The Barcelona Museum of World Cultures opens its doors on the 7th of February
Housed in the Nadal and Marquès de Llió Palaces on carrer Montcada, the new facilities will serve as a platform for the conservation, presentation, dissemination and social projection of the artistic heritage and knowledge of the cultures of Asia, Africa, the Americas and Oceania
Barcelona’s new Museu de Cultures del Món (Museum of World Cultures), housed within the Nadal and Marquès de Llió Palaces on carrer Montcada, will open its doors on the 7th of February at 4 pm. The new facilities are designed as a platform for the conservation, presentation, dissemination and social projection of the artistic heritage and knowledge of the cultures of Asia, Africa, the Americas and Oceania from an anthropological perspective. European art will also be represented in the form of the two Catalan palaces in which the museum is housed, one from the beginning of the 14th century, the other from the 18th century.
The museum will house a significant part of the Folch Foundation collection, with 2400 representative works of art from the four previously-mentioned continents complemented by pieces from the Barcelona Ethnological Museum and other notable private collections from throughout the country. The museum will also exhibit pieces from foreign museums such as the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology.
The exhibition space will be divided into three extensive areas corresponding to the geographical areas represented: Africa, Oceania and pre-Colombian America. The permanent exhibition will consist of 529 pieces including funeral figures and statues, headstones used in customs and rites, curiously-shaped vessels and tribal art from numerous peoples and communities. Temporary exhibitions have also been programmed, the first of which, entitled Scriptures: Symbols, Words, Powers, will open next May and offer an insight into the development and evolution of the written word.
The Museum of World Cultures will offer a number of open days up until the 7th of April. On Saturday the 7th of February, the day of the inauguration, and Sunday the 8th, the museum will offer a special programme of events with free entrance into the museum and a series of parallel activities on Carrer Montcada and Passeig del Born. In the interior, with the participation of the visitors, the museum will compile a large tile mosaic depicting a map of the world. On Sunday the 8th, the museum will take to the streets, offering creative and participative proposals to all-comers along the Passeig del Born, which will also feature a gigantic jigsaw puzzle with pieces designed by plastic artists Juanjo Saez, Sergio Mora, Guim Tió, Chamo San, Aleix Gordo and Joana Santamans.
The Barcelona Museum of World Cultures is directed by Josep Lluís Alay, Director of Heritage, Museums and Archives of the Barcelona City Council.
Barcelona Museum of World Cultures
When: Open from Saturday the 7th of February. Closed on Monday.
Price: Free entrance until the 7th of April, afterwards 5€.
More information here.