Barcelona’s municipal museums are extending their offerings this summer with dozens of cultural activities for a diverse range of audiences
The Sala Barcelona, concerts in Park Güell and at the Pedralbes Monastery, visits for discovering the city's history and screenings of thrillers and documentaries are just a few of the offerings you can enjoy from now to September.
Barcelona’s municipal museums and cultural facilities are kicking off the summer season with tonnes of activities which, with the health alert gradually subsiding and taking prevention protocols into account at all times, will include a whole host of proposals at various venues, reviving the city's characteristic cultural dynamism.
A programme from the Barcelona Institute of Culture which invites the public to enjoy, once again, the city’s museums and cultural facilities, exhibitions, guided tours and film screenings and which includes dozens of music performances, with a very varied line-up aimed at reaching a truly diverse public.
Music and words in unique surroundings
One of the main music options this summer is Sala Barcelona, at Montjuïc Castle. The ICUB and Catalan Concert Halls Association have joined forces to bring back outdoor concerts and support the concert halls worst hit by the crisis. They will be offering over 60 concerts, from 2 July to 30 August, at affordable prices and featuring big names such as Clara Peya, Hydrogenesse, Joana Serrat & The Great Canyoners and the Fundación Tony Manero, among many others.
The Museu d’Història de Barcelona (MUHBA) is offering music soirées at Park Güell, with a fascinating mixture of modernism and guitar. On 3 July, “Classical guitar” with Àlex Garrobé; on 10 July “Mediterranean and flamenco guitar”, with Marco Mezquida, Chicuelo and Paco de Mode; on 17 July, “Hybrid guitar”, with the Pyrophorus Guitar Duo; and on 24 July, “Guitar and manouche jazz”, performed by the jazz quintet led by Albert Bello. All the concerts are free but places need to be booked in advance.
“Barcelona Words and Sounds: a literary journey to Vil·la Joana”, on 16 July, is another offering from the MUHBA. A passage through literary narratives with musical counterpoint – from Brossa, Verdaguer, Salvat-Papasseit and many others – that have constructed the imaginary of contemporary Barcelona, with texts chosen and read out by actress and rhapsodist, Gemma Sangerman, accompanied by Oriol Romaní on the clarinet.
In addition, Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedralbes, with its unrivalled medieval surroundings, will resume its Music Soirées during the four weekends of August. On 6 August, “Euterpe: the woman, her music” and “Hirundo Maris: 'Lux Feminae’”; on 13 August “Beethoven Sonatas”; on 20 August, “Al cau de les paraules”; and, on 27 August, the final event will be “Reines”.
Museums, exhibitions and guided tours
The Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria opens its “Born de nit 2020”series of guided tours. On Wednesdays in July and August, the offering is “Dance and music in the Barcelona of 1700”; on Tuesdays in July, August and September you will be able to take part in “El mercat del Born. La forja d’un nou món” [The Born market: the forging of a new world]; and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from July to September too, you can visit “Perich. Humor amb ulls de gat”; [Perich. Comedy through cat's eyes] and on Thursdays, from July to September, you can discover “La ciutat del Born en 7 històries” [The city of El Born in 7 stories]. Likewise, every Friday up to September, the “Rec, Ribera, Born Una ruta pel 1700” [Rec, Ribera, Born. A route through 1700] guided tour will resume.
As part of “La ciutat i el Park” [The city and the Park], the MUHBA is offering guided tours and itineraries for learning more about Park Güell. On 19 July, “El Park Güell i Barcelona”, on 26 July and on 13 September “Gràcia 1900. L’aparador burgès d’un barri obrer” [Gràcia 1900. A bourgeois showcase of a working-class neighbourhood]; On 1 August and on 19 September, “Barcelona 1902: urbanitzar la muntanya pelada” [Barcelona 1902: urbanising Muntanya Pelada]; on 29 July, 26 August and 2 September, “La primera balconada de Barcelona. El creixement de la ciutat vist des dels Tres Turons” [Barcelona's first row of balconies. The growth of the city seen from the Three Hills].
In addition, the MUHBA has also planned to resume in August its tours and itineraries for discovering the city’s past. The programme will be very varied: “Un refugi per a tothom. Solidaritat en temps de guerra” [A shelter for everyone. Solidarity in times of war], “Barcino/BCN”, “Quan el Call era el call dels jueus” [When the Jewish quarter was the quarter of the Jews], “La formació d'una capital. La ciutat medieval” [The creation of a capital. The medieval city], “Raó, passió i negoci en la construcció de l'Eixample” [Reason, passion and business in the construction of Eixample], “L'obertura de la Via Laietana i la creació del barri Gòtic” [The opening of the Via Laietana and the creation of the Gòtic neighbourhood], “Tothom al carrer! La lluita per les llibertats a la Barcelona de la transició (1976-1979)” [Everyone out on the street! The fight from freedoms in Barcelona during the transition], “La casa de l'aigua de la Trinitat. Conductes, dipòsits i comportes” [The Trinitat water house. Pipes, tanks and sluices], “Dins i fora muralles: poder, higiene i comerç a Barcino” [Inside and outside walls: power, hygiene and commerce in Barcino], “L’habitatge a Barcino” [Housing in Barcino], “Barcelona flashback” and “Altures i senderes. Verdaguer i Maragall diuen Barcelona”.
Meanwhile, you can visit the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona and enjoy three of its permanent exhibitions: “Del món al Museu” [From world to museum] featuring items designed or produced in Spain from the start of the 20th century to today; “Extraordinàries!”, which lets you travel through decorative and craft art collections from the 3rd to the 20th centuries; and “Dissenyes o treballes? La nova comunicació visual” [Do you design or work? The new visual communication], with a selection of the most outstanding graphic and visual design pieces from 1980 to 2003. The Museu del Disseny also allows free visits, up to 13 September, to an exhibition on at the Centre d’Artesania Catalunya, entitled “Rajoles i oficis. Propostes artesanes contemporànies” [Tiles and crafts. Contemporary artisan proposals].
The Fabra i Coats: Centre d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona i Fàbrica de Creació offers immersive experiences with dialogue in its exhibitions: tours of “Succeeix cada dia” [It happens every day], on 8 July with Joana Roda and on 9 September with Joana Hurtado; and tours of “La biblioteca infinita” [The infinite library], on 22 July with Anna Pahissa and on 17 September with Enric Farrés Duran.
And the Museu Frederic Marés will also be resuming its guided tours. On 11 July, with a tour through “Les obres mestres del Museu Frederic Marès” [The masterpieces of the Museu Frederic Marès]; on 18 with the opening of the “Objectes insòlits del Gabinet del Col·leccionista” [Unusual items from the Collector’s Cabinet]; and, to conclude the month, on 25 July, a stroll through “Un Museu de novel·la” [A Novel Museum], which is rounded off with a self-guided “D’auca en auca i tiro perquè em toca!” workshop tour.
Thriller and documentary films for reflection
The MUHBA is offering the public a chance to see “Barcelona Criminal” online and for free, a series of films observing Barcelona through the prism of the thriller genre. It features three films: Francisco Rovira Beleta's “Los atracadores”, on 16 July; Vicente Aranda's “Fata Morgana”, on 23 July; and Cayetano del Real's “La Cripta”, on 30 July. Screenings will be accessible through the MUHBA website.
And the Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món offers a new edition of its Docs Noctàmbuls [Night-time documentaries]. Films that invite reflection on the body, beliefs and rituals. The July offerings will be: on 3 July, Roger Canals’ “Els caçadors d’ombres” and “El vent i les paraules”; on 10 July, Olatz González Abrisketa's “Carmen” and Christian Suhr’s “Descending with angels”; on 17 July, “La festa de l’Os de Prats de Molló” from the La Xarxa and Ricardo Íscar's “Dansa dels esperits”; concluding, on 24 July, with Federico Varrasso's “L’épaisseur des murs” and Belén Maldonado's “El muerto hace al santo”.
For further information you can visit the Barcelona Cultura website and the Summer 2020 in Barcelona website.