CITINERARY: Montjuïc & Miró, Barcelona

I am located in the former Palace of Graphic Arts built in Montjuïc for the 1929 World’s Fair. The permanent exhibits illustrate the evolution of Catalonia and its environment during Prehistory and Ancient History. The collections are organized based on chronological and geographic criteria, and offer visitors a journey to the origins of Catalonia, from the first inhabitants until the Middle Ages providing also a vision of different related cultures from other areas of the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean.

This exhibition reconstructs the creative process behind Miró’s book based on a collection of poems by Paul Éluard. The layout and execution of À toute épreuve is a reflection of Miró’s connection with the poets of the 1920s, which led to major transformations in his visual language. With this book, published by Gérald Cramer in 1958, Miró fulfilled his wish to venture beyond illustrating the poet’s words and end up creating an object.

Valuable 12th – century manuscript page stolen from the Palau Nacional of Montjuïc, constructed for the International Exposition of 1929. In 1934 the Museu d’Art de Catalunya opened its doors, bringing together the medieval collection. In 1995, then as the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, the new rooms of Romanesque art were inaugurated. The page was cut from a medieval manuscript magnificently illustrated with all sorts of animals. How to play:
- Go to the Romanesque Art Collections
- Follow the clues and search the exhibition rooms for the 16 animals painted on the missing page
- Interpret the coded mobile message to find out the page

Barcelona’s biggest ornamental fountain that Carles Buïgas designed to embellish the entrance to Montjuïc, which was built in 1929 for the International Exhibition, offers a spectacular display of music, water acrobatics and lights which generate over 50 kinds of shades and hues.

This large park with lots of open space is also known as the Parc l’Escorxador (so named because it stands on the site of the old municipal slaughterhouse: escorxador in Catalan). In 1979, Barcelona began dismantling its old municipal slaughterhouse. The result was the first large urban park of the post-Franco Barcelona: a city which sought to renew itself and instinctively knew that it was necessary to undertake planning projects that would address new social needs and bring about the renovation of obsolete sites for new uses. It is the site of Joan Miró’s 22-metre-high monumental sculpture Dona i Ocell (Woman and Bird). Like the park, it was dedicated in 1983, shortly before the artist’s death. There is a public library on the other side of the park, which is named after Joan Miró.

Located in the Eixample, just in front of the Ninot Market, the premises are surprising due to their design. Respect for the history and legacy of the Mediterranean are the inspiration and ceramic is the common theme marking the interior. The entrance area is inspired by Barcelona, by the wrought iron of the Ninot Market and the colors of Mironian ceramics. The central corridor, made from ceramic with the colours and textures of clay, goes through the kitchen which is completely visible to clients and leads to the main dining room. This is inspired by small fishing villages and stands out as a bright, white space, that transports one outside the city and connects with the terrace; a nod to Compartir.

ADRESSES

Passeig de Santa Madrona, 39-41, Parc de Montjuïc

Parc de Montjuïc

Palau Nacional, Parc de Montjuïc

Plaça de Carles Buïgas, 1

Carrer d’Aragó, 2

c/Villarroel, 163

MAP

PDF: Barcelona Montjuïc & Miró