L'Associació d'Idees, managing body of La Escocesa, has been forced to issue this note to clarify the current situation and future of the centre, due to the confusing statements made in the press in recent weeks by l’Associació de Actors i Directors de Catalunya.

La Escocesa is a centre for the production of visual arts, municipally owned and independently managed by our association through an agreement with the City Council of Barcelona. In 2011, the Institut de Cultura de Barcelona (ICUB) have decided to increase its financial support to the centre, taking into consideration the professional work we have developed in recent years. L'Associació d'Idees is keen to continue this work in the future, in order to benefit the arts community and to collaborate as before with other centres in the city and the City Council.

A few months before the recent election, the City Council signed an agreement with l'Association of Actors i Directors of Catalonia 2011, which included a statement of intent regarding a possible transfer of one of the two buildings on the site. This assignment involves a fragmentation of the initial La Escocesa draft. This agreement alters neither our association’s work in the present moment, for we have not been consulted in this process, nor our intention to further develop the project throughout the two buildings of La Escocesa in the future. L'Associació d'Idees is currently working on a project designed to build a hub for creative visual arts in Poblenou, following the natural dynamics of the neighbourhood and in collaboration with Hangar, the Association of Visual Artists of Catalonia and other entities.

We believe that the potential of La Escocesa should not be divided into two independently run organisations and that in any case, the ultimate management of the centre, once reconditioned, should take place through a public tender in accordance with good practice. Moreover, our association has the backing of much of the artistic community and neighborhood of Poblenou, Barcelona, and XarxaProd (Network of Visual Arts Production Centres in Catalonia). The architectural project of La Escocesa in the public competition sponsored by the City Council in 2009, was designed to develop a visual arts project that fits with the work of the association in recent years. Currently, our association is in the process of gathering support to defend the continuity of the existing project, aswell as defending good practice and transparency in the assignment and management of public spaces.

So it is communicated to the future team of the city government, with whom we hope to continue working closely.

For those who wish to support the current project, you can contact us (veronique@laescocesa.org and elva@laescocesa.org ) and in any case, we ask that you contribute to give maximum publicity to this note.

Regards,
The Board of La Escocesa