Barcelona Metropolis

Anniversaries are an opportunity to celebrate, take stock and reflect on the journey so far. The exhibition Poetry Has Just Begun. 50 Years of the Miró, curated by blanca arias, Martina Millà and Ramon Balcells, marks this anniversary in a spirit more celebratory than critical, taking its cue from a line of verse by Joan Maragall.

Fifty years ago, an opening without ceremony or Francoist officials foreshadowed, from the heights of Montjuïc, the democratic Barcelona that longed to move beyond an endless dictatorship. On 10 June 1975, it was not a Miró Museum that opened its doors, but a Centre for Contemporary Art Studies (CEAC). In an article in the Montserrat-based magazine Serra d’Or, Alexandre Cirici Pellicer described it as drawing “the boundary between ossified institutions and living ones”: pluralism, self-management of activities, openness to youth, continuous debate, criticism, self-criticism and a total absence of dogma. The research space – its mistakes and successes – shaped those feverish early years, during which the cultural centre served as a contemporary art museum, film archive, concert hall, theatre, circus venue, poetry space, neighbourhood hub and laboratory of ideas…

The first sections of the exhibition have been conceived by artists connected to the Fundació. Lúa Coderch recovers documents overlooked by art historiography, such as newspaper clippings on ADLAN’s activities, collected by Adelita Lobo. Anna Moreno recreates a large mural of information, inspired by the one featured in the 1969 Miró otro (The Other Miró) exhibition at the Col·legi d’Arquitectes. Alongside the major 1968 show at the chapel of Santa Creu, it marked Miró’s reconciliation with Barcelona – still hurt by the ridicule his debut exhibition received at the Sala Dalmau in 1918. Half a century later, the idea of creating a Miró foundation began to take shape. Miró had turned 75, and the French Minister of Culture, André Malraux – having secured a major donation from Picasso – was now hoping to win over Miró. The Catalan artist, always advised by Prats, was finally gaining recognition in his homeland and wanted to establish a centre for experimental art in Barcelona. He would donate a substantial part of his work; Sert would waive his professional fees; and Prats would contribute both his drive and the paintings the artist had given him. Prats was even able to see the building model from his hospital bed before he died.

A multifaceted story

Room 18, featuring an intervention by Àngels Ribé, displays posters from exhibitions held during the 1970s and 1980s. The presentation spills over the walls, emphasising the physicality of the materials and evoking a sense of Mediterranean identity through green shutters. In Room 19, Antonio Ortega presents installations reminiscent of poster stands: collages from different archives – for example, Jordi Pujol shaking hands with Eduardo Chillida, with Duchamp’s name beneath. This period, from the 1980s through to 2008, is characterised by a gradual institutionalisation, a shift in programming and a move from politically engaged art to blockbuster exhibitions and polysemic content. The economic crisis hit in 2008, but artists and collaborative networks continued to function beyond the institutions, exploring all kinds of formats.