“Post-war Barcelona, 1939-1945”, in the Arxiu Fotogràfic (Municipal Photographic Archive)

From the 19th of April until the 28th of September it will be possible to visit the central office of the municipal photographic archives of the La Ribera district, where there is an extensive exhibition of photographs dealing with the post-war era in the city. The photos, many of them taken by Carlos Pérez de Rozas, reflect one of the most difficult periods of Barcelona’s recent, and not so recent, history.
 

In January, 1936, the entrance of nationalist troops into the city gave way to a period of great suffering in which all democratic, republican and Catalan independence symbols which, to a certain extent, characterised the period prior to the occupation, were removed from the city. This totalitarian imposition which, for example, introduced the new religious calendar and the altogether repressive political iconography with strong connections with both Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, was to provoke both tension and contrasts, neither of which escaped the critical eye of the photo-journalists of the time. It should not be forgotten that this period coincided with the advent of World War II.
 

The project, furthermore, will be complemented with the publishing of a book as well as other activities designed to keep alive the historical memory of an era that has not always been thoroughly documented.