Barcelona
Gipsy catalan community in Gràcia: Gràcia is probably one of the most international, hipster and more touristic neighborhoods in Barcelona, and as former residents ourselves there too, we had noticed there was a big gipsy community that was quite unknown, or sometimes even stigmatized by the new residents and tourists. We wanted to know more about them, their homes, their traditions and way of living, and specially who are their heroes and why. We wanted to bond. Sadly, because of the current situation and Barcelona street Art policies, we were not able to put our work in Gràcia, but you can find them here in our social media and as exhibition in Teatre Lliure.
Jani
Musician
Y óyeme cantar! (Verse from the song " Sarandonga", popularized by " El pescaílla", another famous musician from Gràcia and considered one of the fathers of the rumba catalana. It can be translated as: And listen to me singing!) Joanatan is the lead singer and creator of the rumba catalana group Arrels de Gràcia His dad is the charismatic Yumitus del pichon, an historic "rumbero" member of the famous band "Estrellas de Gràcia", and lead soloist for another big rumba star, Petitet. Despite of all of that, Jonatan preferred to say " Uncle Jani's " name when he was asked for a referent for him in the community, because of referent for him in the community, because of the traditional way he plays the rumba, not so easy to find anymore. Jani is a man with a very complex life, who developed his own way of playing the guitar in bars and squares. They both played together for us in Bar Resolís, and still sometimes, if you are lucky enough, you can find them there.
Tata
fabrics
" Vientos pequeños y fieros mecieron a la niña gitana" ( "Small fierce winds rocked the gipsy girl", verse from the Internationally famous gipsy poetess Papusza) La Tata is Vaitiare's great grandmother. She has been working between fabrics her whole life, and still now goes every day to sell clothes in her market stall in Passatge Sant Joan. She always wears black, because she is a widow and mourns, as the tradition says. Vaitiare, on the other hand, wears always very colourful clothes. Her mum loves to choose what is she going to wear every day and creating new combinations. The access to the gipsy women community is still quite hard in Gràcia, because they create culturally more closed groups. Nevertheless, there are every day more young gipsy women initiatives to raise their voices, like the one in Gràcia promoted by Emerida Isuf, albanian gipsy.
Joaquim
"Pero respeta a su manera las verdades del tambor"
(Verse from the song "Gitanitos y morenos" from the argentinian "rumbero" Gato Pérez, translated as:
But he respects, in his own terms, the drum's truths)
Joaquín was the owner of the Bar Resolís, in Plaça Raspall , from the 70s till the year 2013. The bar was the centre of the gipsy social life in Gràcia, and still now you can find improvised rumba* concerts. Unanimously, all the gipsies were saying Joaquin's name when they were asked by special characters in the community, and smiled remembering his most famous characteristics:
Ricard valentí
Patriarca
(" To be an honest man, and to know how to lose") Ricard Valentí is a descendant of one of the oldest gipsy families established in Gràcia. His mum was the first gipsy woman in Catalunya who learned how to read and write, and his grandfather owned the whole Francisco Giner street: flats, cotton factories, stables... With the years, he has become "patriarch". Since then, he has been fighting against the stigma that still exists about the gipsy population. He said the sentence that comes with him when he was asked by the qualities a patriarch needs: "be an honest man, and to know how to lose, because if not you will say only your truth"
Sant Medir
Tradition
(First line of the international gipsy anthem, "I walked, I walked through long paths") Sant Medir, known in Gràcia neighbourhood as the " Sweet party" is celebrated in the district since mids of the XIXth century. During the day, thousands of candys are thrown from horses to the kids waiting patiently in the streets. Juan Rojas, member of the community, explained to us that the gipsy neighbours in Gràcia have always been specially related to these party: a lot of the actual gipsy houses used to be horse carriages and the owners, horse dealers. Rojas great grandfather himself used to drive an ambulance carried by horses. The connection with horses is directly related with the traditional nomadism of the gipsy community, and their knowledge of these animals. With them, they arrived a long time ago to Gràcia, where they settled. That is why, in Sant Medir's day, they are usually taking a very active part of the party, creating links between gipsies and "payos", as Rojas dad does in the illustration here.
