Baibai
Marc Villanueva Mir
On 18 April 2012, the Catalan Minister for Occupation, Francesc Xavier Mena (member of the former CiU party) replied to the question posed by a Youth Representative about their concern for the lack of opportunities in the country with the advise to take the first flight to London and look for a job as a bar tender, in order to improve their English skills. According to the Spanish Institute of Statistics (INE, 2013), and as summarized by the Dr. Clara Rubio Ros in her paper "Londres, tierra prometida" ("London, promised land"), 10,791 Catalans emigrated in 2012. About 35.7% of the total were young people (aged between 16-34 years old) and, in this scenario, United Kingdom was the third favorite destination receiving 958 Catalans in 2012.
This video work was first shown as part of the performance Baibai presented at the Minifest of the Institut del Teatre (Barcelona) on May 2013. It was conceived as a video mapping displaying looped excerpts of the Minister's speech into an empty suitcase, while the pictures of several young people slowly spread over the wall behind.
Video concept and editing Marc Villanueva Mir
Artistic advisory Aleix Duarri
Baibai performing team Laura Batllori, Aleix Duarri, Hèctor Mora Campón, Marc Villanueva Mir, Valeria Villar