june-2011

THE WORLD || Dispatches
VALENCIA, SPAIN
In the Market
As the morning sun shines through the stained glass windows of
Valencia’s vast indoor Central Market, vendors push carts brimming
with apples and oranges in anticipation of a busy shopping day. To
the right of the entrance stands thirtysomething Antonio Catalán
Gómez, the man behind the market’s most popular spice stall,
Purifi cación Gómez Molina. Always cheerful, even as tears stream
down his cheeks thanks to the frigid air from nearby refrigerated
fi sh stalls, Gómez greets customers as they peruse the groomed
mounds of paprika and jars of cinnamon and saff ron.
His grandfather started the business when the market opened in
1928, and it hasn’t closed a day since. “My father took over the stall
in 1970, and I started working here after his death, several years ago,
to help my mother,” he says. “Everyone knows us because we buy
the best-quality spices and we’ve been around for so long.”
Growing up, he would help his father stock shelves on Saturday
mornings. Then, the market was dark and dingy—soot covered the
stained glass and “sun never came through the windows,” he says.
“It was pretty bad until recently,” when the city renovated the market
fi ve years ago. Nowadays, the space’s visual aesthetic is more
cathedral than market, with frescos of Valencia oranges painted on
trusses and a sparkling dome at its center. “It is so beautiful now,”
he says. “I love being able to see the sun during the day.”
A balding man walks up to the stall carrying three baguettes.
He smiles, exchanges anges
pleasantries and d leaves
with four containers ners of
paprika. “He’s one ne of
my regulars,” Catalán atalán
Gómez says. “I have a
close relationship ip with
my customers—they —they
are family. I plan n to to
keep this business ess
going for a long,
long time.”
—KATIE MORELL
June 6-July 30
NEW YORK CITY • Spend
a summer evening enjoying
Measure for Measure and All’s
Well That Ends Well at this year’s
Shakespeare in Central Park.
shakespeareinthepark.org
20 JUNE 2011 • HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
June 16-19
PARIS • It’s a small world after
all at the 31st annual Paris Model
Show, where collectors show
off their tiny boats, planes, trains
and automobiles.
mondial-modelisme.com
June 25-26
WASHINGTON, D.C. • Backyard
chefs around the country
fi re up their grills at the National
Capital Barbecue Battle. Bring
your appetite. bbqdc.com
BERLIN GREAT RECEPTION
There’s nothing palatial
about Pallasseum, a bleak,
1970s cement monolith built around a
World War II bunker here in Berlin. Some
might say this 514-unit apartment complex
is an outright eyesore. For artist Daniel
Knipping, however, it’s the perfect canvas
for an urban art project.
For two nears, Knipping has been
printing images on the 300 or so satellite
receivers a ached to Pallasseum’s
façade. Most of the devices are owned
by immigrants longing to get news from
home, but by decorating them with
pictures, Knipping transforms these
passive receptors into transmi ers of art.
Initially many residents were dubious,
but when Klaus-Peter Fritsch, the
management company’s CEO, heard the
idea, he was so enthusiastic he paid for the
fi rst fi ve pieces. Other tenants were soon
on board, and the city fi nanced the rest of
the project with a $23,000 grant.
Knipping worked with each
participating household to come up with
the designs. Some selected photographs
of their loved ones, while others chose
pictures from nature to brighten the dull
concrete surroundings. One dish shows a
religious icon, another a Pop Art Chevrolet.
Not every resident has been raving
about it, however. “What art?” says
Madlen Thiele, a hairdresser and lifelong
resident of Pallasseum. “Oh, those? They’re
silly, don’t you think?” Thiele said she
would have rather spent the money on
repainting the building. Nevertheless,
Fritsch remains “proud” of the result.
—CHANEY KWAK
June 30-July 6
EDIRNE, TURKEY • The Kirkpinar
Oil Wrestling tournament is
exactly what it sounds like. In its
648th year, it’s also the world’s
longest continuously running
wrestling festival. kirkpinar.com
FROM LEFT, PHOTOGRAPHS BY ISTOCKPHOTO, COURTESY OF PARIS MODEL SHOW, BY LIANEM/ISTOCKPHOTO, BY MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/GETTY IMAGES