Not a day without music! Musical sounds of 18th century Barcelona

Cap dia sense música!

In modern times, especially in the 18th century, music in Barcelona had an extraordinary vitality. Music accompanied, solemnized, and provided an expressive dimension to most civil and religious events and ceremonies, and in the same way it was the backbone of the city’s leisure and entertainment. The present exhibition explains the musical activity that took place in churches, convents, on the street, at the Teatre de la Santa Creu, and in the domestic interiors of 18th century Barcelona, as well as detailing the reasons why they played one music or another, who sponsored it and the instruments that were played, without forgetting the female musicians and the female musical practice coming from the convents of nuns.

The exhibition can be visited in two simultaneous and complementary locations: the Diocesan Museum of Barcelona and the exhibition space of the CRAI Biblioteca de Lletres i CRAI Biblioteca de Fons Antic.

Matisse. Art in Balance

The exhibition brings together eighty-five artworks (lithographs, drawings, pochoir or linocuts, etc.) by one of the most important creators of modern art: Henri Matisse (Le Chateau-Cambrésis 1869 – Nice 1954). The artist’s spirituality, homogeneous in all his works during his mature period, can be appreciated in them.

The artistic period covered by the exhibition, which began around the time of the Second World War and runs until the artist’s last days, is marked by a great spirituality and the joie de vivre which Matisse wishes to reflect; an explosion of joy and peace in his spirit. Special emphasis is placed on one of the most important works of his last artistic period: the Matisse Chapel in Vence, on the Côte d’Azur, a unitary project in which he was involved in the architectural development and its decoration.

The exhibition is completed by a video on this chapel and a series of photographs that belonged to its author Hélène Adant, which were used to illustrate in 1951 The Rosary Chapel of the Dominican Sisters of Vence, Matisse’s book on this piece, about which he himself acknowledges: “For me, this chapel is the culmination of a lifetime of work and the flowering of a great, sincere and difficult effort […]. A part of this human expression […] will remain alive, capable of bringing together the past and the future of the plastic tradition”.

When people help each other. Guilds in BarcelonaEl simposio, en definitiva, pretende presentar un estado de la cuestión exhaustivo, así como realizar nuevas aportaciones y estimular la reflexión sobre uno de los períodos más decisivos de nuestra historia. De una historia a veces distorsionada y sesgada. Con frecuencia, los intereses políticos han desviado la deseable objetividad científica que siempre debería regir la investigación histórica, a la vez que proyectan sobre el pasado disputas del presente. Esta forma de proceder puede traducirse en la toma de decisiones difíciles de entender, como la división del obispado de Lleida. Sus consecuencias han desembocado en la ruptura de una unidad territorial fruto del matrimonio entre Ramon Berenguer IV y Peronella, un espacio bisagra entre Aragón y Cataluña.

Quan la gent s'ajuda

People tend to group together according to tastes, interests and also needs, which can be caused by an infinite number of variables. Some of them are generated by trades. When people help each other is a retrospective look at the importance of the guilds in Barcelona from various point of view, such as devotional, professional, mutual aid… It also evokes the trail they have left in different parts of the city, where we can still see and feel their presence, nowadays very much migrated. This exhibition also aims to use this look at the city’s past as a starting point to understand the present. The twenty-first century society continues to generate inequality and vulnerability, and that is why people continue to organise themselves on the basis of horizontal solidarity and mutual aid.

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Miró. Mystique and avant-garde

Miró. Mística i avantguarda

The exhibition about the artist, made up of 55 works and the audiovisual “Je rêve d’un grand atelier” (I dream of a great workshop), offers a reflection on the importance of asceticism and mysticism in the creative process of Joan Miró through a rich dialogue between his works (oils, gouache, watercolors and lithographs) and some Romanesque works that are part of the collection of the Museu Diocesà.

The artist goes towards his way to transcendence through his readings of sacred texts (he created sculptures with an open Bible) and ascetic and mystical literature, moreover the interest during the historical avant-gardes for the knowledge of another reality through esotericism. In addition to his readings, Miró was decisively influenced by the Romanesque and Gothic iconography of Catalonia.

Some of the works on display are also part of the series of etchings on the work Canticle of the Sun by Saint Francis of Assisi, created by Miró in 1975 under the title “Càntic del Sol”.

Ignatius Experience. The transformative power of a wound

On the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the conversion of Sant Ignatius in Manresa, the Ignatian Year was declared. Therefore, during the course of 2022 many events, conferences and meetings are being held everywhere around the figure of Saint Ignatius, his legacy and what the creation of the Society of Jesus and its evangelizing work has meant in the world.

As part of this year’s celebration, the Museu Diocesà de Barcelona and the Society of Jesus have organized this exhibition. It exhibits several works related to the life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and the Society, as well as other pieces that enrich it and complete it.

The exhibition is an itinerary along the path made by Saint Ignatius, from when he was wounded in the defence of Pamplona, his convalescence in Loyola and his spiritual and human pilgrimage that took him through Europe, to Paris, where he founded the Society of Jesus. There is also a short tour of the history of the Society and the Jesuits during the last five centuries.

You will need to use your headphones and mobile phone during the visit. You can listen to the audio guide of the exhibition at www.ignatiusexperience.org

Nativity Scenes Exhibition

Pessebre diorama. Adoració dels pastors

On the inaugural day of the Fair of Santa Llúcia we opened the traditional exhibition of Nativity scenes in the museum, located in the refectory of the Casa de l’Almoina, presided over by the Romanesque paintings of Sant Salvador de Polinyà. As always, we have had the participation of the Associació de Pessebristes de Barcelona, with whom we have been collaborating for a long time to promote knowledge of artisanal work and protect the tradition and heritage of cribs. As a novelty, they offer a popular Nativity scene that is perfectly integrated with the Christmas theme of Polinyà’s paintings.

Barcelona on the street. To see and to be seen. The Corpus Christi procession

Coinciding with the festivity and immersed in the celebrations of the 700th anniversary of the first documented Corpus Christi procession in Barcelona, the Museu Diocesà inaugurates this exhibition curated by Amadeu Carbó and Nil Rider. Through a careful selection of some of the most important works from the Museum’s collection, the exhibition brings us closer to this festivity, its long history and the way in which, since medieval times, its processions –which will vary the route on several occasions over the course of 700 years– have called every member of Barcelona’s society to take to the streets to participate in them, always in an orderly manner and in the corresponding order of precedence: from the blind, hunchbacked and disabled, to the Consell de Cent, the count and the bishop, each one occupying their place.

The exhibition also includes elements of the intangible heritage such as l’Ou com balla (“the dancing egg”), the presence of festive estremeses such as the gegantons of Pi, a collection of lead figures to play in the procession and a polychrome table by an unknown author where the processional entourage of 1793 is represented.

In the space “The invited piece”, objects or documents that complement the contents of the exhibition will be exhibited throughout the year, about the Corpus Christi festivities in other places or singularities of this solemnity. The first invited pieces come from the Fons Amades de la Direcció General de Cultura Popular, and highlight the literature of “cane and cord”.

Fides ex Auditu. Church’s heritage throughout half a century

On the occasion of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the designation of Dr. Josep Maria Martí i Bonet, this exhibition did an itinerary through his biography and a synthesis of this work in different areas of the Church’s cultural heritage (Archive, Library, Museum, Cathedral…), on a Catalan and Spanish level.