1. The Anella Cultural project aims to connect cultural centers across Catalonia with an optical fiber network to facilitate the exchange of cultural content and promote innovation. 2. The initial phase will connect 5 centers, with plans to expand the network to 14 centers total. 3. The network will allow for live streaming of events, on-demand access to files, and new forms of artistic collaboration and research across locations.

1. ANELLA CULTURAL
Cultural Ring

2. ANELLA CULTURAL 2/19

3. Summary
1. Presentation.............................................................4
2. Developing lines of the project…………….........................6
3. Functioning…............................................................8
4. Centers and implementation schedule...........................9
5. Program……..............................................................11
6. Budget……................................................................13
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4. 1. Presentation
The Anella Cultural is a project that aims to connect the Future Internet
with the Cultural community in each country. Our goal is to intensify the
use of the net as a cooperative tool to generate cultural production and
exchange and to contribute to the innovation of formats. It is not a
project built around technology but a project that explores how
technology can help improve the realization of the traditional aims of
cultural community. It constitutes a pioneering proposal in the field of
research, innovation and development (R+I+D), as it is the first time
that is based on cultural activities.
The project is an initiative of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Departament
de Cultura i Mitjans de Comunicació i Secretaria de Telecomunicacions i
Societat de la Informació), the Institut de Cultura of Barcelona, the
Fundació i2Cat, the CCCB and the Transversal, a network of
municipalities of all Catalonia.
The project consists in the development of a digital network connecting a
set of public theaters , equipped with digital media videorecorders,
projectors, computers and specific applications. This platform activates
the exchange of contents and the co-production of events on-line and
promotes research activities about new uses of the net in the cultural
production field, while improving their diffusion and offering to creators a
new platform to experiment with applications in digital art.
The implementation of the optical fiber net at the territory will be
developed in two phases. The initial phase will connect the CCCB and
four cultural centers of the Xarxa Transversal (Lleida, Granollers, Olot
and Reus). In its second phase, the fiber net will also connect the rest of
the cultural centers of Transversal (Manresa, Figueres, Tortosa, Sant
Cugat del Vallès, Mataró, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Girona, Vic, la Seu d’Urgell
and Perpinyà). Eventually, the net will be an exchange tool available to
every cultural center of Catalunya.
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5. Additionally, the very nature of the projects offers to each of the centers
new tools to channel the collaborations with other collectives, creators and
international institutions beyond any geographical limit.
The Anella Cultural is a project for the Catalan country that is part of the
strategy of the Generalitat de Catalunya to connect all the territory through
optical fiber net for different uses (such as sanitary, industrial,
educational...) in order to make all services available to the entire
population, especially the people from those places far from the capital. The
cultural use, sometimes spectacular, of new technologies will be a great
sample that will decisively promote its application in other fields.
Culture and Innovation
Even though creativity and adaptability are the main elements of the
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6. cultural field, artistic creation, culture and especially their diffusion have not
fully adopted the possibilities of technological innovation. The reason for
this is the continuous lack economic resources, which has impeded culture
to employ the high technology equipments necessary to pursue this
innovation.
The Anella Cultural project hopes to stimulate the spirit of innovation among
the different agents -creators, cultural managers and local politicians- who
incorporate this net in their daily tasks. This represents a big novelty in the
field of public culture: for the first time, a project of research, innovation
and development (R+I+D) uses cultural activities as a row material. This
will open several lines of development, as we will see below.
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7. 1. Experimental services of the Cultural Ring
The main aim of the Anella Cultural project is the exchange of cultural
contents. But its innovative components will open up new contexts, new
formats and new uses that will very soon even modify the contents
themselves. The speed, the quality and the multidirectionality of the
transmission of contents allows us to think of the activities outside of
their original location and, therefore, they become more accessible,
more affordable and more socially cost-effective.
A first look at the uses of the Anella Cultural helps us establish the
following developing lines:
α) Live. Bi-directional live transmission of activities (lectures, debates,
performances...) from one center to other cultural centers. This
possibility requires the emitter to be enabled to produce the
audiovisual signal and to send it to the net, and the receptor to have
the necessary technological media to project it and visualize it on a
large screen. Some examples of this could be:
The broadcast of lectures, courses and other events with the possibility
of the participation of the public from any of the centers. The
interactivity of the connection permits a wide typology of live courses:
Dance Master classes, drama classes, participative reading of stories,
etc.
Round tables and debates with participation of speakers from any city in
the net or, in connection with the scientific ring, from any connected
university.
Festivals that could be broadcasted partially or in their entirety. The
opening act will give a new dimension to the festival HIPNÒTIK, held at
the CCCB, as it will include the participation of artists from Granollers,
Reus and Lleida who will interact with the activities being celebrated at
the CCCB. This way people will experiment with an artistic exchange,
while sub-venues of the festival will be established in these cities. Later
on, ANIMAC in Lleida, PNRM in Olot or Now in Barcelona can represent
new events that will make possible the participation from any point of
the net.
Broadcasting of performances. Any center connected can send, after its
digitalization, the activity to the other centers of the net, which can then
project it on a large screen. The pioneering initiative of the Gran Teatre
del Liceu, which broadcasts in live some of its opera performances to
universities through the Anella Científica (scientific ring) in a project
called Opera Oberta, will increase its magnitude through its participation
in the Anella Cultural.
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8. ANELLA CULTURAL 8/19

9. b) File under demand. The development of this last line opens up the
possibility of making all the materials and multimedia files accessible to
the public. This option requires the different centers to have their own
server with their own multimedia files. The centers will have to make
these files accessible through the site of Transveral and will also have to
provide public points of access to them.
We are currently working on establishing the archival protocols to make
the multimedia contents accessible and, at the same time, to guarantee
their safety and permanence.
c) Interaction/exchange/research. The daily use of the audiovisual
technology and of the connection from wide band will make possible new
formulations of conventional activities. These new formats could
represent:
Net projects to visualize exhibitions. Audiovisual formats are more and
more common in the design of the exhibitions. Therefore, it is possible to
think of an exhibition in the net made of contents issued from different
points and viewed at any point of the net.
Audiovisual programs laboratory. The participation in the Anella Cultural
imposes as a common practice the digitalization of most of the activities
generated by the cultural centers. Through the creation of audiovisual
departments or the agreement with local producers, the equipments
connected will be the optimal place to collaborate with universities and
other educational centers, to accommodate students in practices and to
carry out research and innovation proposals that need a laboratory for
experimentation.
Creative multimedia applications of original projects. The contemporary
artistic creation that uses informatic and multimedia supports could use
the resources offered by the net project and its advanced technology.
This is an area of special interest for centers such as the Mercat de les
Flors, which has since the beginning explored new ways of exchange
with other similar centers.
Creation and application of new tools and formats for publications.
Communication in the net is fundamentally audiovisual. This audiovisual
format makes possible to redesign the classic education and
communicative tools through specific TV channels, videografic capsules,
or multimedia publications. The combined use of several technologies -
mobile phone, television by IP, connections in streaming- open an
unlimited range of possibilities in the research of new formats for the
interactive transmission of information.
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10. 2. Technology
Anella Cultural supports:
Connectivity
Facilitated by the net of the operators of telecommunications Al-Pi
Telecomunicacions, Abertis Telecom and the experimental net of
Fundació i2Cat, an optimum flow of 30-100 Mbps is guaranteed. In the
cases of Lleida and the CCCB, the infrastructure of optical fiber achieving
a capacity of 100Mbps is used, while the other centers use radio
electrical infrastructure - in Reus and Granollers, they have a capacity of
34 Mbps and, in Olot, the capacity is 4 Mbps.
The Fundació i2Cat, after examining the real state of the connections in
the cultural centers, has got the connection for all centers through
agreements with the telecommunications operators. Likewise, it
administers and manages the use of the central unit of connection. The
centers of the net have computer equipment that allows coding and
decoding of the signal and the transmission and reception of the
information.
Beyond this local connectivity, Fi2cat is connecte to the GEANT3 and the
GLIF via Red Iris at 10GE.
Local connectivity Map – Anella Cultural
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11. Global Connectivity through GEANT3 and GLIF
The audiovisual digitalization
All centers are equipped with material to record, project, edit and store the
activities (video cameras, projectors, screens, table of edition,
videoconference, etc). Thanks to the experience of more than ten years of
the Departament d’Audiovisuals of the CCCB, the material is of good quality
but of simple use and easily portable, so as to adapt itself to the multiplicity
of contents that is expected to transmit through the Anella Cultural.
Likewise, a series of protocols, catalogs of good practices, or training have
been established in order to guarantee the quality of the recording.
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12. Contents
By incorporating the activities transmitted by the Anella Cultural into the
cultural programming of each city, we ensure its maximum social
profitability. The Xarxa Transversal, in coordination with several cultural
institutions and Catalan Town Councils, has promoted for eight years the
distribution of cultural services throughout the Catalan territory. In its turn,
the Anella Cultural coordinates and establishes the programming of the
contents that can be interesting to the net and makes sure that the
transmission flows in all directions.
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13. 4. Centers and implementation schedule
Pilot Phase
Towards the middle of 2008 the Pilot Phase will have been completed. It
will have connected the CCCB and the IMAC in Lleida at 100 Mbps, the
Museu de Granollers and the Centre Cal Massó in Reus at 34 Mbps, and
the Teatre Principal d’Olot, provisionally with a connection of 4 Mbps. By
now, the technical phase of implementation of the equipment and
connection of the centers has been accomplished. In September 2007
the equipments began the experimentation phase in the production field
and cultural programming.
Of the fourteen centers of Transversal, these four were selected for the
pilot phase because they represent four very different situations that will
be encountered for certain in some of the centers in the second phase.
LLEIDA
Institut Municipal d’Acció Cultural
Carrer Blondel, 64
GRANOLLERS
Museu de Granollers
Carrer Anselm Clavé, 40
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14. OLOT
Teatre Principal
Passeig d’en Blay, 5
REUS
Centre d’Art Cal Massó
Carrer Pròsper de Bofarull
Second Phase
During 2008, the other ten centers of the Xarxa Tranversal will be
incorporated into the net with the aim that, at the end of the year, all
fourteen cities will be on the Anella Cultural. Even though there is not an
established priority and the order of incorporation will vary depending on
the feasibility and opportunities of connection at the destination centers,
the celebration of the Capital Catalana de la Cultura in Perpinyà will
impose a priority in relation to this city of the Catalunya Nord.
The centers that will be connected in the second phase are:
MANRESA
Teatre Kursaal,
Passeig de Pere III, 35
FIGUERES
Teatre Jardí
Plaça Josep Pla, 2
TORTOSA
Teatre Auditori Felip Pedrell
Passeig de Ribera, 11
SANT CUGAT DEL VALLÈS
Teatre-Auditori Sant Cugat
Plaça Gabriel Ferrater, s/n
MATARÓ
Teatre Monumental
La Riera, 169
VILANOVA I LA GELTRÚ
Centre d’Art Contemporani La Sala
Carrer Joaquim Mir, 12
GIRONA
Centre Cultural de la Mercè
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15. Pujada de la Mercè, 12
VIC
Institut del Teatre - Centre d’Osona
Sant Miquel, 20
LA SEU D’URGELL
Ajuntament de la Seu
Plaça dels Oms, 1
PERPINYÀ
El Mediator
Avda. General Leclerc
This list of centers should be understood as the municipal equipments
that centralize the Anella Cultural. Given the diverse typology of
transmitted contents, however, some of the activities will be followed
from other public equipments of the net cities. For this reason, each
piece of equipment is totally mobile in order to make its installation
easier depending on the circumstances.
3. Program
The Pilot Phase has established a provisional program that aims to be a
laboratory and is based on the transmission and placement of the
activities that are part of the scheduled programs of the cultural centers.
The aim is not to create an additional program but to launch a new tool
to be used by creators and managers to propose new projects. The
Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona is the center with most
activities and providing most of the program contents. Nevertheless, we
think it is important that each of the other four centers organize, at
least, a couple of activities during the whole year. With the incorporation
of the other centers during 2008, we will specify the schedule of
activities that will act as a test bench for the project.
Beyond the exchange of programs, the technology of the transmission of
contents and the full adoption of audiovisual language will transform the
Anella Cultural into an authentic laboratory of contemporary artistic
creation. We are beginning to establish contacts with several art
collectives linked originally by their creation in computer and audiovisual
formats, in order to let them explore the possibilities. Art platforms such
as Kònic thtr, creation centers such as Hangar and Àreatangent, o
artists who have shown their interest in the research of new formats
such as Àlex Serrano or Joan Solana, are working on the multiple
possibilities of this new tool.
The first activities of the schedule for the last semester of 2007 are:
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16. September
16 FESTIVAL HIPNÒTIK – Origin CCCB/Net centers -
Net activities at:
GRANOLLERS – Museu de Granolllers
Live interactive connection. Exhibition and Break Dance workshop.
REUS – Centre d’Art Cal Massó
Live interactive connection. Rap and DJ Concert.
LLEIDA – IMAC
Live interactive connection. Graffiti Exhibition.
BARCELONA – CCCB
Live broadcast to the three centers of the final Festival mc’s and Break
Dance.
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17. October
Schedule to be determined (between 2-17)
OPERA: ANDREA CHÉNIER – Origin Gran Teatre del Liceu –
Live reception:
REUS – Teatre Bartrina
Technical demonstration in:
OLOT – Teatre Principal
23-24 II TROBADA CULTURAL EUROREGIÓ – Origin Lleida –
Several connections by Videoconference
Streaming emission
November
NOW –demonstrations of different formats– Origin CCCB, inside
Barcelona ciència 2007 –
–
The programming will be determined, regarding both schedules and
formats, according to the availability to connect of the cultural centers,
especially if they are the origin of the transmission.
2008 Program Proposals
LICEU January, 19, AIDA
February, 24, PERE I LLOP
April, 19, EL CASTELL DE BARBA BLAVA
ANIMAC Lleida, from February 28 to March 2
TRAPEZI Reus, from May 14 to 18
PNRM Olot, from May 23 to June 1
COS Reus, from October 16 to 26
AWARDS VALLVERDÚ Lleida, from November 7 to 14
MEMORIMAGE Reus, from November 14 to 21
REC Olot, from November 7 to 9
DEBATES TXAC January, 29, "alcaldes"
April, 14, "cultura i tecnologia"
September, 29
December, 14
KOSMOPOLIS CCCB, from October 22 to 26
HIPNÒTIC CCCB, September 13 and 14
FIRA DE TITELLES Lleida, from May 1 to 4
LITERARY NIGHT AWARDS Lleida, November, 14
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18. JAZZ FESTIVAL Lleida, November
ESCORXADIJOUS Lleida, to specify
EN TRANSICIÓ CCCB, February 23, Clausura
POST-IT CITY CCCB, March-April
I+C+I CCCB, March, 4
THE END.
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19. ANELLA CULTURAL 19/19