More than 150 reports, virtual tours obtained with Street View technology, videos and images in very high resolution complete a new great online compilation that invites you to rediscover Spain from the sofa. Google Arts & Culture, in collaboration with the ministries of Culture and Industry, Commerce and Tourism, premieres Wonders of Spain this Wednesday (https://artsandculture.google.com/project/discover-spain). It is a digital portal within the cultural platform of the search engine, a new tool that proposes to explore Spanish cultural and heritage wealth through the five senses.
The ear
Flamenco, which next November celebrates its tenth anniversary as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, stars in the listening section of Wonders of Spain , which includes the guitar of Paco de Lucía, singing, dancing and various documentation from the Andalusian Institute of Flemish. The Royal Theater in Madrid also occupies a prominent place: in addition to showing its building and its history, it invites a brief tour of its best moments since its reopening in 1997, and gives away synopses and summaries of its most outstanding performances ( Brokeback Mountain Don Quixote, Dulcinea, Poppea e Nerone, Miss Cristina, Altarpiece of Maese Pedro).
Taste
Churros, tapas, typical dishes, wine. An interactive map shows the diversity of Spanish gastronomy. In it you can also see great figures from the stove: Ferran Adrià teaches, for the first time online, elBulli's creativity notebooks (https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/TAIyXsqKbP7NJw). The Catalan chef is joined by other renowned chefs, such as Carme Ruscalleda or Juan Mari and Elena Arzak, along with dishes such as Valencian paella, gazpacho, Galician empanada, Basque pintxos , nougat from Jijona and Alicante or products from the garden. Navarre. In this sense, you can explore another wine map and there are videos in which Samantha Vallejo-Nágera cooks croquettes or an omelette with the youtuber Kikillo from home.
Ferran Adrià teaches, for the first time online, elBulli's creativity notebooks
To all this is added a new exhibition: Thyssen on the plate , the result of a previous initiative whereby 25 Spanish chefs each elaborated a recipe inspired by a painting from the Madrid museum. This digital exhibition, in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Gastronomy, presents a selection of that newest work by Ferran Adrià, with his recipe for spiced chicken, inspired by the work Seated Woman by Juan Gris, and Joan Roca, whose pickles flowers with walnut romesco are inspired by the painting Woman with a Parasol in a Garden by Renoir.
The sense of smell
Wonders of Spain smells of nature. To the magical air that is breathed on the Camino de Santiago; a sea breeze, which blows thanks to a review of the country's naval history; to the rural world of La Alcarria, the Castilian region that the walker of the 21st century can travel, in 10 stages, following that Journey to the Alcarria that Camilo José Cela left written in 1946.
The view
From the Sagrada Familia to the Alhambra passing through the Puente Nuevo in Ronda, the Segovia aqueduct or the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. The view is happy exploring the Spanish heritage through Street View. Thanks to this tool, for example, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao allows you to embark on a virtual guided tour, and invites the viewer to follow in the footsteps of the photographer Trashhand and the free runner Johan Tonnoir, who tours his facilities with the help of jumps and stunts to the short film Folding reality, released in 2017, when the museum celebrated its 20th anniversary.
The touch
Exploring (virtually) the Barcelona Design Museum, the Costume Museum in Madrid or the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museoa, in Getaria, allows the viewer, from home, to almost touch the fabrics, the textures, the flights, the fashion, the design and crafts of Spain. In the new portal you can see the biography of the designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, the evolution of fans or regional costumes. Also review the history of national inventions and discoveries: from Chupa Chups to the mop to an autogyro, an articulated train or a submarine. Those interested in distant history will be amazed to discover the Universal Letter of Juan de la Cosa, the first indisputable map of America dating from the year 1500. Or approach the figure of Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Nobel Prize in Medicine and pioneer of modern neuroscience.
Bonus at the Thyssen Museum
The Google Arts & Culture project incorporates a private visit to the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum from the hand of its director, Evelio Acevedo, who answers questions from youtuber Javi Alonso. Acevedo strolls through his favorite rooms as he tells the history of the museum, reflects on the delicacy of the art of restoration of pieces or on the pandemic, and stops before works by Caravaggio, Van Gogh, Picasso, Pollock or Juan Gris.
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