Nau Ivanow

Nau Ivanow is a performing-arts creation and residency centre located at Carrer d'Honduras 28-30 in the La Sagrera neighbourhood of Barcelona, Spain. It occupies a former industrial building originally designed in 1959 by architect Jordi Figueres Anmella for the businessman Víctor Ivanow Bauer as the Pinturas Ivanow paint factory; construction began in 1967 and the factory opened in 1968. After the paint business moved to the Zona Franca industrial estate and was eventually sold to the Dutch multinational Akzo Nobel, the Sagrera building was rented to textile firms including Burberry's, Ángel Ortiz and Kevin&Kevin. In 1997 the architect and photographer Xavier Basiana acquired the building for his professional studio and to develop a cultural centre, and in 1998 Nau Ivanow was born as a new space for the creation, production and dissemination of contemporary culture. Since 2006 the centre has been managed by the Fundació Sagrera, succeeding the Associació Cultural La Nau Ivanow (ACLNI), and since 2010 it has formed part of the Fàbriques de Creació (Creation Factories) project of the Institut de Cultura of Barcelona City Council. Its own materials describe it as a space of welcome, accompaniment and research — a refuge for live-arts companies — with a long-term project built around three main axes: professionalisation of the sector, active participation in cultural policies, and art and territory, making artistic practice a generator of collective knowledge. Nau Ivanow specialises in the performing arts and operates as a platform that supports artistic projects, especially those of young creators, across all phases of the creative process, while remaining open to proposals from all artistic disciplines. Its activities include a residency programme for creators, companies, researchers and cultural-management professionals; space-cession and coworking services for live-arts professionals; open rehearsals; training; mediation and art-and-education work; publications; and international exchange residencies such as Moving Identities. In 2015, together with aPortada and the Sala Atrium, it launched the first edition of the DespertaLab cycle of stage creation, aimed at supporting the most active and emerging theatre creation by giving artists and companies the space and technical conditions for creation, production, communication and exhibition. The centre is a non-profit, privately managed cultural entity rather than a commercial manufacturer: its 'product' is space, time, accompaniment and visibility for live-arts creation. It is publicly recognised through its membership of the city's Creation Factories network and collaborates with partners such as the Fundació Carulla on grants supporting artistic creation with social impact.

The building that now houses Nau Ivanow was designed in 1959 by the architect Jordi Figueres Anmella on behalf of the businessman Víctor Ivanow Bauer, as a paint factory in the industrialised La Sagrera neighbourhood of Barcelona. Construction did not begin until 1967, and the Pinturas Ivanow factory was inaugurated in 1968. The building was topped by a Catalan-style roof with a characteristic undulating ceramic surface; this roof was destroyed by heavy rainstorms in 2005 and has not been rebuilt. As the paint business grew, it moved to the Zona Franca industrial estate, where it continued producing paints, lacquers and other acrylics until it was sold to the Dutch multinational Akzo Nobel. The Sagrera building was then rented out to various textile-sector companies, including Burberry's, Ángel Ortiz and Kevin&Kevin. In 1997 the architect and photographer Xavier Basiana acquired the building in order to establish his professional studio there and to develop a cultural centre. In 1998 Nau Ivanow was born as a new space for the creation, production and dissemination of contemporary culture. From 2006 the centre has been managed by the Fundació Sagrera, taking over from the Associació Cultural La Nau Ivanow (ACLNI). In 2010 it became part of the Fàbriques de Creació (Creation Factories) project of the Institut de Cultura of Barcelona City Council, a municipal network of former industrial spaces converted into cultural production hubs. In 2015, Nau Ivanow and aPortada joined the Sala Atrium to create the first edition of the DespertaLab cycle of stage creation, with the aim of supporting the most active and emerging theatre creation by providing artists and companies with the space and technical conditions needed for creation, production, communication, dissemination and exhibition of a theatrical work, and helping them enter professional distribution and exhibition networks. In the 2020s the centre has continued to develop its residency model. Its current residency programme for live arts is structured around seven modalities, combining time, space, financial support, professional accompaniment and alliances with other sector agents, and is aimed at creators, companies, researchers and cultural-management professionals at different stages of development. The programme explicitly seeks to guarantee time and space for research without production pressure, favouring risk, trial and error, and non-linear processes. Alongside this, Nau Ivanow runs space-cession and coworking services, open rehearsals, training, mediation and art-and-education activities, publications, and international exchange residencies such as Moving Identities, and it collaborates with partners including the Fundació Carulla on grants for artistic creation with social impact.

• 2015

  Nau Ivanow, aPortada and Sala Atrium launch the first edition of the DespertaLab stage-creation cycle.

• 2011

  Nau Ivanow is described as part of Barcelona City Council's Fàbriques de Creació network.

• 2010

  Nau Ivanow joins the Fàbriques de Creació project of the Institut de Cultura of Barcelona City Council.

• 2006

  The Fundació Sagrera takes over management of Nau Ivanow from the Associació Cultural La Nau Ivanow (ACLNI).

• 2005

  Heavy rainstorms destroy the building's characteristic Catalan-style undulating ceramic roof.

• 1998

  Nau Ivanow is born as a space for the creation, production and dissemination of contemporary culture.

• 1997

  Architect and photographer Xavier Basiana acquires the building to establish his studio and develop a cultural centre.

• 1968

  The Pinturas Ivanow factory is inaugurated.

• 1967

  Construction of the factory building begins.

• 1959

  Architect Jordi Figueres Anmella designs the Pinturas Ivanow paint factory for businessman Víctor Ivanow Bauer in La Sagrera, Barcelona.

A non-profit performing-arts creation factory and creative refuge in Barcelona, focused on the professionalisation of the live-arts sector, cultural policy participation, and art-and-territory work.

• Programa de residències (residency programme)

  A live-arts residency programme with seven modalities, offering time, space, financial support, professional accompaniment and alliances for creators, companies, researchers and cultural-management professionals.

• Cessió d'espais (space cession)

  Space available for creation and rehearsal at Nau Ivanow, requested via an online form.

• Coworking

  A coworking space for live-arts professionals, intended to foster creation and collaboration.

• DespertaLab

  A stage-creation cycle launched in 2015 with aPortada and Sala Atrium to support emerging theatre creation.

• Moving Identities

  International cross-residency exchange programme.

1. 1Nau Ivanow official websitenauivanow.com
2. 2Sobre la Nau - Nau Ivanownauivanow.com
3. 3Programa residències - Nau Ivanownauivanow.com
4. 4Nau Ivanow - Wikidatawikidata.org
5. 5Nave Ivanow - Wikipedia (Spanish)es.wikipedia.org