By Deirdre Tynan • Published: 24 Aug 2021 • 9:49
The nationalism became too much, according to Sean Scully.
Irish-American abstract painter Sean Scully said he left Barcelona because of the language barrier and nationalism.
In an interview with the Financial Times, the famous painter, who has studios in New York, Munich and now southern France, said he left Barcelona because of Catalan nationalism and the language barrier.
“In the end, we could not bear Barcelona for this sh**,” he told the broadsheet.
Scully and his wife, the artists Liliane Tomasko, who speak Spanish fluently, left the city “due to the growth of nationalism in the city we loved.”
“In Barcelona, you would go to meetings and they would speak completely in Catalan, as if to say ‘F*** off,'” he said.
In 2015, Scully offered 200 works to the Barcelona City Council in exchange for them being permanently exhibited in its own museum space. The initiative was unsuccessful but, shortly after, the artist created the Sean Scully Art Space in the chapel of the Monastery of Santa Cecilia de Montserrat, a 10th-century construction in which he installed half a dozen large-format works.
The family now lives in Aix-en-Provence.
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Deirdre Tynan is an award-winning journalist who enjoys bringing the best in news reporting to Spain’s largest English-language newspaper, Euro Weekly News. She has previously worked at The Mirror, Ireland on Sunday and for news agencies, media outlets and international organisations in America, Europe and Asia. A huge fan of British politics and newspapers, Deirdre is equally fascinated by the political scene in Madrid and Sevilla. She moved to Spain in 2018 and is based in Jaen.
Wait, they’re speaking Catalan in Catalonia! What an outrage! I hope Sean gets to speak plenty of Spanish in Aix-en-Provence.
Como veo que estas despistado , te explico el español están propio de Cataluña como el catalán, de hecho el español es mas hablado, la imposición nazionalista quiere que el catalán triunfe contra toda lógica y razón. Como detalle el español se hablaba al mismo tiempo en Cataluña que en castilla. Lo pillas.
Vaya torta que tienes.Charnegu of course.The charnegus, it worst.
Que no cuela……….será francés.No tendría ningún problema,al contrario que tu enfermo paisucho,Bernardito Torta ajada.Charnegus los peores.Para ti,TERUEL NO EXISTE.A ver si te da unas lecciones tu paisano Federico,que aborrece Cacaluña y a los cacalanes impostados que van de lo que vas tú.
Well it is rather because there are too much nationalist people that oblige to speak Catalan in a spanish region. Many people are sick of this nationalism, exclusion, difaming and racist behavioru of catalans. He is not the first that leave and for sure not the last.
Lluis Pasqual, Albert Boadella, Jimenez Losantos, and many more. Now SCully. They left Catalonia due to extreme nationalism the faced.
Despite that nationalism (or maybe due to it), 62% of young people in Barcelona do speak Spanish habitually and 28% Catalan. In 2015 it was 56% Spanish / 36% Catalan.
Personally I think this has nothing to do with nationalism, here in Spain, regions with own language (Galicia, Vasc Country, Catalonia, Valencia…) use their languages normally, specially in government and of course their languages are taught in schools. If it had anything to do with language or nationalism, he would have gone to any other spanish area like Madrid, Castillas, Andalusia… or maybe Ireland or USA, but no, he has chosen to go to France… where he and his family will be asked to speak French… I would wait for the next news item, which will explain that surprisingly there is a new museum in his name in France for him to exhibit his stuff…
Please, read Fergal Kenna’s comment. My esperience working there was the same as he describes.
That is right Michael. My brother was working in an international company in Barcelona in fluent Spanish. But the colleagues went on and on asking him when will he finally learn catalan. The catalan language is used as an exclusion weapon.
Cacalanismo is a brain sickness.Therapy,therapy and more therapy….y si no,a aguantarse y ajo ,ajoderse.
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