This Christmas, the Museum of the History of Catalonia (MHC) is offering a programme of activities aimed especially at families, but with something for everyone. Workshops, animated visits, puppets and exhibitions have come together to create a diverse offer. Some of these proposals have already become consolidated traditions.
Programme:
Talk ‘The Mayor of the crib in Catalonia’
Wednesday, 18 December, at 18h.
Talk by Jordi Montlló, doctor in social anthropology and founder and president of the collective for research and dissemination of the pessebrisme El Buey y la Mula. He will explain, among other issues, the ideological controversy that took place in Catalonia in the mid-20th century linked to the conception of what a nativity scene should be. A confrontation between Father Basili de Rubí and Antonio Herranz González, president of the Association of Nativity Scene Makers of Barcelona.
Clue game ‘The Immortal City’
Saturday, 21 December, at 16.30h.
The immortal city is a treasure hunt for adults and youngsters that takes place in the Museum’s permanent exhibition. Players are organised into different teams that manage the development of a city during various historical stages, solving the challenges they face, obtaining resources and making decisions that will affect its destiny in subsequent centuries. With each challenge, participants accumulate points to make their city the most prestigious.
At Christmas, puppets at the museum
Friday and Saturday, 27th and 28th December, at 17h. And Sunday 29th December, at 12h.
The cycle of puppets of Christmas already is a Christmas tradition that every year fills with magic the rooms of the MHC. With three sessions in charge of three different theatre companies, young and old will discover three children’s shows full of fantasy and colour, which this year are accompanied by related activities that deal with the theme of children’s illustration.
For this year’s 2024 edition, three very special shows have been selected for family audiences:
– On Friday 27 December we will start with the show La sombra de Pinocchio, a production by Cía La Puntual.
– On Saturday 28 December, the Catalan company Cía Txo Títeres will perform its mythical show Algodón.
– On Sunday 29 December, the Cía Centro de Títeres de Lleida will present its most successful national show Kissu.
Tickets can be purchased through the MHC website, mhcat.cat.
Exhibitions:
Tàpies. Art and Activism
Until 2 February 2025
Explains, through a wide selection of works and unpublished documentary material, the committed attitude that Antoni Tàpies (Barcelona, 1923-2012) showed throughout his career towards different social, ethical and political causes in defence of human rights. Tàpies was a creator committed to the progressive, Catalanist and humanitarian causes of his time. His commitment to the spirit of the avant-garde -utopian and transformative- crystallised during the 1960s in a more direct political action in support of Catalan social and political and anti-Franco movements, such as the Caputxinada, the Cerrada a Montserrat, the Assembly of Catalonia and the PSUC. With the advent of democracy, Tàpies showed his solidarity with internationalist causes – against the war in the Balkans, apartheid or nuclear power stations – and also with campaigns in favour of the defence and promotion of the new democratic Catalonia, which he longed to be cultured, modern and progressive.
Over the last decade, the number of refugees and displaced people in the world is estimated to have doubled. This figure now stands at around 120 million people. The phenomenon of displacement and forced migration is arguably the most serious humanitarian problem of our time.
The 20th century has been the century of refugees, forcibly displaced persons, migrants, exiles, deportees: the losers of all wars. People who have escaped bombings, violence, political persecution or the effects of climate change. People who have crossed borders with the clothes on their backs, who have found international protection and refuge, but also rejection and lack of solidarity. This exhibition is a journey through their history and their present.
First calligram competition in tribute to Joan Salvat-Papasseit
The Museum of the History of Catalonia (MHC), together with the Barceloneta Neighbours’ Association, the Barceloneta Festivities Committee and the schools Joan Salvat-Papasseit Secondary School, the Alexandre Galí School, the Mediterráneo School and La Salle Barceloneta, have organised the first calligram competition in homage to the poet Joan Salvat-Papasseit, to promote literary creation and interest in poetry and narrative.
Last Wednesday 27th November, in the auditorium of the Museum of History of Catalonia, the prize-giving ceremony of the calligram competition took place with a great success of attendance! The winning entries are on display in the MHC’s Agora Space and can be seen until 13 January 2025.
