Date

25 July 2025

For almost a year, eight Interior Design, Product Design, Fashion Design, and Graphic Design students worked with other performing arts students, musicians, and young professionals, in coordination with professionals from the world of opera and the stage, forming transversal and multidisciplinary teams

For the second time, a multidisciplinary team of students from IED Barcelona has participated in the ‘Òh!pera. Newly Created Micro-Operas’ project, designing the sets, costumes, projections and lighting for the work ‘Ikaria’.

The piece, with music by Ariadna Alsina, libretto by Ana Pazos, and stage direction by Berta Prieto, is part of the Grec Festival programme being performed on 25, 26 and 27 July at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

‘Ikaria’ tells the story of two friends who travel to the island of Ikaria to meet a goat herder, one of whom has fallen in love with him on social media, and whom she hopes to make the father of her child. According to her, he represents the authenticity of rural life, the purity of body and soul. Yet the shepherd’s reality is very different, and the idyllic Greek Arcadia is a far cry from the devastated landscape in which they find themselves.

To carry out the project, over the course of almost a year, students from different disciplines of design, as well as the performing arts, and musicians joined forces with young professionals from the world of opera, forming cross-disciplinary teams. In the case of IED Barcelona, eight students from the Interior Design, Product Design, Fashion Design, and Graphic Design programmes took part.

On this occasion, the IED team also benefited from the special collaboration of MANE. The number one group in France and a world leader in the fragrance and flavour industry created a special perfume for the event, generating an immersive and enveloping sensorial atmosphere during the performance.

 

Both a learning and practical experience in operatic creation that has enabled students to create spaces where research in the field of contemporary opera can be connected with the world of design, contributing their creativity and excellent educational background with the aim of bringing this genre to new audiences.

 

‘Òh!pera. Newly Created Micro-Operas’ is an initiative promoted by the Liceu together with the Department of Culture and Creative Industries of Barcelona City Council through Disseny Hub Barcelona and the mentorship of Stage Director Àlex Ollé (La Fura dels Baus).

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Ikaria

Ariadna Alsina, Composer

Anna Pazos, Librettist

Berta Prieto, Stage Director

Daniel Huertas, Musical Direction

Natalia Sànchez, Soprano

Julia Portela Piñón, Mezzosoprano

Max Grosse Majench, Actor

Nives Racki, Harp

Candela Puigbo, Cello

Anxe Faraldo, Electronics

 

IED Barcelona students:

Tom Toldi Carioba Arndt – Motion Graphics and Video

Carlos Alfredo Solines Corral – Motion Graphics and Video

Zaineb Aaffoute – Interior Design

Camila Serrano Figueroa – Product Design

Mariam Abdelrhaim Farouk Weshahy – Product Design

Miriam Abadias Escofet – Fashion Design

Sara Huguet Segarra – Fashion Design

Bianca Giacomini – Interior Design

 

In collaboration with: Mane, Escenografía Moià and Alfons Flores

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