This 2021 we are recovering a large number of cultural events, which had been canceled and reduced to their minimum expression during the past year. One of the most outstanding is the Night of the Museums, where the temples of art open their doors for free to anyone who wants to enjoy, not only the permanent collections and temporary exhibitions, but a whole series of activities specially designed to do during that night.
Since 1977, ICOM (International Council of Museums) organizes on May 18 the International Museum Day with the aim of raising awareness of the fact that they are an important means for cultural exchange, the enrichment of cultures, as well as for the development of mutual understanding, collaboration and peace among peoples.
Around this date, various events are held worldwide, among them the Night of the Museums, organized for the first time in 1997 in the city of Berlin, where a dozen institutions participated in the event. But the initiative took on a more institutional character thanks to the French Ministry of Culture and the Council of Europe, who in 2005 brought together more than 4,000 museums to celebrate that night. Since then, the number of cities and art centers that have joined the celebration has not stopped growing year after year, and Barcelona is a clear example of this, being an active part since 2006.
The temples of art open their doors for free to anyone who wants to enjoy75 facilities in up to eight cities in the metropolitan area will remain open from mid-afternoon until well into the night, so that we can enjoy the heritage spaces and activities of various kinds and designed for all ages. The theme of this year's International Museum Day is "the future of museums: recover and re-imagine", and the proposals offered that night will revolve around that idea. Create, imagine, and share new practices of value (co)creation, new business models for cultural institutions and innovative solutions for current social, economic and environmental challenges.
Activities for that night will range from guided tours to workshops, clue games, an escape room, a gymkhana, contests, and concerts or poetry, dance and theater shows, which will require prior reservation to access. In addition, four new facilities are joining, such as Can Fontanet in the Sant Andreu neighborhood of Barcelona; the Casa de l'Heura in Badalona; the Castell i Museu Palau Mercader in Cornellà, and the TPK of the Tecla Sala Art Center in L'Hospitalet is rejoining.
As for the most outstanding exhibitions, it seems that this year the major facilities have agreed and we will be able to do thematic circuits such as the retrospectives offered by MACBA, Política de relación about Félix González-Torres, and La Virreina, La violencia ilustrada about Nanni Balestrini ---the latter, moreover, also related to the Barcelona Poesía festival---, and the exhibition Por una educación en libertad that we will find in the Born, all of them about ways of seeing and living dissidence and commitment.
At the MNAC we will find La guerra infinita which can also be linked to Imágenes encontradas. La Barcelona marítima de posguerra, from the Maritime Museum. And another circuit, urban this time, would take us from the Sant Pau Modernist Enclosure and its artistic installation proposal El jardín de las delicias, conceived by Anna Rierola, to the ephemeral urban forest, the artistic intervention by Zosen Bandido and Mina Hamada that we will enjoy in La Pedrera.
As an exclusive novelty this year, two activities have been organized by the artists themselves, creators of the installations, one at the Fabra i Coats Art Center by Martí Anson and his Una exposición de verdad, and the other at the Tàpies Foundation by Anna Dot and her Quien del rayo habla, cerca la cae.
We cannot forget about The American Dream. Pop Today, at CaixaForum, nor Mars. The Red Mirror, at the CCCB, nor other centers such as the Historical Archive of the City and the Photographic Archive, the Museum of the Theater Institute, the Museum of Natural Sciences, CosmoCaixa, the Center for Contemporary Art at Fabra i Coats, among others. Facilities such as the Arús Public Library, the Torre de las Aguas del Besòs, the Firefighters' Space - Barcelona Prevention Park, or the Montjuïc Cemetery, where we can visit the Collection of Funeral Carriages, one of the few publicly displayed in Europe, also open their doors.
Activities for that night will require prior reservation to accessLet's take advantage of the great opportunity offered by this new Night of the Museums, which starts at 6 p.m. and will last until 9 p.m., to enjoy a new way of visiting cultural facilities, not only in Barcelona, but also in Badalona, Cornellà, Esplugues, L'Hospitalet, Sant Adrià, Sant Joan Despí and Santa Coloma.
Art, history, memory, science, heritage, beauty, sport, nature, music, theater, dance and poetry will come together in the renewed exhibition offer for that night, adding some interactive activities. And all this will be possible thanks to special conditions to guarantee safety during visits or the need in many cases to make prior reservations for access. For this reason, it is recommended to consult the program and the particular circumstances of each space. All updated information is on the website www.barcelona.cat/lanitdelsmuseus/.