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Barcelona-Shanghai, a project by Tactical Tourism, 2005
(www.tacticaltourism.org)
Contact: Consol Rodríguez · Tel: +44 - 79 8577 5999 · Email: consol@tacticaltourism.org
 Barcelona-Shanghai

"We can see the surprising similarity that existed between the
historical fate of China and Spain, two pivotal countries of the
Multilateral Commerce and the Triangular Commerce China-
Filipinas-Spain, that evolved from prosperity to decline. Therefore,
we think that this history is not only an important chapter in the
relations between China and Spain, but also an important topic
of study from which the two countries can compare parallel
experiences and make use of the historical lessons."
History of the Sino-Spanish Relations, Zhang Kai, Elephant Press,
Madrid, 2003.

Barcelona-Shanghai is a proposal for both the realisation of a public art

intervention between the cities of Shanghai and Barcelona that takes the
form of a publication on both cities’ recent history to be given away to the
passengers of the flight between Shanghai and Barcelona, and the realisation
of an installation presented as a shop or bazaar of souvenirs.
The intervention (publication) would take place during the direct flight’s aerial
passage that communicates both cities. The installation – intended to bring
to notice the role that trade has in our contemporary society– would be realised
both in Barcelona and Shanghai.
The aim of this project is to make visible the connections between Shanghai
and Barcelona and to consider their respective social and commercial history
during the 19th and 20th centuries together with the role that both tourism
and trade had played and still play today in order to approach and connect
cultures to each other.
The project would take place in three stages: 1) research and realisation of
a public written and graphic archive to be accessed at Tactical Tourism web
space (), 2) realisation of a take-away free publication (an informative leaflet)
to be found after boarding in the plane’s seats of the direct flight Barcelona-
Shanghai and Shanghai-Barcelona; this publication would set record of both
cities’ recent history, displaying facts that establish a route or tour through
diverse subjects and circumstances that relate one city to the other, 3) the
creation and presentation of The Show: Tactical Bazaar, an installation
consisting of a shop where objects of diverse kind and acquired in each city
would be put on sale –i.e., objects of popular origin, traditional objects,
souvenirs, second hand objects, etc.
Project and Future respective social and
Development commercial history during
the 19th and 20th
Barcelona-Shanghai is a centuries. This quite often
public art project for both unknown history period
an intervention between would be presented to the
the cities of Shanghai and passengers of the flight
Barcelona that takes the as a publication that
form of a publication on establishes a route or tour
both cities’ recent history, through the diverse
and the realisation of an subjects and
installation presented as circumstances that relate
a shop or bazaar of one city to the other.
souvenirs. This project
intends to bring to notice We count on the interest
the effective role played of Casa Asia in Barcelona
by trade and tourism in for the development of our
our contemporary times project, and we are
as a way of interrelation currently negotiating and
and interchange amongst disucssing the different
different cultures and ways in which this project
countries. can be realised.
The intervention
(publication) –the idea
arose last July 2005 on
occasion of the public
announcement of the first
direct Air Plus Comet
flight Barcelona-Shanghai
and Shanghai-Barcelona–
would take place during
the flight’s aerial passage
that communicates both Barcelona
cities. The installation, to
be realised in both
Barcelona and Shanghai,
would be presented as a
shop or bazaar of
souvenirs and would aim
at pointing at the role that
trade has in our
contemporary society.

The aim of Barcelona-

Shanghai project is to
make visible the
connections between
Shanghai and Barcelona
and to consider their
1. Description

Barcelona-Shanghai project would consist of a take-away publication that will be

given away to the passangers flying between Shanghai and Barcelona, and the
realisation of an installation that proposes a reflection on the role of trade as a way
of interrelation and cultural interchange between our different contemporary cultures
and countries.

The publication Barcelona-Shanghai would contain information on both cities’

social and commercial history. This related fragment of history would have its
starting point in the end of the multilateral commercial relations between China-
Filipinas-Mexico-Spain during the end of 19th century, and in the signing of the
Treaty of Nanjing after Great Britain’s triumph in the Opium War, to end up nowadays
with the increase of intensity in trade interchange and cultural relations that has
culminated in the establishment of a new direct flight Barcelona-Shanghai.
In the publication, a historical chronology would display events of the same time
period comparable to both cities. For instance, in the same month of 1936, Civil
War starts in Spain together with the Italian-German intervention, while Japan
declares the war for the total invasion of China; in 1909, the Tragic Week takes
place in Barcelona, while two years later the first Chinese Revolution starts in
Shanghai; in 1927, the massacre of Shanghai takes place, while Spain lives under
Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship; in 1921, the CPC is founded; in 1939, Barcelona
succumbs to dictator Francisco Franco’s army, while in China the war begins against
the Japanese occupation.

This chronology would also display historic events of a more commercial kind, e.g.,
when Chinese products were first imported to Spain, when the first ship set sail
from Barcelona to Shanghai and vice versa, what the transported commodities
were, etc.; or it would also put a stress on the year of 1973, when China establishes
diplomatic relations with Spain, or on the moment in which the Chinese community
settled in Barcelona (from the 80s on).
The chronology would end up with the date when the first direct passenger flight
departed from Barcelona to Shanghai, the 8th of July of 2005.

This way, this chronology would also reveal globalisation not as a recent phenomenon,
but as one that goes back to the origins of capitalism.

Barcelona-Shanghai publication would also contain photographs and a map of

both cities indicating the locations where some of the narrated historical events
took place. This art, it would be possible for those who wished to do so, to realise
the historic tour proposed on the map during their stay in one or the other city.
These marks on the map could refer to places or buildings that no longer exist
today, and that might have been replaced by other buildings in the same site. These
marks would help us to make an exercise of historical memory in order to understand
and comprehend today’s circumstances in both cities.

Barcelona-Shanghai publication would also include elements from both urban

cultures, and a logo including the names of the two cities would open and close
the publication. The possibility would also be considered of a large sticker-format
intervention displaying the logo Barcelona-Shanghai in part of the fuselage of the
airplane (or fleet of airplanes) that makes the route Barcelona-Shanghai and Shanghai-
Barcelona.

2. Stages of development of the project Barcelona-Shanghai

www.tacticaltourism.org/bcn_sha

The development of the project Barcelona-Shanghai would take place in three

stages: a) a first stage dedicated to research and the realisation of a public written
and graphic archive to be accessed at ; b) a second stage dedicated to the realisation
of a take-away free publication to be found after boarding in the plane’s seats of
the direct flight Barcelona-Shanghai and Shanghai-Barcelona; and c) a third stage
dedicated to the production and presentation of installation The Show: Tactical
Bazaar, consisting of a shop where objects of popular origin from both cities –i.e.,
traditional objects, souvenirs, second hand objects, etc.– would be put on sale.

a) Research and realisation of the written and graphic archive

www.tacticaltourism.org/bcn_sha

The first stage, research stage, would be dedicated to gather information

–both graphic and written– regarding the history of both cities, aiming at
the creation of a historical chronology and maps reflecting on the ideas we
have presented above. This first stage would consist itself of diverse stages:

·Research into the recent social and commercial history of the cities of
Barcelona and Shanghai. This investigation would have its starting point
in the mid 19th century, moment that saw the beginning of trade between
both cities after the opening of the Suez Canal and its immediate and
dramatic effect on the world trade, East and West.
·Creation of a chronology of outstanding events for the history of both
cities based on the data gathered at the first stage of our investigation.
·Localisation of the places where these historical events took place and
that relate one city to the other. This localisation would be documented
by photographic images and would be carried out in two ways: 1) through
a collection of images proceeding from publications and historic
archives that would show places of Shanghai’s and Barcelona’s past
related to the mentioned chronology, 2) through the creation of an
archive of contemporary images realised in situ: relevant places in
the history of the two cities would be visited and photographed in order
to capture their essence and reality as they are nowadays. For this
investigation in situ we would like to count on the help of Shanghai
Duolun Museum of Modern Art and their Artists Residency Programme
2006. Due both to the nature of the Artists Residency and the team
working strategies and budget, only two of the members of the group
(Consol Rodríguez and Mariano Maturana) would realise the stay in
Shanghai.
·Design of a map of each city containing already gathered historic,
social and commercial information and a proposal of a tour or route based
 on the localisation of each city’s relevant historic locations.
·Production of a web space at www.tacticaltourism.org/bcn_sha aiming
at the creation of a public written and graphic archive that would present
the results of the research stage of the project Barcelona-Shanghai.

b) Production of the publication Barcelona-Shanghai and realisation of

the intervention at the public space of the direct flight that communicates
Barcelona and Shanghai nowadays

This second stage, to be realised once the research stage is already finished
and accessible online, could be summarised as: 1) design of the publication
including written and graphic historic material on the cities of Barcelona and
Shanghai, maps with localisations, a proposal of a route through the history
of both cities, a chronologic line, etc, and 2) the realisation of the intervention
on the direct flight Barcelona-Shanghai and Shanghai-Barcelona.

c) Production and presentation of “The Show: Tactical Bazaar” installation

This third stage of the project would consist of the realisation of an installation
that takes the shape of a shop or bazaar of souvenirs and that would take
place both in Barcelona and Shanghai.
The Show: Tactical Bazaar would consist of the exhibition and sale of a
group of objects of very diverse nature and that have been acquired in both
cities during the investigation process of the project. These would be objects
of popular origin, traditional objects, artisan objects, souvenirs, second-hand
objects, etc.
The buying-and-selling deals of these commodities would become a suggestive
proposal for a cartography of the everyday in both cities. Due to their popular
background, this collection of objects would reflect the character of the people
and the places where they come from. Altogether, The Show: Tactical
Bazaar installation would prompt us to reflect on the effective role played
by trade and tourism in our contemporary times as a way of interrelation and
interchange amongst different cultures and countries.

3. Timeline for the realisation of the project

December 2005 – Abril 2006

Beginning of the research and historic source investigation
Contact and meetings with institutions in both cities potentially interested in the
collaboration for the realisation of Barcelona-Shanghai project

April 2006 – June 2006

Stay and research in Shanghai
Acquisition of objects in Shanghai for the installation Bazaar in Barcelona

July 2006 – October 2006

Design of the Tactical Map with a proposed route for both cities
Design of the historical chronology resulting from the research stage
Preproduction of the installation-Bazaar in Barcelona
November 2006 – December 2006
Design of the web space containing the visual and graphic archive resulting from
the research on both cities
Launch of the online Barcelona-Shanghai archive

January 2007 – February 2007

Production of the publication-leaflet Barcelona-Shanghai
Distribution of the publication-leaflet for the flights Barcelona-Shanghai and Shanghai-
Barcelona
Acquisition of objects in Barcelona for the installation Bazaar to be held in Shanghai

March 2007 – May 2007

Public presentation of the installation-Bazaar in Shanghai