Fat Cat arises under one of the roofs of the Realejo neighbourhood, Granada, Spain one spring day in 2013, when a small group of friends and inhabitants of the same house, who will be joined by other restless beings, decide to open the doors of their most intimate corners and turn their home into an authentic scene where once a month creativity sprouts in any corner and magic simply happens.
Constituted as an associative space, and aware of the need to generate new spaces and artistic proposals in the city and in the current times, they create a place of experimentation in which to share and combine their diverse personal backgrounds through processes of search and collective creation where music, gesture, word or dance explore other forms of artistic expression and question the existing frontiers between them. Thus is born this particular proposal in a micro-theatrical format where on each occasion, immersed in an atmosphere of closeness and intimacy, more than a hundred masked faces come together to discover four or five brief and simultaneous creations that transform the feline into an authentic ephemeral sensory experience.
Intoxicated by this growing learning process, and eager to continue meowing and purring, Fat Cat takes to the streets and begins to inhabit other unconventional spaces in which to make theatre. Thus, they take theatre to everyday spaces in the city, proposing in each event the creation of shows that make the spaces and the people who inhabit them speak. (Fat Cat 2021)
I met Fat Cat about 5 years ago in one of their special performances. Definitely, it was a different atmosphere. We were walking around corridors and stairs finding theatres and dances in his bathroom, kitchen, bedroom or roof. This unexpected experience helped us to create an invisible union between assistants. After all the performances, a jam session (impromptu performance by musicians) was carrying out. Everything could happened.
Fat Cat’s initiative nowadays extends to the city of Granada, Spain. Gato Gordo takes the city as a stage, performing in unconventional places: gardens, antique stores, private homes or public squares. It is an extraordinary and creative way of linking public and private space, and vice versa. Public space has a special importance in everyday life. The countries bordered by Mediterranean waters are a great example of this.
Fat Cat, integrates the everyday and the local. In fact, this is one of his great contributions. In his performances, the opinions and feelings of his immediate environment, and in particular, of his neighbors, are part of the collective creation.
When art remains largely on the margins of formal, everyday activities, working on alternatives to broaden this approach becomes a priority. Everyone should have access to art and experimentation.
Another element that makes Fat Cat special is its work methodology. Communication is the main tool to improve their projects. It seems very simple, but in a fleeting society where time is money, communicating is a verb within the reach of few projects.
At Gato Gordo it doesn’t matter what kind of art you want to explore, nor what subject you want to talk about, nor if you are an expert or a beginner. You will be free to enjoy Gato Gordo and to express your feelings through art.
Iris Díaz Carrasco from c-r-a-c-k-s talked with Maribel and Sara from Fat Cat.
Video, subtitles and translation by Iris Díaz
#newwaysoflearning #gatogordo #education #art #theatre #dance #performances #publicspace #privatespace #fatcat