Weekends away can be great way to dip into the history of
different areas, whether that be somewhere on the south coast of England or
Southern Europe. In this case a trip to Barcelona allowed for an interesting
trip to the Museu d’Història de Catalunya and I have to admit to being really
impressed with the quality of the museum.
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| Museu d’Història de Catalunya, Barcelona. |
The museum itself is located in a former warehouse building
near the Old Port (Port Vell) and offers a really fantastic museum space. The
development actually strongly resembles the location of the Museum of London
Docklands – a part of a former warehouse having been converted into a museum,
while the rest offers a home to bustling restaurants and bars, overlooking
ships swaying on the water. Anyway, I digress somewhat.
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We chose to view the permanent exhibition galleries which
cover the period of Prehistory to 1980. This is divided into several different subsections
which aim to address key developments in Catalan history. These are: The Roots:
From Prehistory to the 8th Century, The Birth of a Nation: The 8th
to the 12th Centuries, Our Sea: The 12th to the 16th
Centuries, On the Edge of the Empire: the 16th to 18th
centuries, A Steam-powered Nation: the 18th and 19th
centuries, The Electric Years: From 1900 to 1939, Defeat and Recovery: From
1940 to 1980.
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| Museu d’Història de Catalunya, Barcelona. |
It was certainly a mammoth exhibition in what it tried to
cover but like I say, I was very impressed with the quality of what has been
achieved. Intellectually what I really liked was how the museum didn’t just
focus on Catalonia but tried to present Catalan history and culture within
broader geographical, political, economic and cultural settings. This was
something I remarked on at the time for it is not something I can say I’ve particularly
noticed in other exhibitions I’ve been too. It made quite a refreshing change
and I left feeling that I not only had a greater sense of Catalan history but
also how it fits alongside the other existing knowledge I have of history. I
was able to draw things together and make comparisons in ways that I have not necessarily
recognised being able to do before.
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| Museu d’Història de Catalunya, Barcelona. |
You can also really tell that it is a new development by the
approach that’s been taken, and the development of the museum over the last 10
years has been documented through video which is shown to visitors at the end of
the exhibition. It displays a very modern approach to gallery design. There is
a mix of glass faced cabinets containing artefacts with information panels, but
also more interactive elements – models and recreations. A number of these in
fact, still stand out. In particular a net which has been filled with armour
and placed on a pulley system, which visitors can then attempt to lift in an
effort to demonstrate how heavy it would have been to wear armour. There was
also a knight’s horse that could be sat on, milling stones for grinding wheat
and my personal favourite, a reconstruction of an irrigation system. Children
are encouraged to take the place of oxen and turn a wheel, which then lifted
water from a well into channels which in turn irrigated farm crops. It was such
an inspired way to both educate and occupy children, while allowing adults the
time to read the information, which in other museums can sometimes be a bit of
a battle.
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| Museu d’Història de Catalunya, Barcelona. |
The museum’s mission statement is published on their website
and is as follows:
The Museu
d’Història de Catalunya (MHC) opened in 1996 to make Catalan history and
culture better known at home and abroad. Publicly owned and inspired by the
public interest, it is designed to be a museum of society insofar as it
encourages interaction between history and the other social sciences and takes
an interest in our own times. A cultural centre that is open and accessible to
everyone with a programme that offers visitors opportunities for learning and
training, for debate and analysis, for relaxation and enjoyment. (1)
It aims to be a space for ‘encounter and exchange’ and I
definitely think that’s the case. The models show the practicalities of life at
different periods in time, prompting questions that you pose not only to
yourself but also to the other people you might be visiting with. And while it
offers a huge historical range that some might find that overwhelming, I found it
to be really intellectually stimulating. It offered something different, both
in scope and design, and I’d definitely recommend it to those that visit
Barcelona.
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| Museu d’Història de Catalunya, Barcelona. |
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