The exhibition is structured in three parts:
1. The Catalan Culture Today
2. Eight centuries of Catalan language and literature
3. The Catalan publishing industry
The exhibition will present:
-4 pieces of creative cinema
-30 interviews with writers
-more than 150 incunabulae and original books
-some fifteen manuscripts and original pieces
-more than 300 photographic reproductions and audiovisual documents
-a wide range of books selected for the Frankfurt Buchmesse
Estimated time needed to visit:
-40 minutes -1 hour
Virtual presentation.
1. The Catalan Culture Today
A portrait of the Catalan cultural reality of today as seen in two audiovisual spaces: "Four contemporary glances" and "The living word"
In "Four contemporary glances", 4 filmmakers give us their vision:
Maria Ripoll speaks of Contemporary identities
Cesc Gay of Cities and modernity
Marc Recha of Landscape and memory
Isaki Lacuesta of the Gesture of the artist
In "The living word", the following writers explain their relationship with writing and with the Catalan language:
Baltasar Porcel, Pere Gimferrer, Joan Francesc Mira, Narc�s Comadira, Quim Monz�, Carme Riera, Francesc Ser�s, Joan Margarit, Sergi P�mies, Imma Mons�, Jaume Cabr�, Feliu Formosa, Biel Mesquida, Josep M. Fonalleras, Enric Casassas, Josep M. Espin�s, Merc� Ibarz, are some of the interviewees. Writers from other literary traditions also speak about Catalan literature, including Juan Goytisolo, Jorge Sempr�n, Colm T�ib�n, Tahar Ben Jelloun.
2. Eight centuries of Catalan language and literature
This section offers a brief synthetic vision of Catalan as one of the founding languages of Europe.
10 display cabinets contain some of the most important books in our history. These books are set in context by other related objects or works of art, with photographs or film documents.
Sections:
1.The Catalan language
Eight centuries of a Romance language
2.The middle ages
One of the great literatures of Europe
3.The dark ages
Centuries of literary decline but of a living popular language
4.The Renaixen�a (the Catalan Renaissance) and Modernism
The return of great literature and the ambition of modernity
5. Noucentisme and the Avant-gardes
Norms and experimentation in language and forms
6. The civil war
The persistence of a culture in struggle
7. Exile
Literature as homeland
8. Internal exile
Persecution, resistance and survival
9. Towards normality
Writing as a way of re-creating identity
10. A living literature
Diverse contemporary genres and forms
11.An open culture
Translation as constant enrichment
3. The Catalan publishing industry
The aim of this space is to show that the Catalan publishing industry has played an important role in the world of books since the invention of the printing press.
The exhibition will show the extraordinary development of publishing in Catalonia through the display of original books and photographic reproductions.
1. The oldest publishing house in Europe
Montserrat Abbey. The 15th and 16th centuries
2. The printing of Don Quijote
Quijote and Tirant as bestsellers. 17th and 18th centuries
3. The adventure of industrialisation
L'Espasa. Publishing in the 19th century. The rebirth of Catalan publishing
4. The phenomenon of the Day of the Book
Publishing in the first third of the 20th century, the Republic and Civil War
5. The post-war period: difficult years
Post-war publishing. Censorship. Literary Prizes
6. The spirit of the '60s
The Latin American Boom. The setting up of new publishing houses
7. Diversity of the sector
Science, music, comics, etc. Large groups and small publishers
8. Catalan publishing in the era of globalisation
Internationalisation of the Catalan novel