(Un nuevo espacio para el arte y el bienestar en Santa Catalina, Palma de Mallorca)
Charlamos hoy con los propietarios intentando captar el espíritu de su proyecto, interesándonos por el tipo de gente que se acerca a su espacio, preguntándonos por qué escogieron Mallorca para su aventura empresarial.
¿Qué es The living room?
When you live in Mallorca as a foreigner you want to blend with the locals. The language is of course a barrier but sometimes also the traditions and habits. We have always felt very respected and welcomed and are happy that our professions also can be used to pay back to the society we live in. Sarah has also always been very interested in arts and art crafts and has apart from the painting and jewellery classes she taught back in the 2000s always attended many classes herself. Painting, ceramics, basket weaving and so on. To build a place of her own was an idea that kept growing for years before we finally decided to go for it. Maybe the politic changes in the world the last years and the pandemic etc also highlighted a shift in peoples interest… Maybe there was something that slowly seemed to be more important for many people that both of us met at both work and in other situations. For sure there was definitely a sort of demand for community, for meaning, for sustainability and for people to not necessarily achieve so much but rather to be able to be in process. Sarah dreamt of a welcoming place - space - where people from everywhere could meet over a piece of something they worked on. A place for inspiration and creativity. A place where ideas could both be born and grow. A place both for fun but also where things could matter.
¿Cúal es el perfil de la gente que se acerca a vuestro centro? ¿Quiénes son vuestros vecinos de barrio?
The address in Santa Catalina is great with a lot of nice neighbours and a very vivid group of small companies around us. It is also close to where we already have the clinic. The idea to be a welcoming space with open doors has been an important theme through the process and therefore the walls between the different rooms are transparent. There shall be room for life and people but with integrity when needed. All the materials have been chosen to make it feel like home but also like that workshop we rarely get to have (why there are of course also overalls hanging in the entrance for the members to use when they come). We recycled and used as many of the old materials from the local as we could when reforming and we have used many second hand/vintage items when decorating. ??Sustainability, process, inspiration, curiosity and creativity are words that keep coming back when talking about Living Room. Also when asking different contributors - the teachers - it was important to find those interested more in sharing than teaching and in arts, art crafts, different skills etc that makes good in this World. And as fantastic as life is, when Sarah started talking to different people asking them if they would like to share their knowledge in this kind of place, they all said yes. They just like we had longed for something like this and now Living Room is a place where we for now - this will of course change over time - offer yoga & meditation, painting, ceramics, photography, street art, acting, talks, events and more.
¿Por qué Mallorca?
We have come to live in Mallorca twice. The first time in 2003 when we started a clinic in Santa Catalina for naprapathy, chiropractics, osteopathy and massage. In the clinic Sarah also held painting and jewellery making classes. After almost 3 years we moved back to Stockholm because of children’s studies. We stayed there for 8 years fully occupied building a family, with Sarah working with contemporary dance and performing arts and Patric building a chain of clinics. 2014 we decided it was time for some life quality and moved back to Mallorca again.
When the family moved back to Mallorca 2014 we together with a colleague opened Lucky Bodies & Happy Souls, a clinic for treatments and a yoga studio where Sarah has been teaching yoga and meditation ever since. Again in Santa Catalina where we earlier had both lived and worked since we love the neighbourhood. Santa Cat is of course just one of many great barrios in Palma but what seems to remain is still the nice mix of old and new, locals and visitors, tradition and edge.We decided this time to live on the countryside and we are now very happy off the grid outside Alaro, where we live with few but very nice neighbours, stunning views, our dog, three cats and two donkeys. Now we are open and we will see what the future brings. In the best of worlds Living Room can be a space for people to spend time in and where one can both meet new and interesting friends, find meaning, learn and share. We believe in togetherness and in community. Our clients comes from all over including Mallorca so at least that part of the dream has already been fulfilled.
