Barcelona Opera House Reopens with Concert for 2,292 Plants

On June 22, 2020, the Liceu opera house in Barcelona reopened its 2020-2021 season with a unique concert performed for an audience of 2,292 plants. The string quartet UceLi played Puccini's elegy "Crisantemi" for eight minutes, with no human spectators present. The performance, titled "Concierto para el Bioceno," was a conceptual work by Spanish artist Eugenio Ampudia, commissioned by Blanca de la Torre and produced in collaboration with Galleria Max Estrella. The plants, including ferns and sansevierias, were placed on velvet seats and later donated to healthcare workers in the city as a symbolic gesture. Artistic director Victor Garcia de Gomar commented that humans became spectators of their own social chronicle. Ampudia, known for kinetic sculptures and site-specific works, aimed to reflect on human narrative and the reclamation of space by nature during the pandemic.