Barcelona’s cultural legacy is immense. The city has a past closely linked to cultural and artistic production that has served as an inspiration to present-day generations. The 20th century was a time of profound social, political, economic, technological and cultural transformations. Catalonia lived through the dramatic events of the Spanish Civil War and the repression of the Franco dictatorship. The transition and restoration of the Generalitat and the new statute of autonomy will revitalize Catalan culture in recent years.
The political situation in Spain during the transition makes the artistic panorama different from that of other countries: movements such as pop-art or hyper-realism do not have much echo here. During the Second Republic, Catalonia was at the forefront of European architecture. From decadent neoclassicism to rationalism in Europe. The Group of Catalan Artists and Technicians for the Progress of Contemporary Architecture advocated the rational use of space and contempt for any constructive element without specific functional justification. After the civil war and despite the attempt to impose an official art by the Franco regime, in the 50s appear creators such as Coderch, Bohigas and Martorell, Bofill, Moragas, Sostres, Busquets and Sert, among others. In the face of cultural repression and Franco’s conventionalism, a series of avant-garde plastic artists are evolving towards a certain informalism., abstract type current. These are Tàpies, Tarrats, Ponç and Hernàndez Pijuan. Later there is a return to figuration, as reflected in Guinovart’s work.
Noucentisme
The 20th century is an attempt to renew the Catalan culture approaching it the innovations produced in the brand new century xx, in parallel to a political ideology of vindication of Catalanism advocated by Enric Prat de la Riba. The main theorist of the movement will be Eugeni d’Ors, who from the newspaper La Veu de Catalunya wrote a series of articles praising the work of young Catalan creators at the beginning of the century. Contrary to the Nordic values defended by modernism, Noucentisme returned to the Mediterranean world, to classical Greco-Latin culture.
Noucentista architecture often coexists and mixes with modernist, and as historicist and classicist trends persist, it is difficult to glimpse its frontier. Highlights include figures such as Josep Goday (Barcelona Post Office building, 1926 – 1927), Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí (gardens of Montjuïc and the Royal Palace of Pedralbes, church of the Virgin of Montserrat de Pedralbes), Josep Francesc Ràfols (house Méndiz, Vilanova i la Geltrú, 1925), Francesc Folguera (house of Sant Jordi, Barcelona, 1928- 1932), Cèsar Martinell (winery of El Pinell de Brai, 1917) and Rafael Masó (Farinera Teixidor, 1910, Masó house, 1911).
A notable milestone was the International Exhibition of Barcelona in 1929, which involved the urbanization of the surroundings of the mountain of Montjuïc, with a general project by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. For the exhibition, buildings are built such as the National Palace of Montjuïc (current headquarters of the MNAC) and the Olympic Stadium, as well as the Magic Fountain of Carles Buïgas, the Greek Theater and the Poble Espanyol; He also highlighted the German pavilion, the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a masterpiece of rationalism.
The painting has a first reference in the figure of the Uruguayan artist Joaquim Torres-Garcia, author of works of sober classicism, such as the frescoes in the hall of Sant Jordi of the Palau de la Generalitat (1913 – 1917). Joaquim Sunyer, influenced by Cézanne’s painting and his sense of structure, as well as Cubism, provided a vision of painting that perfectly combined tradition and modernity. Josep Maria Sert framed himself in a personal, baroque, grandiose style, with Goya influence, making great murals that will be very successful internationally. Xavier Noguéshe was the creator of an ironic world, embodied in an idealizing muralism that reflected Catalan populism. Josep Aragay made works of a realistic character but with a certain baroque taste. Posters, engravings and woodcuts are also developed, with figures such as Francesc d’Assís Galí, creator of the Escola Superior dels Bells Oficis.
The sculpture has the exceptional figure of Josep Clarà, author of figurative works, solid and compact, of Mediterranean air (The Goddess, 1908 – 1910; Youth, 1928). The Aristello Maillol from Roussillon makes strong female figures (Mediterrània, 1902 – 1905). Manolo Hugué has a style in which he mixes classicism and primitivism (Bacant, 1934). Other outstanding sculptors are: Frederic Marès (Tribute to Barcelona, 1928),Enric Casanovas (Monument to Narcís Monturiol, 1918), Julio Antonio (Tarragona to the heroes of 1811, 1910 – 1919) and Apel•les Fenosa (Guitarist, 1923). It is also worth noting the collective project carried out in Plaça de Catalunya for the 1929 International Exhibition, in which the best sculptors of the time took part.
Of particular importance at this time was design, usually linked to the Art Deco style, which is evident in works produced in areas such as furniture, jewelry, tapestries, ceramics, stained glass, etc.
Avantguardisme
After a period of prosperity between the First World War and the Civil War, in which Catalonia was aware of European artistic movements, the post-war period was a time of cultural decline. Despite this, Catalan art connects with the different movements called avant-garde, which involve radical changes in the conception of art, both in the theoretical and technical or material field. The successive avant-garde ” isms ” (Cubism, Futurism, Dadaism, Surrealism, Expressionism, etc.) aim to transform society with art, proposing a project committed to the cultural renewal of peoples. The abstract art meant the loss of the figuration, giving way in the second half of the century trends informalists or intangible.
A first and ephemeral attempt to renew Noucentisme was the Agrupació Courbet, founded in Barcelona in 1918 and dissolved in 1919. They claim as master the French realist painter Gustave Courbet, whose revolutionary attitude they seek to achieve. Driven by Josep Llorens i Artigas and Josep Francesc Ràfols, names such as Joan Miró, Josep de Togores, Josep Obiols and Olga Sacharoff appeared.
As for architecture, in 1929 the GATCPAC group (Group of Catalan Artists and Technicians for the Progress of Contemporary Architecture) emerged in Barcelona, with a renewed and liberating will of Noucentista classicism, as well as the introduction of new currents in Spain. international derivatives of rationalism. Unfortunately, his work was cut short by the outbreak of the Civil War. Highlights include Josep Lluís Sert, a disciple of Le Corbusier, who initiated rationalism in Spain; he was the author of the pavilion of the Republic for the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1937, currently rebuilt in Barcelona, which exhibited the Guernicaof Picasso, as well as the Central Antituberculosis Dispensary (1934 – 1938, with Josep Torres i Clavé) and the Miró foundation (1972).
The sculpture is fully at the forefront with the work of two internationally renowned artists: Pau Gargallo, initiated in Noucentisme, made metal sculptures, strong expressionism and a certain schematic and primitivist air (Gran Ballarina, 1929, The Prophet, 1933); Juli González used welded iron, approaching almost abstract forms (Woman combing her hair, 1932, L’home cactus, 1939).
Surrealism
Emerged in France in the 1920s as a claim to fantasy and the subconscious in artistic creation, in Catalonia it gives two big names: Salvador Dalí, representative of figurative surrealism, and Joan Miró, ascribed to a more abstract surrealism. Dalí combined a perfect technique with the recreation of a fantastic and delirious personal world, with strong psychological introspection (The Persistence of Memory, 1931; The Angelus of Gala, 1935; Soft Self-Portrait, 1941), later evolving into a more realistic style of religious and scientific influence (Madonna de Port-Lligat,1948; Atomic Leda, 1949). Miró created a magical and dreamlike world full of small figures, with which he sought a new method to decompose and analyze reality, showing a new relationship between objects and space (Terra llaurada, 1924; Carnestoltes d’Arlequí, 1925; Still life with old shoe, 1937).
In sculpture, in addition to works by Dalí and Miró himself, the activity of the ADLAN group (Friends of New Art) stood out, founded by the art critic Sebastià Gasch in 1932, which aims to renew the sculptural language based on the Dadaist and Surrealist principles, influenced by the American sculptor Alexander Calder. Àngel Ferrant, Eudald Serra and Ramon Marinello stood out among their ranks.
Give to Set
After the war and the consequent cultural crisis arising from the exile of many artists and the repression exercised by the Franco dictatorship, in the late 1940s began to resurface the Catalan art scene with exhibitions in private galleries and cultural movements such as the Maillol Circle. A new generation of young artists emerged, including the group that formed Dau al Set, created in 1948 around the magazine of the same name and published until 1956, although that the group can be considered dissolved since 1951. It was formed by Antoni Tàpies, Modest Cuixart,Joan Brossa, Joan Josep Tharrats, Joan Ponç and Arnau Puig, who are the first to connect with European currents, making an art that evolves from a certain magical surrealism to more or less abstract informalism, except in the cases of Joan Ponç, who remained faithful to the initial spirit all his life, and Joan Brossa, whose work became interdisciplinary to include strict literature, theater, the visual poem, the poem -object, poster, installation and body poem.
Informalism
Post-war movement, meant the rejection of form for better conceptual freedom and a new connection with the viewer, according to the concept of “open work” formulated by Umberto Eco. They are generally abstract works, in which the color and the material substratum of the work stand out. Antoni Tàpies stood out, an internationally renowned painter and the first great renovator of post-war Spanish art, the main representative of “material painting”, author of an introspective work with a certain spirituality, with small symbolic figurations (Zoom, 1946; Collage of crosses, 1947; White oval, 1957).
Modest Cuixart combined material painting with gestural painting, painting in which he mixed oil with metal filings to give shine to the work (Omorka, 1958). Josep Guinovart makes large-format paintings, with a mixture of materials, sometimes transformed by fire (Ávila, 1963; Christ of the Glories, 1968). Albert Ràfols Casamada ascribes himself to tachism, with paintings of large smooth, austere surfaces, with almost no color (Tribute to Schönberg, 1963). Joan Hernandez Pijuanit has a post-Cubist expressionist style, with a strong social charge (Painting, 1959).
The sculpture tries to recover the avant-garde spirit before the war, looking for innovative forms of expression and experimenting with new materials. An agglutinator of the artists of this generation and center for the dissemination of the new style will be the Saló d’Octubre, where names such as Domènec Fita, Manuel Cusachs, Salvador Aulèstia, Moisès Villèlia, etc. will emerge. Artists such as Antoni Tàpies, Leandre Cristòfol and Josep Guinovart also devoted themselves to sculpture.
Contemporary art
Only from the 1980s did a certain normalization begin, with artists appearing who ascribed themselves to the conceptual art of fashion at that time, such as Francesc Abad or Jordi Benito, who performed actions and installations with a strong reflective load.
From the 1980s onwards, postmodern trends emerged, a reinterpretation of previous styles that gave the artist the freedom to use any technique or style and transform it in a personal way; one of its greatest exponents is Miquel Barceló, a Mallorcan artist rooted in Barcelona (Big spanish dinner, 1985, L’estació de les raines, 1990). Joan-Pere Viladecans makes a personal painting, emphasizing by the support in paper pulp and the aggressive colors (the contagion of the butterfly, 1984). Ferran García Sevillahe makes a figurative painting full of signs, close to primitive art, with vivid chromatic ranges (Cent 18, 1987).
In sculpture, the main name of recent years is Josep Maria Subirachs: formed in Noucentisme, it evolved into an expressive and schematic style to end in abstraction; he is the author of the façade of the Passion of the Sagrada Família, the Monument to Ramon Llull in Montserrat (1976) and the Monument to Francesc Macià in Plaça de Catalunya in Barcelona (1991). The Valencian Andreu Alfaro starts from informalism to evolve to a geometric constructivism inspired by Antoine Pevsner (Paths of Freedom, 1963). Xavier Corberó, trained in London, is the author of works of geometric and organic forms close to minimalism (Piano, 1965). Susana Solano evolves from a minimalist sculpture to a work of large dimensions and strong solidity, reflecting a sense of closure that evidences the fragility of existence (Sea of Galilee, 1986).
As for architecture, in the 1950s, after the post-war crisis, a new attempt was made to revitalize the R Group, which synthesizes the Catalan Mediterranean tradition with avant-garde international currents. Its members included: Josep Antoni Coderch, with a work of Mediterranean character influenced by popular architecture and the work of the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto (Trade buildings, 1966 – 1969); Antoni de Moragas, author of the Park Hotel (1950 – 1954); and Oriol Bohigas, author of the residential building on Pallars Street (1955- 1960, with Josep Martorell).
Between the 1960s and 1970s, the so-called Barcelona school arose –according to the name proposed by Bohigas–, heiress of Group R, which is ascribed to the Italian neorealism that was then prevailing on an international scale, combining a rationalist constructive language with the use of traditional materials, with special emphasis on functionality and design. These include Frederic de Correa and Alfons Milà –who formed a team–, authors of the Monitor building (1969 – 1970); and Enric Tous and Josep Maria Fargas, authors of Banca Catalana (1965 – 1968).
During the 1980s, architecture ascribed itself to the new postmodern trends, which stand out for the free use of historical languages, with a tendency towards eclecticism. They are exponents of this current Ricard Bofill, author of the National Theater of Catalonia (1991 – in 1996); and Òscar Tusquets (Bank of Spain in Girona, 1981 – 1983; Chandon cellars in Sant Cugat Sesgarrigues, 1987 – 1990).
Another deep transformations of Barcelona became the occasion of the Olympic Games of 1992, which meant the remodeling of Montjuïc, where he built the Olympic Ring, with buildings such as the Palau Sant Jordi of Arata Isozaki, the Bernat Picornell swimming pools, the tower of Communications of Santiago Calatrava and rehabilitation of the Olympic stadium Lluís Companys. Also noteworthy was the construction of the Olympic Village in Poblenou, with the construction of two large skyscrapers, the Arts Hotel and the Mapfre Tower. Lastly, the impulse given to the Diagonal Mar by the Universal Forum of Cultures of 2004.
Public art
The set of monuments and sculptures in the open air of Barcelona constitutes an outstanding sample of public art that grants to the Catalan capital, in conjunction with other elements like its architecture, its network of museums or its set of parks and gardens, an unmistakable artistic stamp, as the city of Barcelona has always been committed to art and culture as one of its main identity features.
The city’s public art heritage is extensive, although most monuments and statuary located in public places date from the 19th century onwards. The first monument located on the public road expressly and by municipal order that is preserved is the Monument to Santa Eulàlia, in Plaça del Pedró, from 1673; other previous works considered public art are either fountains or statues located inside niches, on the facades of public buildings, although in many cases they were private commissions that have subsequently become public property. It should be noted that until the 19th century the city was bordered by its medieval walls, having the city considered a military post, so its growth was limited, and the little space available was used primarily for the daily activities of the population, without being able to dedicate adequate spaces for large monuments.
The situation changed with the demolition of the walls and the donation to the city of the Fortress of the Citadel, which favored the urban expansion of the adjacent plan, and which was reflected in the Eixample project prepared by Ildefons Cerdà, which meant the largest territorial expansion that the city has had. Another significant increase in the surface area of the Catalan capital was the annexation of several bordering municipalities between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. All this meant the adaptation of the new urban spaces and an increase in municipal artistic commissions on public roads, which were also favored by various events held in the city, such as theUniversal Exhibition of 1888 and the International of 1929 or, more recently, for the Olympic Games of 1992 and the Universal Forum of Cultures of 2004.
Facilities
As a Mediterranean city that it is, Barcelona has a very extensive leisure offer, which covers all disciplines related to the world of culture. It has centennial theaters dedicated to opera and music, such as the Gran Teatre del Liceu or the modernist Palau de la Música Catalana, and excellent and modern auditoriums, large institutions dedicated to the plastic arts, centers for the most avant-garde art, spaces for scenic innovation and the most classic theater or art galleries and spaces dedicated to heritage art.
Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona, also known by its acronym MACBA, is dedicated to the exhibition of contemporary art and cultural practices. It is located in the Raval district of the city of Barcelona, very close to the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona. It was declared a museum of national interest by the Generalitat de Catalunya. Since 2015 it has been directed by Ferran Barenblit.
The MACBA Collection is the backbone of the museum and investigates the trajectory of the fundamental lines of contemporary artistic creation since the second half of the 20th century. The collection of the MACBA collection consists of more than 5,000 works, created from the late 1950s to the present day.
The collection as such was officially created on June 19 in 1997 when he signed the MACBA Consortium between the Generalitat of Catalonia, the Barcelona City Council and the Foundation Museum of Contemporary Art, uniting all funds previously deposited, as well as other sets of works donated or deposited by other institutions or by private collectors, such as the Onnasch Collection, by Sandra Álvarez de Toledo or the Telefónica Foundation.
The collection begins with the material abstraction of the fifties, incorporating works of European pop art and the avant-garde of the 60s and 70s. It also has works that testify to the return of photographic figuration and minimalist sculpture. of the 80 and ends with the most current works. It incorporates works by artists from around the world, paying special attention to artists from South America, the Arab world and Eastern countries.
In 2007, the MACBA Studies and Documentation Center was created, which develops a facet of collecting that is complementary to the traditional collection.
Later, in 2011, the “La Caixa” Foundation and the museum joined their collections of contemporary art, creating a collection of 5,500 works. As a result of this union, in the autumn of 2011 the exhibition Volume., with works by prominent artists such as Bruce Nauman, Cristina Iglesias, Antoni Muntadas and Xavier Miserachs, among many others. At the beginning of 2012, the exhibition The Inverted Mirror was presented at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, consisting of 93 works by 52 artists from both entities.
National Art Museum of Catalonia
The National Art Museum of Catalonia, also known by its acronym MNAC, is an art museum in the city of Barcelona that brings together all the arts with the mission of conserving and exhibiting the most important collection of Catalan art in the world. world, showing everything from the Romanesque to the present. In 2019 it received 837,700 visitors.
It is a consortium with its own legal personality set up by the Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona City Council and the General State Administration. In addition to public administrations, individuals and private entities that collaborate are represented on the museum’s board of trustees. Its current director is Josep Serra.
The museum ‘s main headquarters are located in the Palau Nacional de Montjuïc, which was inaugurated in 1929 on the occasion of the International Exhibition. Also part of the whole museum three institutions most: the Library Museum Víctor Balaguer of Vilanova, the Museum of Garrotxa of Olot and the Museu Cau Ferrat in Sitges, the management of which is independent and its ownership falls in the respective town halls.
The MNAC Modern Art Collection was born from the Universal Exhibition of 1888, when Barcelona City Council installed the then small collection of modern art, at that time contemporary, in the Palace of Fine Arts. The collection was considerably expanded with the acquisitions made by the City Council itself in fine art exhibitions. The current modern art collection brings together a best of Catalan art from the beginning of the century XIX until the 40 century xx. The tour begins with artists who followed the postulates of neoclassicism, romanticism and realism. Neoclassicals include the painter Josep Bernat Flaugier and the sculptor Damià Campeny. With regard to Romanticism, we must mention the Nazarene painters, such as Claudi Lorenzale, who especially cultivated portraiture, and Lluís Rigalt, who inaugurated the tradition of Catalan landscaping; this will have continuity, already in the era of realism, with Ramon Martí Alsina, introducer in Catalonia of the ideas of Courbet, and with Joaquim Vayreda, founder of the School of Olot, among others.
A separate chapter deserves Marià Fortuny, the best Catalan painter of the century xix, who succeeded internationally with genre painting and who pointed out advanced approaches in his latest productions. Also present are painters who opted for anecdotal realism, such as Romà Ribera and Francesc Masriera, as well as the “luminists” of the Sitges School, heirs of the Fortunian tradition; while in sculpture the Vallmitjana brothers stand out as the best representatives of the realistic tradition. The 19th century collection also includes an exhibition of historical photography with works by AADisdéri, Jean Laurent, Le Jeune and Charles Clifford., among others, with images of various places in Spanish geography.
One of the backbones of modern art collections is modernism, a movement of great artistic and cultural importance in Catalonia. In painting, the current that is most identified is that of a renovating character led by Ramon Casas and Santiago Rusiñol, who incorporated certain aspects of French Impressionism into their Parisian works. Another current is the symbolist, represented by the paintings of Alexandre de Riquer and Joan Brull and which is also seen in some photographs by the pictorialist Pere Casas Abarca. Of equal importance is the presence of artists of the second generation of modernism, such as Isidre Nonell, Marià Pidelaserra, Ricard Canals, Hermen Anglada Camarasa, Nicolau Raurich and Joaquim Mir, who, already in the 20th century, brought the painting Catalan in one of its most brilliant moments.
There are also Spanish painters such as Julio Romero de Torres, Joaquim Sorolla, Ignacio Zuloaga, Darío de Regoyos and José Gutiérrez Solana, the photographer Ortiz Echagüe and the French artists Boudin, Sisley and Rodin. As for modernist sculpture, the creations of Miquel Blay and Josep Llimona should be highlighted, with a clear influence of Rodin. The collection of modernist decorative arts shows some exceptional sets of interior design by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Gaspar Homar and Antoni Gaudí, coming, respectively, from the houses Amatller, Lleó Morera and Batlló, on Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona; as well as notable examples of the object’s art in forging, ceramics, glassware and jewelery, without forgetting the furniture sets by Joan Busquets and the architect Josep Maria Jujol.
The other movement widely represented in the MNAC is Noucentisme, which embodies the search for its own essences and the Mediterranean. The classical compositions of Joaquim Torres-García and Joaquim Sunyer, with vague Cezanne influences, and the sculptural nudes of Josep Clarà and Enric Casanovas are representative of it. The sculptures of Manolo Hugué and the paintings of Xavier Nogués complete this movement, with a marked popular accent. Around 1920, a new generation of artists appeared who had to face the dilemma of continuing with the figurative tradition or making the leap to the avant-garde.. Some of these, such as the painters Josep de Togores and Francesc Domingo i Segura, made a production with their own voice in the context of interwar international realism. Others, such as Torres-García himself, Rafael Barradas and Salvador Dalí, found the Galeries Dalmau the ideal place to exhibit their most innovative production.
Barcelona Design Museum
The Barcelona Design Museum is a museum inaugurated in December 2014 under the Barcelona Institute of Culture that originates from the integration of the collections of the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Museum of Ceramics, the Textile and Clothing Museum and the Graphic Arts Cabinet. The museum is located in the Disseny Hub Barcelona building, in Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, sharing its headquarters with the Foment de les Arts i del Disseny (FAD) and the Barcelona Center de Disseny (BCD), two pioneering institutions in the field. promotion and development of thedesign in Catalonia.
At the end of the 20th century, the City Council considered creating a single center, an integral space that would allow the public to understand design in its broadest consideration. It was decided to build a space to house all the Barcelona collections and heritage funds related to the world of design, and Oriol Bohigas was commissioned to build a building in Plaça de les Glòries. At first it had to be called the Design Museum of Barcelona.
For a few years the museum project and the building had the same name, Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHUB). The intention of the project then was to create a center dedicated to promoting the understanding and good use of the world of design, acting at the same time as a museum, center and laboratory. The project focused its activity on 4 disciplines in the world of design: Space Design, Product Design, Information Design and Fashion Design. It wanted to become a meeting point or nucleus of a network formed by people and institutions linked to the world of design that will share relevant information related to the sector. The aim was to stimulate both research and economic activity linked to the world of design, using both its own funds and a continuous analysis of the present of the world of design. During this period, the museum was divided into 2 spaces in the city of Barcelona, the DHUB (carrer de Montcada, 12) and the DHUB Museus in the Palau Reial de Pedralbes (avinguda Diagonal, 686).
With the new direction assumed by Pilar Vélez during 2012, the project changed direction and the concept of the building (Disseny Hub Barcelona) was separated from the museum (Museu del Disseny de Barcelona). The new discursive line focuses on generating discourse From decorative arts to design and contemporary applied arts. The new museum will open on December 13, 2014 and will have open days until January 31, 2015. The new museum enjoys more than 70,000 decorative, designed and artistic objects resulting from the integration of the four collections.
Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona
The Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB) is a cultural center located in the Raval of Barcelona. It is a space for the creation, research, dissemination and debate of contemporary culture, where the visual arts, literature, philosophy, cinema, music and the performing arts are interconnected in a program. interdisciplinary.
One of its aims is to link the academic world with creation and citizenship. To do so, it organizes and produces exhibitions, debates, festivals, concerts, film cycles, courses, conferences, and encourages creation based on new technologies and languages, trying to generate debate, thought and reflection on contemporary culture., the city and public space as well as on current issues. At the organic level, it depends on a public consortium created jointly in 1988 between the Diputació de Barcelona and the Ajuntament, which finance the project with a percentage of 75% and 25%, respectively. It was inaugurated in 1994 under the direction of Josep Ramoneda, who was in charge of the Center until 2011. Since then, the CCCB has produced dozens of exhibitions and hundreds of conferences, talks and presentations of all kinds. Its current director (2018) is Judit Carrera.
The CCCB focuses its activity on creative research and the production of knowledge through a series of central projects of its own production, such as thematic exhibitions and other face-to-face and digital formats: international debates, the CCCB Lab, the Kosmopolis literature platform, the Beta line of activity: projects that deal in an integrated way with the culture of the 21st century and the great transformations of the digital age; the Xcèntric experimental film project, the European Prize for Urban Public Space, the International Prize for Cultural Innovation, the CCCB Archive platform and other associated proposals and festivals.
It works in a network with international agents and institutions, linked at the same time with artists, groups of creators, curators and independent cultural agents from the Barcelona environment, and supports their proposals to participate in their creative capital and give them visibility.. He also researches new educational proposals, works on formats of knowledge and production in constant critical review, seeks methodologies based on collaborative and experimental work that materialize in open calls and in processes of dynamization and mediation.
The CCCB works on issues such as the challenges of 21st century society, the expansion of the literary universe. The intersection of art, science, humanities and technology; the hegemony of the audiovisual galaxy; the commitment to cultural research and innovation; the challenge posed by new audiences and the emergence of new physical and virtual communities. The renewal of languages and lexicons, the rebirth of the commons; the challenges of participation and co-creation; the tensions between privacy and transparency; the advent of new social and political models; the risks and opportunities of the scientific and technological revolution.
Since 1994, the CCCB has scheduled more than a hundred temporary exhibitions. He has dealt with topics such as literature and urban planning. Some have been scheduled and curated by center staff and others commissioned by experts. It also hosts exhibitions or activities such as the World Press Photo, Loop Festival, Primavera Pro and Courses of the Institut d’Humanitats de Barcelona.
CaixaForum Barcelona
CaixaForum Barcelona is a cultural center managed by the “la Caixa” Foundation. It is located on the mountain of Montjuïc (Barcelona), occupies the building of the old modernist- style Casaramona factory, designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch in the early 20th century and later rehabilitated for its new use as a cultural center.
CaixaForum offers a wide range of exhibitions and cultural and educational activities aimed at all audiences. It is part of a network of CaixaForum centers that expands in various parts of Spain: CaixaForum Madrid, CaixaForum Lleida, CaixaForum Palma, CaixaForum Tarragona, CaixaForum Girona, CaixaForum Zaragoza and CaixaForum Sevilla.
CaixaForum offers the public a program of temporary exhibitions with themes ranging from painting, drawing, sculpture or photography, to the history of cultures, cinema, architecture and contemporary art. Thanks to its collaboration with major international museums such as the British Museum and the Musée du Louvre, it allows you to enjoy unique pieces and the work of artists of enormous prestige in the heart of Barcelona. The centre’s exhibition proposal is suitable for all types of public, as it has educational spaces designed for the little ones and complementary activities such as curators’ conferences or thematic conference cycles.
CaixaForum is strongly committed to mediated visits to exhibitions and the modernist factory, with guided tours for schools, families, adults, organized groups or visits with coffee and social gatherings, as well as audio guides. On weekends, CaixaForum offers free micro-visits to contemporary art exhibitions and the opportunity to exchange impressions and delve deeper into the works with a specialist mediator.
In addition, CaixaForum has an extensive program of cultural activities aimed at all audiences, which include cycles of informative conferences on art, thought, literature or music, film cycles, concerts, shows and workshops. Under the FOUND label, the center offers a program specially designed for the most culturally restless young public, with activities such as meetings with creators, electronic music shows or documentary film cycles. In July and August, CaixaForum’s “Summer Nights” are one of the city’s essential cultural events.
At CaixaForum you can also find a LAIE bookshop with specialized bibliography and design objects, and a café-restaurant that offers daily menus and themed menus inspired by the exhibitions.
Picasso Museum of Barcelona
The Museu Picasso in Barcelona is the reference museum for the knowledge of Pablo Picasso’s formative years. With more than 4,249 works by the painter; has the most complete collection in the world of the artist’s youth works. It is located on Carrer de Montcada, in the Ribera district of Barcelona. opened its doors to the public for the first time on March 9 of 1963, becoming the first Picasso museum in the world and the only one created in the artist’s lifetime. It has been declared a museum of national interest by the Generalitat de Catalunya.
The most represented periods are those corresponding to the infant and school stage (Málaga, A Coruña and Barcelona, 1890-97), the formative period (Barcelona, Horta de Sant Joan and Madrid, 1897-1901), the blue period. (1901-04), Barcelona works from 1917 and the set of the series Las Meninas (1957).
Most of the paintings on display in the museum relate to the period between 1890 and 1917. This is a very important collection regarding certain moments in Picasso’s life, such as his childhood and school days – Málaga, La Coruña and Barcelona, between 1890 and 1897 – when he made works such as Science and charity, from 1897 and training in Barcelona and Horta de Sant Joan and Madrid, between 1897 and 1901. There are also works from his blue period and works from his Barcelona period in 1917, such as Harlequin. The museum has very few paintings after 1917, except for the Las Meninas series, painted in 1957.
The collection of engravings and lithographs basically covers the period between 1962 and 1982. Picasso himself gave the museum a copy of each of his works produced after Sabartés’ death in 1968. In addition, some of the illustrations he made for various editions of books are included. The museum’s exhibition is completed with ceramics, donated by Jacqueline, the artist’s widow.
Between 2009 and 2010, an online visit to the museum’s collection was enabled through its website. Currently (October 2010) more than 65% of the museum’s collection can be consulted online.