MUSEUM OF WORLD CULTURES OF BARCELONA Press kit

MUSEUM OF WORLD CULTURES OF BARCELONA
Press kit
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Museum of World Cultures of Barcelona, MCMB
Housed in the Nadal and Marquès de Llió buildings on Barcelona’s Carrer Montcada,
the MCMB opened its doors to the public on Saturday, 7 February 2015. The Museum
serves as a platform for the conservation, presentation, diffusion, and social
outreach of the artistic heritage and knowledge of Asian, African, American and
Oceanic cultures. It exposes the cultural heritage amassed by Barcelona and its
collectors since the late 1940s and it provides first class evidence of the relationship
between man and the universe, his beliefs and rituals.
The MCMB provides a clear picture of the world’s cultural diversity by focusing on
various artistic experiences from a multidisciplinary perspective. This new venue
displays a good share of the items on long-term loan to Barcelona City Council from
the Folch Foundation’s collection. The twenty-year loan includes approximately 2,400
artefacts representative of Africa, Asia, America and Oceania. These exhibits are
complemented by other objects from Barcelona’s Ethnological Museum as well as
items from important private collections, namely Clos Archaeological Foundation
and Duran Vall-llosera Archaeological Collection. Pieces from the University of
Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology are also on display. The
Museum is fruit of a long-standing partnership between public institutions and
private collectors; it has inherited collections created by Barcelona City Council over
the course of the 20th century and by passionate Catalan collectors.
As well as displaying original pieces, the permanent exhibition is reinforced by a set of
interactive and audiovisual museum resources that use graphic, film and documentary
samples from Barcelona’s Ethnological Museum and the Folch Foundation. These
resources allow visitors to gain a deeper understanding of different aspects related to
the cultures and the landscapes on view in the galleries.
The permanent exhibition in figures
The MCMB’s permanent exhibition displays 529 selected pieces. In terms of their
geographical origins, 250 items are from Asia, 138 from America, 65 from Africa and 76
from Oceania.
In terms of the source of the collections, 336 pieces are from the Folch Collection (from
a total loan of 2,370 objects); 120 pieces are from Barcelona’s Ethnological Museum;
33 pieces are from the Jordi Clos Archaeological Foundation (some of these are made
up of several elements, up to a total of 37); 20 pieces are from the Duran Vall-llosera
Archaeological Collection; 15 pieces are from private collections in Barcelona, and 10
pieces are from the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and
Anthropology.
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Temporary exhibitions
There is a complementary programme running parallel to the Museum’s permanent
exhibition that has the purpose of developing transversal themes and highlighting the
different ways of expressing universal archetypes through varying forms of cultural
expression, including the European or Western form.
The first temporary exhibition, planned for May, is “Scripts: Symbols, Words,
Powers” that suggests a route through world cultures in order to present the varieties,
uses and the multiple developments of this form of communication that lies at the core
of contemporary society. Different scripts have had unique origins and have
experienced unique evolutions in different parts of the world, in line with the languages
and cultures of the people who created them.
Free access area
The Museum has a free access area on the ground floor where smaller displays will be
organised. First in line is a display of Javanese wayang kulit shadow puppets, one of
Indonesia’s most important theatre traditions, recorded since the 10th century.
The free access area also includes screenings of audiovisuals that describe in detail
the history of the collections and the personal and scientific profiles of their creators,
the pioneers Albert Folch, August Panyella and Eudald Serra. Another documentary
shows the architectural and historic value of the buildings that house the Museum.
Founding of the MCMB Research and Diffusion Centre
The Research and Diffusion Centre, affiliated to the Museum, will be located on Carrer
de la Seca, 2, next to the MCMB. The Centre will be dedicated to the research and
diffusion of non-Western art and culture. It will digitalise and make an inventory of
the objects of art and the documentary resources held by the museum in order to make
them accessible to anyone interested. It will also outline the research to be carried out
by the institution and define the Museum’s relationship with other museum, academic
and cultural institutions around the world.
SWICH Network (Sharing a World of Inclusion, Creativity and Heritage)
Barcelona’s MCMB is one of the 11 members of the network of ethnography and
culture museums of the world SWICH, led by the Weltmuseum Wien in Vienna. This
is a European cultural cooperation project that seeks to strengthen the role and
visibility of these museums as centres of creation, cross-cultural encounter, discourse
innovation and knowledge production based on transnational and international
collaboration.
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Agreement with the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and
Anthropology
The MCMB and the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and
Anthropology have drawn up a loan agreement extending until 2018. The agreement
covers 15 objects from Polynesia, including some of the oldest and most valuable
examples of Oceanic art. An apa’apai club from Tonga – used in dances, fights and as
a status symbol – was acquired by Captain James Cook and is one of the most
important pieces in the collection.
Educational programme
The MCMB educational programme includes workshops and guided tours of the
Museum’s various galleries that are aimed at all educational levels. This programme
has been developed together with the education department of Barcelona’s Egyptian
Museum.
The Museum is housed in two historic buildings on Carrer Montcada
The remodelling works on the Marquès de Llió and Nadal houses were carried out over
a 15-month period. The cost of the remodelling totalled 5 million euros and a further 2.4
million euros were spent on the museographic facilities.
Director of the Museum of World Cultures
Josep Lluís Alay, Director of Heritage, Museums and Archives for Barcelona City
Council, has been appointed Director of the Museum of World Cultures.
Museum of World Cultures Circle
The opening of the Museum goes hand in hand with the creation of the MCMB Circle,
chaired by Pere Duran Vall-llosera. The Circle responds to the Museum’s quest to
establish ties with a broad range of national and international bodies involved in the
culture and finance sectors, in the knowledge that the development of projects such as
the MCMB calls for strategies aimed at consolidating the allegiances and active
participation of various social and financial players. The Circle has been set up with the
objective of pursuing social outreach and to build a platform for the consolidation of the
Museum as a cultural project, for its overall projection, as well as for the optimisation
and growth of its resources.
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The Museum of World Cultures. The exhibition project
The Museum serves as a platform for the diffusion and knowledge of Asian, African,
American and Oceanic cultures. Its purpose is to expose the cultural heritage amassed
by Barcelona and its collectors since the late 1940s and it provides first class evidence
of the relationship between man and the universe, his beliefs and rituals.
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• AFRICA
The permanent exhibition begins with Africa and the art of the ancient Kingdom of
Benin and the culture of the Fang peoples of Equatorial Guinea. It also highlights the
cultures of West Africa and Central Africa: ceremonial figures, masks, reliquary figures
used in the worship of tutelary deities, in fertility rituals and for protection from spirits.
The Africa gallery brings together pieces from several ethnic groups including Dogon,
Yoruba, Senufo, Baoulé, Bembe, Songye, Bambara and Pende peoples.
The exhibition route concludes with Ethiopia, one of the continent’s cultural cradles,
and some surprising expressions of Christian art.
The Fang
o Reliquary guardian figures, eyema byeri
The Kingdom of Benin
o Art in the courts of the obas
West and Central Africa
o Statuary
o Masks
Ethiopia
o Ethiopian Christian art
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Selected pieces
Guardian reliquary figure, eyema byeri
Fang people, Okak group - Equatorial
Guinea
19th century
Carved polychrome wood
Former Núñez de Prado Collection
Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Eyema byeri, a female figure used for ancestor worship among Fang peoples. Carefully carved
following the style of the Fang Okak ethnic group, it has robust and rounded shapes. The
proportions and style of this carving make it an exceptional piece.
Decorative plaque with an armed high
dignitary
Ancient Kingdom of Benin, Edo people - Nigeria
Middle period, 1550-1700
Brass lost-wax casting
Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
This decorative brass plaque was made between the 16th and 17th centuries to adorn the
wooden pillars of the palace of the oba or king of the ancient Kingdom of Benin (Nigeria).
Pieces like this were made on commission from the royalty and usually represented scenes of
rituals and of palace life.
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• OCEANIA
The first floor of the Nadal and Marquès de Llió houses are dedicated to Oceania and
Asia. The first floor route begins with the Oceania galleries and the art of New Guinea
and its surrounding area. One of the key themes describes the ceremonial men’s
houses in the region of the Sepik River, although the diversity of the pieces shows
other artistic and cultural aspects, such as the Abelam initiation ceremonies, the Asmat
funeral ceremonies as well as the masks and ancient sculptures of the caves of the
Korewori River. The Oceania galleries conclude by spotlighting rituals and bark
paintings from Australia and Polynesian art.
New Guinea
The men’s house
Art and war
Korewori sculpture
Bisj poles, the sculptures of the Asmat people
Polynesia
Art of the Pacific islands
Australia
Bark painting
Ceremonial: totems and ritual sculptures
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Selected pieces:
Aripa, anthropomorphic figure
Inyai-Ewa - Korewori River region, middle Sepik,
Papua New Guinea
16th-19th centuries
Carved wood with incisions
Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Aripa figures, which date from between the 16th and 19th centuries and come from the
Korewori River region, belong to one of the oldest known artistic traditions of Melanesia. This
wood carving stands out for its great power of expression and its distinctive alternation of
cavities and solid spaces representing the internal anatomy of the human body.
Reimiro
Rapa Nui - Easter Island, Chile
19th century
Carved wood with inlays of black obsidian and shark
vertebrae
Former Tristan Tzara (1896-1963) Collection
Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Reimiro pectoral ornaments from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) formed part of the ceremonial dress
of the chiefs of the island and were insignias of men and women of high rank. This reimiro,
which belonged to the collection of Tristan Tzara (1896-1963), features an inscription in the as
yet undeciphered script of the island.
Yirawala (c. 1897-1976)
Three female Mimi kidnapped by a giant
Born clan, Kuninkju people, Duwa moiety - Oenpelli, West
Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia
C. 1960
Paint on eucalyptus bark, natural pigments
Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Yirawala was one of the most prominent Aboriginal Australian artists of the 20th century. In this
piece he depicted a group of Mimi, which are spirits who may protect people and favour fertility.
They are held to be the authors of the rock paintings in Arnhem Land (Australia). Australian
bark painting is considered one of humanity’s oldest living artistic traditions.
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• ASIA
The area dedicated to Asia begins with two galleries that focus on the Philippines and
Indonesia, respectively. The first gallery showcases the artistic forms of the people
living in the mountains in the north of Luzon Island as well as other cultural groups from
the islands of Palawan and Mindanao. Indonesia’s cultural wealth marks the transition
zone between Oceania and Asia and its gallery displays both magical-religious art from
the archipelago – from the Batak, Toraja and Dayak ethnic groups– and jewellery from
the islands of Nias and Sumba.
The two galleries dedicated to India are a focal point in the Asia area and they
introduce Hinduism and its art focusing on the sculptural representations of Viṣṇu and
Śiva from the 5th century to the 16th century, as well as other sculptures and
architectural elements from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. At the same time it gives
a brief explanation of Jainism and the origins of Buddhism in India. These galleries give
onto two further galleries dedicated to Nepal and Nuristan.
Within the India display there is an area devoted to the exceptional art of Gandhara,
which gives visitors an insight into both the expansion of Buddhism across Central Asia
and, specifically, the Indo-Greek art of the 1st-4th centuries. The route continues with
an area dedicated to Tibetan art, its imagery and religious practices, and, on this floor,
it comes to a close with two galleries dedicated to the expansion of Buddhism in
Thailand and Burma with sculptures and architectural elements from several South
East Asian kingdoms.
The Asia route continues on the second floor of the Museum with three galleries
dedicated to Japan, China and Korea. Visitors can enjoy the Museum’s collection of
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Japanese objects that range from ceramics from the Kofun period to ukiyo-e art.
Moving on, the spotlight falls on China followed by a detailed description of the
evolution of Korean ceramics from the Age of Metals until the Joseon dynasty. Items
are from the Duran Vall-llosera Archaeological Collection.
Philippines
• Funerary urns
• Luzon: the art of the mountain people
• Palawan and Mindanao
Indonesia
• Magico-religious art
• Java, between Buddhism and Hinduism
India
• Hindu art
• Jain art
• Buddhist art
• Art of the Mughal period
• The Nagas
Nepal
• Newar art
Nuristan
• In the valleys of the Hindu Kush
Gandhara
• Indo-Greek art
Tibet
• Tibetan Buddhist art
• Tantric rituals
Thailand
• Thai Buddhist art
Burma
• Burmese Buddhist art
Japan
• Japanese sculpture
• Art of Edo period
• Japanese ceramics
China
• Buddhism in China
Korea
• Korean ceramics
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Selected pieces
Wayang kulit shadow puppet representing
Arjuna
Island of Java, Indonesia
19th century
Painted leather and wood
Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
The wayang kulit puppets are among the most representative examples of the cultural
transmission of the traditions of the Indian subcontinent to South East Asia. This puppet depicts
Arjuna, one of the protagonists of the celebrated epic Mahābhārata.
Fasting Historical Buddha Śākyamuni
Gandhara, Pakistan/Afghanistan
2nd-3rd centuries
Schist
Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Pep Herrero
This is a both unique and exceptional figure of the Indo-Greek art of Gandhara. It depicts the
Historical Buddha as fasting, in quest of the path to enlightenment. The few known examples of
this type of representation are realistically conceived sculptures showing the emaciated figure of
Buddha in a state of extreme asceticism.
Lake at Hakone (Hakone no kosui)
Series “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” (Fuji
Sanjūrokkei)
1858
Colour woodblock print (nishiki-e)
Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Pep Herrero
The Japanese ukiyo-e prints from the 17th to the 19th centuries depict the life, interests and
pleasures of the middle and lower classes of Japan. One of the most iconic images of ukiyo-e
art are views of Mount Fuji, as in this series of prints by Utagawa Hiroshige.
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• AMERICA
The Museum’s exhibition route concludes with six galleries dedicated to pre-Columbian
America. The America galleries begin with Mesoamerica, with grave goods from tombs
in Jalisco, Colima and Nayarit, as well as other pieces from Central Veracruz culture
and Mezcala masks.
The Mesoamerican section includes two additional sub-areas, the first of which focuses
on Maya culture and the second on ballgame. Central America is represented by a
gallery with ceramics from the Greater Nicoya and the Atlantic Watershed-Central
Highlands of Costa Rica. This route comes to a close with a look at the art of preColumbian cultures in the Andes, beginning with the Valdivia statuettes from 30002000 BC and ending with the Inca Empire. Visitors will discover the rich variety of
ceramics made in the Nazca and Moche valleys. The spotlight also falls on the culture
of the Bahía, Jama-Coaque, Manteña, Recuay, Chimú and Chancay ethnic groups
through their ceramics and unique pieces of jewellery and textiles.
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•
Mesoamerica
• Grave goods
• Ballgame
• The Maya
• Central America
• Rituals and beliefs
• The Andes
• Andean cultures
• The art of weaving
Selected pieces:
Cuchimilco, figura masculina
Cuchimilco, figura masculina
Cuchimilco, male figure
Chancay - central coast of Peru
1000-1450 BC
Polychrome ceramic
Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Cuchimilcos are one of the most characteristic features of the Chancay culture on the central
coast of Peru. These are symbolic objects representing male or female figures which are
usually found in tombs of both the upper classes and the common people.
Shirt
Chimú - northern coast of Peru
1000-1470 BC
Cotton and camelid hair
MEB CF 2058. Folch Collection.
Museum of World Cultures
This ceremonial shirt from the Chimú culture of northern Peru was used in funerary contexts as
a shroud. It was commissioned by affluent people and was thought to confer symbolic power on
its wearer. In the Andean cultures, textiles are one of the most representative forms of artistic,
social and religious expression.
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Free access area
At the entrance to the Museum of World Cultures, on the ground floor, there is a large
free access area where small temporary exhibitions will be held to focus on a particular
object or set of objects or create dialogues between pieces in the Museum’s collection
and pieces from other museums.
The first of such exhibitions is: “Wayang Kulit. Javanese Shadow Puppets”. This
small exhibition describes one of Indonesia’s most important theatrical traditions,
documented since the 10th century. Javanese wayang kulit shadow puppet theatre is
based on the Hindu epics of Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa and on mythical stories from
the island. As well as being entertaining, they serve an educational purpose and have
deep moral and philosophical meanings.
Also in the free access area, visitors are able to enjoy film screenings that provide a
deeper understanding of the history of the collections and the human and scientific
profile of their creators, Albert Folch, August Panyella and Eudald Serra. There is also
a display illustrating the architectural and historic value of the buildings that house the
Museum: the Marquès de Llió and Nadal houses.
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Temporary exhibitions: “Scripts: Symbols, Words, Powers”
The programme of temporary exhibitions is intended to complement the Museum’s
permanent discourse with ideas aimed at developing transversal themes and
highlighting the various ways of expressing universal archetypes through different
cultural expressions, including the European or Western canon.
“Scripts: Symbols, Words, Powers” is the first temporary exhibition to be held at the
MCM and will open in May 2015. The curator, Miguel Peyró García, semeiologist,
linguist and anthropologist specialising in communication, will take visitors on a voyage
through different world cultures to present the varieties, uses and multiple
developments of this form of communication, without which our contemporary societies
would be unimaginable. Scripts have had specific genesis and evolutions for each of
the planet’s different peoples, in line with their languages and the cultures for which
they have been created.
Originally used to safeguard and spread messages, written texts have become
symbolic benchmarks in cultures across the globe. They illustrate internal and external
social differences, the identifying traits and the collective aspirations of the
communities that use them.
The exhibition shows how scripts are more than simple graphic tools for spreading
information or substitutes for spoken language. They are complex representations that
help us understand and appreciate the different societies that use them.
The exhibition “Scripts: Symbols, Words, Powers” includes pieces from the following
institutions: Archaeological Museum of Catalonia, the Mascort Foundation, the
Archaeological Museum of Ibiza and Formentera, the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts
of Saint Petersburg, the Montserrat Museum, the Museum of America in Madrid, the
Manuscript Centre in Georgia, the Historical Archives of the City of Barcelona, the
MUHBA, the Clos Foundation and the Israel Museum, amongst others.
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Temporary exhibition area
The gallery hosting the MCMB’s temporary exhibitions is in the building known by the
name of Casa Joan Mercader on Carrer Banys Vells. The temporary exhibition area
covers 220 square metres and it takes up large part of the ground floor. It is an open
plan venue with a spacious main section and three narrower secondary sections. The
gallery is connected to the rest of the museum via the Nadal House.
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Agreement between MCMB and the University of Cambridge Museum of
Archaeology and Anthropology (United Kingdom)
Barcelona’s Museum of World Cultures has drawn up a loan agreement with the
University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology for an initial period
of 3 years, until 2018. The agreement includes the loan of a total of 15 objects from
Polynesia. The Museum will initially display a panel from a Maori meeting house, stilts,
a head ornament and a club from the Marquesas Islands, two necklaces from the
Austral Islands, an ipu gourd from Hawaii, a staff from the Easter Island, bark cloth
from Fiji, and the most remarkable object in the collection, an apa’apai club from
Tonga. This club, used in dances, fights and as a status symbol, was acquired in the
Tonga archipelago by Captain James Cook during his second voyage of discovery to
the Pacific (1772-1775). The pieces collected by Captain Cook during his three
voyages, in which he travelled around the world (1768-1779), are some of the oldest
and most valuable examples of Oceanic art.
Apa’apai club. Tonga. Late 18th century. Wood. Acquired by Captain James Cook in
the Tonga archipelago (1773-1774)
D 1914.79. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
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Creation of the MCMB Research and Diffusion Centre
The MCMB Research and Diffusion Centre, affiliated to the Museum, will be
dedicated to the investigation and dissemination of knowledge on non-Western art and
culture. The Centre will be located at number 2, Carrer la Seca.
Goals:
The goals of the Centre are as follows:
•
•
•
•
To make accessible and public the Museum’s photographic, film, sound,
bibliographic and documentary resources related to the collections of African,
American, Asian and Oceanic art that are held by the City of Barcelona.
To improve the scientific knowledge of the Museum’s collections and the historical
cultures that created the objects that it holds.
To ensure a permanent and direct relationship between the Museum and other
museum, academic and cultural institutions around the world that share an interest
in African, American, Asian and Oceanic art.
To make its scientific results available both to the scientific community and to the
general public.
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SWICH Network ‘Sharing a World of Inclusion, Creativity and Heritage’
The Museum of World Cultures is one of eleven members of the network of
ethnographic and world cultures museums SWICH, a European cultural cooperation
project that was created at the end of 2014 and that is set to operate over a four year
period.
Museum networking
The SWICH network of museums (Sharing a World of Inclusion, Creativity and
Heritage) is one of the projects funded by the Creative Europe subsidy aimed at
supporting the culture and visual arts sectors.
SWICH is the successor of the European RIME project, a programme funded by the
European Commission that between 2008 and 2013 promoted cultural cooperation
between ethnographic and world culture museums at European level.
Objectives, context and actions
The SWICH project aims to place ethnographic and world culture museums at the
heart of discussions on citizenship in today’s Europe. Immigration waves and worker
mobility have led to a restructuring of European demographics. As a consequence, the
concept of belonging to a society has also changed in many EU member countries.
By means of a series of work programmes, the project aims to contribute to the
development of new tools and methodological practices so that participating museums
can improve how they approach these new scenarios and make a positive impact on
how citizens adapt to a globalised world.
The SWICH project intends to strengthen the role and visibility of the ethnographic and
world culture museums as centres for creation, cultural meeting places, discourse
innovation and the production of knowledge based on transnational and international
partnerships.
The project has also been designed to re-evaluate the role of ethnographic and world
culture museums and place them at the head of a debate critically assessing the
history of museums and their collections.
The SWICH project will revolve around a series of key interrelated concepts: cocreativity, experimental exhibition, interrelationships, cultural subjectivity, emotional
citizenship, the dispersal of objects and individuals and how new digital technologies
build new forms of identity. All this will be done via the configuration of innovative and
inclusive approaches.
The MCMB will host two of the network’s events:
March 2016: Joint exhibition “Object dispersal”
This exhibition aims to establish ties between different foreign communities present in
the city. It seeks to involve them in the museums’ collections and approach their
cultural expressions. The process will be documented and exhibited temporarily at the
MCM. Other participating museums include Vienna’s Weltmuseum Wien, Rome’s
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Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico Luigi Pigorini and the Culture Lab in
Tervuren, Belgium.
October 2017: “Objects and digital technology”
The workshop will assess how new digital technologies can sit alongside a museum’s
collection. It explores how these technologies allow us to view the pieces in a more
global light. Representatives from all the museums in the network will take part.
Members:
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Weltmuseum Wien, Vienna, Austria
http://www.weltmuseumwien.at
Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden, Holland
http://volkenkunde.nl
Musée royal de l’Afrique centrale, Tervuren, Belgium
http://www.africamuseum.be
Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France
http://www.mucem.org
Världskulturmuseet, Gothenburg, Sweden
http://www.varldskulturmuseerna.se/varldskulturmuseet
Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, Germany
http://www.lindenmuseum.de
Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico Luigi Pigorini, Rome, Italy
http://www.pigorini.beniculturali.it
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge, United Kingdom
http://maa.cam.ac.uk/maa
Náprstek’s Museum, Prague, Czech Republic
http://www.nm.cz/Naprstek-Museum
Museu de Cultures del Món, Barcelona, Catalonia
http://museuculturesmon.bcn.cat
Culture Lab,Tervuren, Belgium
http://www.culturelab.be
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Educational activities. The MCMB educational programme
The aspiration of the MCMB to be a didactic entity will be put into practice by means of
a commitment to education with a special focus on teachers and primary and
secondary schools.
A range of tours and workshops have been designed to cover many themes. Activities
and resources have been adapted according to each education level: pre-school,
primary, lower and upper secondary and vocational training.
The programme – its didactic content and materials – has been designed in partnership
with Barcelona’s Egyptian Museum within the framework of the partnership agreement
with Jordi Clos Foundation.
The educational programme includes a range of proposals, from transversal tours of
different parts of the Museum – to gain a deeper understanding of differences and
similarities between peoples in terms of their views of the world, their beliefs and their
ceremonies – to tours that take the voyages of the Catalan explorers as a starting point
and use different pieces gathered during the expeditions to describe the artistic,
religious and anthropological aspects that define them. The workshops, which have
been adapted to the key skills of each age group, cover a range of concepts including
the history of body worship practices, which have been used by many cultures either to
develop rites of passage or to show social status or other cultural aspects.
For more details on the MCMB’s education programme visit:
http://museuculturesmon.bcn.cat.
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The Museum building. Nadal and Marquès de Llió houses
Architectural work on the Marquès de Llió and Nadal houses began in September 2013
and the remodelling of the historic buildings took 15 months in all. The total budget was
5 million euros for remodelling and 2.4 million euros for museography.
To adapt the buildings to the needs of the Museum, the following remodelling works
were carried out:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Joining of the two buildings to create a single circuit, both horizontal and
vertical, on each of the floors. To do so, two new staircases were built.
Alterations to adapt to mobility requirements of visitors and circulation through
the museum with the installation of a new lift.
Renewal of heat/cooling, safety and facility management systems to adapt them
to the building’s new layout.
Rehabilitation and cleaning of interior façades of the Marquès de Llió house.
Rehabilitation of the 14th-century coffered ceilings in Marquès de Llió house.
Rehabilitation of 18th-century woodwork including exterior windows and doors.
New lighting installation for the interior façades of the two buildings.
Alterations to adapt both the building and its systems for use as a museum.
USABLE FLOOR SPACE
AREA
USAGE
Nadal and Marquès de Llió houses
2,856 sq m
383 sq m............. Open for public use/activity
121 sq m............. Free exhibition area
1,799 sq m.......... Permanent exhibition
302 sq m........... Staff only areas
251 sq m..... Stairways and circulation areas
GROSS FLOOR AREA
3,873 sq m
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Courtyard of Marqués de Llió house . Museum of World Cultures . Pep Herrero Photo
Medieval polychrome beams dating from the 14th century
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Nadal House
A house with portraits in the windows. Nadal House takes the form of a residential
dwelling consisting of a ground floor and two upper floors. Originally two 14th-century
buildings, in 1637 Jeroni Nadal converted them into one sole house. Nadal’s family
owned the property until the late 18th century and gave it its present name. The
structure of the main building is typical of that of a mediaeval palace, with a central
courtyard and a gallery of pointed arches on the first floor, a façade with a tower
originally on the right, and a covered gallery supported by columns on the top floor. It
does not, however, have a noble staircase leading to the first floor.
Today’s building is the result of several renovation works and extensions. In the late
15th century and over the course of the 16th century, windows were added, amongst
which the most noteworthy example is on the ground floor on the main façade. It is
decorated with the bust of a man and a woman, thought to be the portraits of the
merchant who bought the house in 1546 and his wife.
In 1789 the current entranceway was added as were the balconies on the first floor.
Possibly some years prior to this, the noble staircase in the courtyard was taken down.
As occurred with similar houses, the 19th century was a turning point and it saw the
building transformed into a multiple dwelling. Subsequently, several recreational,
outdoor-activity and social societies set up their centres in it. Barcelona City Council
expropriated the building in 1967 and in 1971 works began on the main building, which
conserved most of the façade in its original style. This intervention extended the
southerly-aspect gallery by removing the original tower and modifying some of the
openings; likewise, among other actions, the first-floor gallery of the main courtyard
was added. As part of further work to the building, the gallery on the first floor of the
main courtyard was added. From 1997 to 2010 the Barbier-Mueller Pre-Columbian Art
Museum of Barcelona was housed here.
Marquès de Llió House
A house with mediaeval polychrome beams. Casa Móra or Marquès de Llió House
is a grand residential home dating from the latter half of the 8th century. It has façades
on two streets and a chamfered corner on the crossroads of the two; the main façade is
on Carrer Montcada. In 1705 the house was acquired by the father of the first Marquis
of Lyon, from whom the house takes its name. The result of combining three buildings,
it features a ground floor and two upper floors, though on the main façade there is a
tower with a fourth floor.
Despite the series of renovation works, the main building maintains its original structure
as an ancestral home. It stands between two party walls, with a rectangular floor plan
and a tower to one side. The house is structured around a central courtyard from which
there is access to the first floor via a noble stairway. Originally, the house would have
had a larger courtyard with a portal frame with Roman arches. The courtyard, tough,
was remodelled in the latter half of the 14th century. On the upper floor there is a
covered gallery (solana) supported by narrow pillars on the exterior façade and
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arcades on the inside. Two rooms on the first floor conserve an important collection of
medieval polychrome beams dating from the 14th century. They are unique in
Barcelona and of excellent artistic and historical value given that they show the
structures typically used for private homes during this period. In the 16th century a
number of windows were added and during this and the next century the building was
extended with various acquisitions that allowed the side and rear annexes to be built.
During this time it is possible that substantial adaptation works were carried out.
In the latter half of the 17th century, among other actions carried out, the balconies on
the main façade were constructed. After the house’s acquisition in 1705, the entire
building was remodelled: the noble stairway in the courtyard was built as were the
present-day balconies, the frontispiece on the chamfered corner and the entrance
gateway. The house would subsequently become the headquarters of the Royal
Academy of Language and Literature and during many years it was the headquarters
of the Workers’ Cultural Association. It was purchased by Barcelona City Council in
1955 and works were carried out between 1955 and 1959 and again between 1964
and 1969. These works restored original elements and new ones were added. Between
1982 and 2008 the building was the headquarters of Barcelona’s Textile and Clothing
Museum and then, up to 2010, of Barcelona’s Design Museum.
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27
The origin of the collections
A story with a history
In 1949 Barcelona City Council inaugurated the Ethnological and Colonial Museum,
with August Panyella as its director. The objects of this first museum were from the
1949 collections of the Barcelona Museum Board and the ethnology departments of the
Archaeological Museum of Catalonia and the Martorell Museum. It also included a
collection of 165 objects from Equatorial Guinea acquired by Dr Pere Bosch Gimpera,
a collection of Philippine pieces from the Universal Exposition of 1888, held in
Barcelona, and objects purchased directly by Carreras and other members of the
Science Academy of Barcelona. Once open, the collections grew as a result of
ethnographic expeditions organised by the Museum until 1976 and funded by
Barcelona City Council.
Since the 1950s, Albert Folch had been building an important art collection as a result
of his travels to different parts of the world and acquisitions from major international art
galleries. In 1975, the Folch Foundation was set up to manage the collection and
promote the study and diffusion of the cultures represented by its objects. The pieces
were acquired by Folch in partnership with Eudald Serra, who was in charge of
advising on pieces and acquisitions. Folch also helped fund some of the Ethnological
Museum’s expeditions, thus some of the objects went on to form part of the Museum’s
collections of artefacts. The Foundation organised several exhibitions and published a
number of specialist works on non-European art.
The MCM reveals the work of those who had a key role in creating the collections and
in understanding the cultures present in the Museum’s galleries.
Albert Folch i Rusiñol (1922-1988), a chemist and businessman, together with his wife,
Margarita Corachan, travelled often to Latin America to discover Venezuela – his wife’s
home country – and drawn by a desire to complete an Andes crossing. He met August
Panyella and Eudald Serra, with whom he developed a deep friendship and began a
lifelong collaboration. He partially funded some of the expeditions organised by
Barcelona’s Ethnological Museum and a large number of the objects acquired during
his expeditions were transferred to the Museum. For his contribution to culture,
Barcelona City Council awarded him with the gold medal for Scientific Merit and in
1985 the Autonomous Government of Catalonia awarded him with the Saint George
Cross.
August Panyella i Gómez (1921-1999) was a historian and ethnologist. He was the first
director and promoter of Barcelona’s Ethnological Museum. Together with his wife,
Zeferina Amil, he directed and ensured the growth of the collections with objects from a
series of expeditions promoted by the Museum. He organised and participated in a
number of such expeditions to different parts of the world together with Jordi Sabater,
Eudald Serra or Albert Folch, with whom he was close friends. By 1973, an additional
10,000 objects had been included to the Museum’s original collection.
Eudald Serra i Güell (1911-2002) was a sculptor and ethnologist. An important
surrealist sculptor, he was a member of Catalonia’s post-war artistic avant-garde with
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the group ADLAN. His interest in other cultures began during a trip to the island of
Hokkaido in 1947, whilst working for the United States army. At this point he began
sculpting busts of the area’s native inhabitants. He defined this work as artistic
anthropology, an activity that would be a constant theme during his travels.
He took part in several expeditions organised by the Museum and in research trips
during which he acquired objects for the Museum’s collection. In the trips organised by
Folch he was in charge of preparation and planning, as well as the selection and
purchasing of objects.
Eudald Serra spent many years as a teacher, a career he left to become the curator in
charge of Albert Folch’s collections.
(from left ) Eudald Serra, Albert Folch and August Panyella in Tiwanaku (Tiahuanaco), Bolivia 1963.
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Museum of World Cultures: Our partners and advisors
The development process to create the content for the MCMB has been made possible
thanks to the contributions of specialists who have carried out studies and
assessments on the collection’s pieces and upon which the discourse of the Museum’s
permanent exhibition has been built.
The Museum has also contacted specialists who have advised on specific aspects of
the exhibition and who have made text contributions.
The MCMB is in contact with the following specialists:
AFRICA
Dr Ewa Balicka-Witakowska. Uppsala University. Department of Byzantine Linguistic
and Philological Studies (Ethiopian art)
Dr Henry J. Drewal. Wisconsin-Madison University. History of Art Department (Yoruba
art)
Elena Martínez-Jacquet, Director of the La Fontana Foundation (African art)
Albert Costa i Romero de Tejada, Barcelona (African art)
Dorit Shafir. The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Curator for African and Oceanic Art and
the Edmond and Lily Safra Fine Arts Wing (African art)
AMERICA
Dr Luis Abejez García. Independent specialist (Lower Central American art)
Dr Ramiro Matos. Smithsonian Institution – National Museum of the American Indian
(Washington). Curator for Latin America (Andean cultures)
Dr Ariadna Baulenas i Pubill. Rovira i Virgili University. Researcher from the Seminar
of Ancient Topography (Pre-Columbine art)
Dr Victòria Solanilla. Autonomous University of Barcelona, Art and Musicology
Department (Pre-Columbine art)
Yvonne Fleitman. The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Benjamin Weiss Curator, Art of the
Americas, Edmond and Lily Safra Fine Arts Wing (Mesoamerican and Central Andes)
OCEANIA
Dr Nicholas Thomas. Cambridge University. Professor of Historical Anthropology and
Director of the Archaeology and Anthropology Museum of Cambridge University
(Oceanic and Australian art)
Dr M. Dolors Soriano. Ethnological Museum of Barcelona. Curator (Oceanic and
Australian art)
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ASIA
Dr Eusebio Dizón. University of the Philippines. Archaeological Studies Programme
(Philippines prehistoric art)
Dr Alexander von Rospatt. Berkeley University. Department of South and South East
Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley (Buddhist art in Nepal)
Alban von Stockhausen. Vienna University. Department of Southern Asian, Tibetan
and Buddhist Studies
Bernadette Broeskamp. Bonn University. Department for Asia and Islam, History of
Art, Institute of Oriental and Asian Studies (Tibetan art)
Andrea Loseries. Independent specialist (Tibetan religious practices)
Dr Erika Forte. Vienna University. Department of History of Art (Buddhist art and
central and oriental Asian and Chinese archaeology)
Dr Johanna Buss. Vienna University. Department of South Asian, Tibetan and
Buddhist Studies (Hinduism)
Dr Jyotindra Jain. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (Orissa, Southern India
and Rajasthan popular culture)
Dr Naman P. Ahuja. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (Indian and Gandhara
sculpture)
Dr Jasleen Dhamija. Independent specialist (Indian jewellery)
Dr Niels Gutschow. Heidelberg University. Emeritus Professor (Indian and Nepalese
architecture)
Dr Pierre Cambon. Guimet Museum, Paris. Curator of Korean and Afghan art (art of
Korea and Nuristan)
Dr Verena Widorn. Vienna University. History of Art Department (Himalayan art)
Dr Anna Filigenzi. Head of the Italian Archaeological Mission to Afghanistan
(IsIAO/UNO) and Professor at the Oriental University of Naples (Gandhara art)
Marion Frenger. Independent specialist (Southeast Asia)
Regina Höfer. Institute of Oriental and Asian Studies. Department for Asia and Islam,
History of Art, Bonn University (Indian art)
Dr Nalini Balbir. Sorbonne University - Paris 3. Indian Studies professor (Indian
transcriptions)
Dr Joachim G. Karsten. Bonn University (Tibetan art)
Dr Tsutomu Yamamoto. Professor at the History of Culture Department of the
Literature Faculty. Seisen Joshi University (Japanese sculpture)
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Dr Helmut Tauscher. Vienna University. Faculty for Philological and Cultural Studies,
Department of South East Asia, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies
Dr Ricard Bru. Independent specialist, Barcelona (Japanese art)
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IMAGES AVAILABLE FOR THE PRESS
https://eicub.net/?grup=MuseuCulturesdelMon02
CAPTIONS
AFRICA
Guardian reliquary figure, eyema byeri
Fang people, Okak group - Equatorial Guinea
19th century
Carved polychrome wood
Former Núñez de Prado Collection
MEB 71-5. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Decorative plaque with an armed high dignitary
Ancient Kingdom of Benin, Edo people - Nigeria
Middle period, 1550-1700
Brass lost-wax casting
MEB CF 339. Folch Collection. Museum of World
Cultures
Charm figure
Bembe - Democratic Republic of the Congo
Last half of the 19th century
Carved wood, clay, glass, cloth, cord and ritual patina
MEB CF 5913. Folch Collection. Museum of World
Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Memorial portrait
Akan - possibly from the Twifo-Heman region, Ghana
17th-19th centuries
Hand-modelled terracotta, pinching and coiling
MEB CF 5759. Folch Collection. Museum of World
Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
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Attributed to Olowe of Ise (c.1873-1937) and his workshop
Osun, goddess of fresh water and rivers, accompanied by her
attendants
Yoruba - Nigeria
1920s
Carved and painted wood
Former Núñez de Prado Collection
MEB 71-1. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Sowei helmet mask for female ritual dances
Mende - Sierra Leone or Liberia
First half of the 20th century
Carved wood
MEB CF 242. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Triptych with Mary, scenes of the life of Jesus and saints
Ethiopia
Last quarter of the 17th century
Paint on panel
MEB 480-1. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
OCEANIA
Men’s house pillar with female figure
Middle Sepik - village of Gaikorobi, Chambri lakes region, Papua
New Guinea
First half of the 20th century
Carved wood, natural pigments, raffia and shell powder
MEB CF 4099. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Men’s house painting
Kambot - Keram River region, lower Sepik, Papua New Guinea
20th century
Paint on sago palm bark
MEB CF 1342. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
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Nggwalndu spirit figure
Abelam - Maprik, Papua New Guinea
20th century
Carved wood and natural pigments
MEB CF 1351. Folch Collection. Museum of World
Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Agiba, skull hook
Kerewa - village of Moinamu, Kikori River Delta, Goaribari Island, Gulf of
Papua, Papua New Guinea
20th century
Carved wood and natural pigments
MEB CF 2075. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Aripa, anthropomorphic figure
Inyai-Ewa - Korewori River region, middle Sepik, Papua New Guinea
16th-19th centuries
Carved wood with incisions
MEB CF 5258. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Reimiro
Rapa Nui - Easter Island, Chile
19th century
Carved wood with inlays of black obsidian and shark vertebrae
Former Tristan Tzara (1896-1963) Collection
MEB CF 4792. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Yirawala (c. 1897-1976)
Three female Mimi kidnapped by a giant
Born clan, Kuninkju people, Duwa moiety - Oenpelli, West Arnhem
Land, Northern Territory, Australia
C. 1960
Paint on eucalyptus bark, natural pigments
MEB CF 4003. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
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Apa’apai club
Tonga
Late 18th century
Wood
Collected by Captain James Cook in the Tonga archipelago (1773-1774)
MCM 6 01. Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, University of
Cambridge
ASIA
Bulul, rice divinity
Ifugao – centre of Hapao, Ifugao province, island of Luzon, Philippines
19th century
Carved narra wood
MEB CF 5856. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Wayang kulit shadow puppet representing Arjuna
Island of Java, Indonesia
19th century
Painted leather and wood
MEB CF 2846. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Śiva and Pārvatī (Umā-maheśvara)
Northern Gujarat or Rajasthan, western India
14th-16th centuries AD
Carved limestone or chlorite
MEB CF 5236. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
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Kṛiṣṇa
Chola dynasty - Tamil Nadu, southern India
12th-14th centuries
Bronze
MEB CF 4668. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Fasting Historical Buddha Śākyamuni
Gandhara, Pakistan/Afghanistan
2nd-3rd centuries
Schist
MCM 502-1. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Pep Herrero
Transcendent Buddha Akṣobhya
Western Tibet
14th century
Brass
MEB CF 4429. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
The protectress Palden Lhamo as Magzor Gyalmo
Mongolia
19th century
Gilded and painted copper with turquoise and coral inlays
MEB CF 5833. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Buddha
Ayutthaya, Thailand
17th-18th centuries BC
Gilded lacquer on bronze
MEB CF 4517. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
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Crowned Buddha
Central eastern Burma
19th century BC
Gilded lacquer and glass inlays on wood
MEB CF 5350. Folch Collection. Museum of
World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Lake at Hakone (Hakone no kosui)
Series “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” (Fuji
Sanjūrokkei)
1858
Colour woodblock print (nishiki-e)
MEB 506-3. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Pep Herrero
Lokapāla tomb guardian (tian wang)
China
Late 7th century-first half of the 8th century BC, Tang dynasty
Ceramic with three-colour glaze (sancai)
MEB CF 4567. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
AMERICA
Yoke or waist protector, ballgame paraphernalia
Veracruz - Atlantic coast of the Gulf of Mexico
300-900 BC
Green diorite
MEB CF 5883. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Metate, ritual mortar
Atlantic watershed of Costa Rica
1-500 BC
Stone
MEB CF 941. Folch Collection. Museum of World Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
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Tripod vessel with modelled feline
Gran Nicoya, polychrome Pataky style - Nicaragua
1000-1400 BC
Polychrome ceramic
MEB CF 572. Folch Collection. Museum of World
Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Cuchimilco, male figure
Chancay - central coast of Peru
1000-1450 BC
Polychrome ceramic
MEB CF 2058. Folch Collection. Museum of World
Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
Stirrup-spout vessel depicting anthropomorphic
beans
Moche - northern coast of Peru
1-800 BC
Ceramic with fine line painting
MEB CF 378. Folch Collection. Museum of World
Cultures
Shirt
Chimú - northern coast of Peru
1000-1470 BC
Cotton and camelid hair
MEB CF 2058. Folch Collection. Museum of World
Cultures
Photo: Jordi Puig
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Institut de Cultura de Barcelona
Press Office
La Rambla, 99. 08002 Barcelona
Tel. +34 93 316 10 69
E-mail [email protected]
Website: premsaicub.bcn.cat
Link to download images: https://eicub.net/?grup=MuseuCulturesdelMon02
Website www.bcn.cat/museuculturesmon
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