Hall F of the former Fabra i Coats factory in Sant Andreu will become the MUHBA Fabra i Coats, the Barcelona Labour Museum. The works are at a very advanced stage, and on Saturday 25 March there will be an open day – entitled Open for works – so that all those who wish can get to know this new headquarters of the Museum of the History of Barcelona (MUHBA). There will also be two exhibitions opening on the same day: Fabra & Coats. Company and Work, on the evolution and complexity of the forms of industrial work in Barcelona based on the case of Fabra i Coats, and Fabricar, which looks at the fact that the Catalan capital was the only European city to take part in both the medieval mercantile revolution and the industrial revolution. Both exhibitions are pilot tests of two of the fifteen areas that will make up the future exhibition as a whole.

The design and conception of the MUHBA Fabra i Coats was the result of a long process involving the MUHBA and the District of Sant Andreu, memorial organisations such as the Association of Friends of the Fabra i Coats, the Maquinista-Macosa Foundation, former Pegaso staff, the Ignasi Iglesias Study Centre and the Bon Pastor Neighbours’ Association. The project incorporates the archives and objects from the remarkable collection donated to the city by the Association of Friends of Fabra i Coats.

The open day will begin at 11.30 am and visitors will be able to visit Hall F and also the boiler room: the recovery of the latter is, both for its size and for the documentation relating to its history, an important contribution that allows us to advance in the knowledge of the evolution and functions of these facilities.

Renovation of the MUHBA Santa Caterina

The open day is not the only news about the MUHBA these days, in a very intense year for this facility. On Monday 27 March, at 11.30 am, the museum renovation of the MUHBA Santa Caterina will be presented, a complete refurbishment carried out with funding from the Ciutat Vella District and the collaboration of the Municipal Markets Institute.

Based on the archaeological remains on the site, original pieces from the old convent preserved in the MUHBA collection, and pieces provided by the Santa Caterina monks themselves, large images and relevant audiovisuals, the new museography begins by explaining the revolution in medieval monasticism that led to the emergence of the mendicant orders in the 13th century. It also explains that the site freed up by the demolition of the convent of Santa Caterina facilitated the construction of the city’s first covered municipal market, which began in 1840. The two centuries of active life that the market has already accumulated are explained through the exhibition of objects and photographs provided in part by the stallholders themselves. The new museographic narrative ends with an explanation of the municipal commitment to transform the Santa Caterina Market into a new monument of Barcelona’s city centre, providing it with the spectacular roof designed by the architectural studio EMTB, led by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tabliabue.

The House of History of Barcelona

And on the afternoon of Wednesday 29 March, the MUHBA Casa Padellàs, the House of History of Barcelona will be inaugurated as a meeting point for telling the history of the city, analysing the present and imagining the future. On the ground floor is the Agora Museum, an open public space for information about the city; on the first and second floors, an exhibition of questioning synthesis about Barcelona; and on the top floor, the Centre for Research, Documentation and Debate.

The event on the 29th will begin at 7 pm with a presentation in the street, followed by a free visit, and will end with talks in the courtyard and music.

More information about the MUHBA here.