Pollença Culture
Pollença has an outstanding role in the world of culture in the island. From the first years in the 20th century Pollença was turned into a favourite place for the writers who visited the island. Names like Miquel Costa I Llobera, Ramón Picó I Campamar, Santiago Russinyol, Joaquín Mir, Anglada Camarasa and many more have contributed with their works (literature and paintings) to make Pollença a place known within and outside Mallorca. Nowadays Pollença continues to enjoy its renown in the cultural and artistic world thanks to the public initiatives as the International Music Festival, Pollença´s Museum and to private initiatives as Museum- House Dionís Bennàssar, Martí Vicenç Museum and a great number of Art Galleries.
Pollença Festival: it stands out, as a central element of the cultural image of Pollença, the Classical music Festival that taes place yearly during the months of July and August, since 1961, I nthe open air, in the Cloister of Saint Domingo. During its 40 uninterrupted years of existence and constant evolution one has been able to hear Mstilav Rostropovich, Jessye Norman, Alban Berg Quartett, Montserrat Caballé, the National French Orchestra with Lorin Maazel and so on, amounting to an approximate number of 700 artists among them soloists, groups and orchestras. The Festival of Pollença, presided over by her Majesty the Queeb Doña Safía, has been a member of the European Association of Festivals for years.
Dionís Bennàssar Home- Museum: the Dionís Bennàssar Foundation has the clear will of getting together, conserving and at the same time bringing nearer and spreading the work of the painter Dionís Bennàssar (1904- 1967) to the mallorquin community, and to any person interested in its cultural inheritance. It is located in a XVIIth century property, and tries to recreate how the daily life in a typical mallorquin house was, and it keeps some mementos that the painter stored throughout his life.
Martí Vicenç Museum: we are talking about a personal museum that wants to show a man´s evolution, the craftsman and the artist. The initiative could not have been possible without the predisposition of the architectural setting where is located, that without any doubt is one of the places to visit: the Calvary steps. The building is a more than 300 years old house and in its exhibition the little ethnologic show stands out, and the textile designs.
Cultural Centre Guillem Cifre de Colonya: the Cultural Centre Guillem Cifre de Colonya was inaugurated on the 24th April 1994, and is the place where the Secondary Education School was. The centre is the property of Colonya, Savings Bank, although nowadays it is managed by Pollença Town Council. Since 1994 the building has been, and is, the seat of the educational and cultural services of Pollença Town Council, the library, the Local Historical Archive, the School and Music Band and the University Centre associated to the UIB (Balearic Islands University). Moreover, there are great educational and cultural opportunities from the Town Council, such as various courses, conferences, exhibitions, theatrical performances…
Club Pollença: Club Pollença is located in an old manor house belonging to the Aulí family in Mercat Street. Built in the XIXth century, it has a staircase of imperial style. During the XXth century it underwent some repairs as the opening of the bar and Assembly hall that was inaugurated in 1964. Some years later the Club, as this is the way it is known by the people from Pollença, began to stand out for cultural and sport sections. It was the seat of “Art and youth”, y the local theatre group, and in 1961 a painting exhibition was held which was the direct precedent of the international Contest of Plastic Arts. In 1960 Pollença delegation “Musical Youths” organised a classical music performance, which attracted the attention of the famous violinist Philip Newman; it was the background to the Classical Music Festival of Pollença.
Mallorca guide