In this new installment, we dive into the different proposals, very few, that have been developed in Spain for some decades.
Meetings of Christian Artists
One of the most long-standing is the proposal of the Meetings of Christian Artistsalso called EAC's. They are held three times a year. Two of them are usually held in Madrid: one in autumn, another in winter, and the last one outside the capital, in small towns in Burgos or Castellón.
In these meetings, open to any expression that has to do with Faith and Art, we share from the theme that the same group has chosen in the previous meeting, after drawing up a list of concerns or themes that are in the air and that we would like to address. Some of the members of the group (always rotating) prepare the theme for the others not only in a theoretical way, but also with experiential activities.
Organization
The Faith and the work that derives from this Christian experience are shared: melodies, plastic elements, stories, sculpture, etc... Each meeting is woven with a diverse, broad, inclusive approach, where the Word, creation, questions, prayer, answers, experiences, and so many other times, silence, converge before the magnitude of the mystery that pushes the Catholic artist to the creation of the work: a song, a drawing, a poem, a gesture, the movement in the fingers, the words of a story, a tale, an illustration that flies together with a chord that irrigates that character and brings it newborn to life.
These meetings have been in existence for more than 20 years and, depending on the people who have been arriving, they have been developing, growing, giving way to other times, reflecting on their origins, their answers, their path and their questions. Themes as suggestive as: De-Crecer; Pain: that uncomfortable companion along the way; God and time; Peace Art-healthy; Dream bearers; Art and Prayer... are some of the titles of the more than 60 meetings that have taken place, where fundamental questions continue to be asked: "From what sources does your art drink? Is your art the favor of God, a balance of consciousness, a social critique, the planning of a new world... Why and why do we build forms and melodies, play with words and colors, and express experiences?
Proposals
Some proposals were: "The project was to LOOK ART (spectator experience, a contemplative experience, an experience of divinity), CREATE ART (the creative process brings me closer to God and others) and SHOW ART (our artistic production as a means of bringing others closer to God). In image, the purification of Mary. They could not offer a lamb, which would have cost six days of work. They gave two doves, because they were poor. Like a cathedral stained glass window, panel art brings us closer to God."
For young people
On another level, for the past six years the Youth Department of the Spanish Episcopal Conference has been trying to provide a meeting place for Catholic musicians in Spain to advise and accompany artists, especially the youngest ones, spiritually and musically. The first meetings were dedicated to mark the roadmap for a Catholic artist/musician, addressing issues such as tour promotion, management, with the intervention of the director of the SGAE, the commercial director of a distributor, speakers for the legal, fiscal and economic organization of the artists.
Some music producers were seen in these first meetings, and of course a creative as Siro Lopez with a lot of experience in the field of art and Faith from his more plastic look. We could not miss the testimony of committed people like Chito, from Brotes de Olivo. In a II Encounter, fortunately, steps begin to be taken for a great number of participants.
In its III Edition, the tone is similar. With the IV Edition, the first prizes were awarded Speraas well as presentations on digital promotion and distribution, workshops on vocal technique and anatomy applied to singing, and testimonials such as those of Migueli and Fermín Negre, from Ixcis, which we mentioned in the previous issue.
We close this space of formation for Catholic musicians in Spain with a last online edition, this past June 2020, where Martin Valverde and the director of TRECE TV told us the truth. All of them have had a night of prayer or a "now it's your turn!". All of them meetings aimed especially at the youngest where we seek to dialogue with them and their Faith through music.
Training space for Catholic music festivals in Spain
Almost at the same time, the Festival has emerged Laudato Si in Adra (Almeria), where a multifestival format, which had its heyday more than 30 years ago throughout Spain, has been resumed. Many of you will remember the multifestival DavidThe Festival, where several fundamental pillars of the formation of a Catholic musician or artist, and of the life of every Christian, were raised: faith, spiritual and musical formation, the experience of God and community life, prayer groups, parishes, personal calls, religious life, testimonies, workshops, resources and materials for religious education, the meeting tent, and of course, the great vigil on Saturday night, the concerts of large and small format, and the Eucharist on Sunday, with which the Festival was closed. The Festival Laudato Si became the most important festival in Spain, and had international transcendence.
Returning to Adra: in recent years it has been flooded by the Spirit of God, opening hearts that empathize with this idea of bringing to others the message of the gospel through music. As their website says: "Moved by the desire to share the faith through music, we started this project with a night of concerts, where Catholic artists express their experience of God to all attendees. The acceptance and reception of this form of evangelization led us to dream: Why not a full weekend of music, formation and sharing for musicians, open to anyone who wants to come? And the answer was: Laudato Si".. Little by little it has been growing and adopting a format reminiscent of David, but in a smaller format, with concerts, vigil, workshops, lectures, presentations, etc...
This year 2020, given the health situation, some of these training events for Catholic Christian musicians and artists have been held online, or simply not held at all.
Where did David learn to compose the songs of Yahweh? What was his school of formation? Where do our Catholic artists learn? Where do Spanish Catholic musicians learn worship and praise, composition and the making of instruments to accompany the songs of God? Is it at the SGAE, or perhaps at the Asociación de Intérpretes y Ejecutantes (AIE), or through the promotion of tours and management, or by listening to the life testimony of Christians committed to God, the Faith, the Word and their Art?
Standing or kneeling, the solitude of the shepherd is full of humility, work, communion with nature, bowing before the Creator, prayer, desert, listening, openness, simplicity, faith, patience and fortitude. Only God is the All and can do everything. He alone. As St. Francis of Assisi sang: "Most High, omnipotent, good Lord, thine are the praises, the glory and the honor and every blessing." (Canticle of the creatures).
You are Lord, the only giver and creator of the true melody, of the work. All this is what prepared the "shepherd David" who tended the flock and was chosen and anointed by God to one day be the "David the King" who occupied the throne of Israel.
