Video-Nou was a collective created as a result of the Video Conferences organized by CAIC (Buenos Aires), which took place in early 1977 at the Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona. The members of the collective, partly made up of former students from the CIPLA course at the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona, came from the fields of journalism, sociology, education, photography, architecture, art, and design – later joined by others from urban planning, anti-psychiatry, and the performing arts. Video-Nou focused on exploring the various fields of application of video: social, artistic, documentary, educational, and professional. Its activity was directed toward the practice of horizontal, two-way, and participatory communication, within the sphere of what was then known as “sociocultural animation.” They produced videos created with the direct participation of the very agents involved, which were then immediately circulated in their specific context —a practice they called “video intervention.”
In early 1979, Video-Nou became the managing team of the Servei de Vídeo Comunitari [Communitarian Video Service], conceived with the intention of serving the public. In March 1979, it organized the first Community Video Conferences at the Architects’ Association of Catalonia and began its activities with the support of the Institut del Teatre in July 1979, first as a nonprofit civil association and later as a cooperative, an experience that lasted until 1983. The primary objective of the Community Video Service was to disseminate and promote video as a means of communication and as a tool for social, cultural, educational, and informational enrichment of community life. More than three hundred people received training; information and distribution exchanges were maintained with the international network of centers dedicated to decentralized and horizontal communication, contributing from a critical perspective to the expansion of video and local television. For six years (1977–1983), the group participated in the historical events that took place in Catalonia and Spain: the political “transition,” urban social movements and struggles, and cultural and technological changes.
The Video-Nou / Community Video Service archive has been recovered (with part of it already restored) thanks to the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) and following the Desacuerdos exhibition (2005).
Members
Video-Nou Collective: Carles Ameller, Genis Cano, Albert Estival, Xefo Guasch, Marga Latorre, Pau Maragall, Luisa Ortínez, Lluïsa Roca, Joan Úbeda.
Community Video Service: Francesc Albiol, Carles Ameller, Esteban Escobar, Albert Estival, Núria Font, Marga Latorre, Pau Maragall, Maite Martínez, Lluïsa Roca, Josep Ma. Rocamora, Joan Úbeda.
Related works
Història urbanística (projecte Can Serra). Video-Nou, 1978
¡Qué viene el metro! (projecte Can Serra). Video-Nou 1978
Canyelles (projecte Ateneus). Video-Nou, 1978
Feedback Canyelles (projecte Ateneus). Video-Nou, 1978
Collage Video Nou. Video-Nou, 1979
Manifestació de bicicletes. Video-Nou, 1977
Huelga de Gasolineras (Vaga de benzineres). Video-Nou, 1977
Jornadas Libertarias Internacionales 1977 Barcelona. Debats al Saló Diana. Video-Nou, 1977
Jornadas Libertarias Internacionales 1977 Barcelona. Parc Güell. Video-Nou, 1977
Ocaña. Exposición en la Galeria Mec-Mec. Video-Nou, 1977
Telediario Montesol-Onliyou. Video-Nou, 1977
Actuació d'Ocaña i Camilo. Video-Nou, 1977
