The Chairs of Tàpies: Mal Pelo

The Chairs of Tàpies is a series of multidisciplinary sound actions organised in the context of the Tàpies Centenary Year, with the collaboration of Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). The proposal focuses on the voice and words to create a sound accompaniment to oral memory. In this way, each of the thirteen sessions will feature a creator whose starting point will be the chair, taken as a performative object, linking back to the creative universe of Tàpies through the expressive languages and settings of the present day. The proposal for the month of November is Mal Pelo. 

Mal Pelo, a creative theatre group under the artistic direction of Pep Ramis and María Muñoz, is known for its practice of shared authorship, arising from dialogue between creators from various disciplines (dance, philosophy, music, audiovisual). Over the course of its long career, it has developed its own artistic language through movement and the creation of theatrical performances, featuring text, original soundtracks, live music and the construction of stage settings, as well as light and video, amongst other theatrical techniques. The overall symbiosis makes it possible to understand space by means of the careful and peculiar capacity to listen to bodies and to objects. This in turn generates a personalised world, characterised by an amalgam of gestures and stimulations that approximate the work of Mal Pelo to a type of dance-essay, understood as a dialogue between body, text and sound. 

María Muñoz and Pep Ramis have found on the stage an ideal place to express their urge to experiment, query and share subjects that are essential to their trajectory. Mal Pelo has presented the shows Quarere (1989), Sur, Perros del Sur (1992), Dol (1994), La calle del Imaginero (1996), Orache (1998), El alma del bicho (1999), L’animal a l’esquena (2001), Atrás los ojos (2002), An (el silenci) (2003), BACH (2004), ATLAS (2005), Testimoni de llops (2006), He visto caballos (2008), Tots els noms (2010), Caín & Caín (2011), L’esperança de vida d’una llebre (2013), El cinquè hivern (2015), 7 lunas (2015), The Mountain, the Truth and the Paradise (2017), On Goldberg Variations / Variations (2019), Inventions (2020), Highlands (2021), De haber nacido (2023) and Double Infinite – The Bluebird Call (2023), amongst others.

Over the course of their career, Mal Pelo has collaborated with various creators and projects, including John Berger, Erri de Luca, Lisa Nelson, Àngels Margarit, Steve Noble, Núria Font, Steve Paxton, Eduard Fernández, Andrés Corchero, Toni Serra, Lilo Baur, Cesc Gelabert, Faustin Linyekula, Raffaella Giordano, Baró d’Evel, Leonor Leal, Niño de Elche and Marta Izquierdo, amongst others. 

The company has received numerous distinctions, including the National Culture Award of Catalonia, the City of Barcelona Award and the Spanish National Culture Award, acknowledging its career in the field of choreography, as well its achievements opening up new paths in contemporary dance. 

In 2001, María Muñoz and Pep Ramis initiated the project L’Animal a l’Esquena, a creation and research centre located at Mas Espolla, in Celrà, Girona. The centre is conceived to enliven the intersection of various disciplines and interests, leading to artistic interchange through a working model based on creative residencies. Its location enhances the relationship between creators and the centre’s natural surroundings, intensifying the possibility of new dialogues between art and nature. 

[Photo credit: Mal Pelo]