chicago, NY... What about the Ciutadella Park of barcelona?...
Ricardo Nuno:.
Wednesday, may 15th '02