Documentary exhibition. The show maps out a journey around places of literary exile (1939-1975), mainly Catalan, in the form of the testimonies of the writers. It brings us face to face with the experiences of these exiles in a Europe that was shaken by World War II and reconstructs the relation with the host countries on the other side of the Atlantic.
Documentary exhibition
Curated by Julià Guillamon, Joaquim Jordà and Francesc Abad.
When the civil war was lost, in 1939, hundreds of intellectuals and writers crossed the border and set out on the road to exile. Their initial destination was France, the starting point for the diaspora that was to take them to the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Chile, Switzerland, England or the United States.
This exhibition maps out a journey around places of literary exile (1939-1975), mainly Catalan, in the form of the testimonies of the writers themselves, by means of their literary production and their personal experiences and stories: the disappearance of a world that enforced decisions and the creation of strategies of survival—and also an opening up to new horizons that was to take the form of a great many cultural initiatives.
The exhibition ‘Literatures of Exile’ brings us face to face with the experiences of these exiles in a Europe that was shaken by World War II and reconstructs the relation with the host countries on the other side of the Atlantic in an experience that brought Catalan literature into direct contact with the big issues of original identity, of ‘the other’ and life in big contemporary metropolises.
This exhibition will relate, in the present tense, the memories deposited at the various points of the journey. Each of these places was also a venue for decisive meetings between writers from different parts of Spain and close relations with other European exiles. The exhibition will deal with these nucleuses of agitation and the variety and difficulties of settling.
From a formal viewpoint, the exhibition not only includes written, photographic and filmic documentary material, but also genuine contributions from the present day to help follow the steps of this exile.
Curators: Julià Guillamon, Joaquim Jordà and Francesc Abad
Production: Centre de Cultura Contemporà nia de Barcelona (CCCB) and SEACEX.
Other presentations: The exhibition will also be presented in Mexico City, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires and perhaps Montevideo.
Opening: 5 october
CCCB - Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona
Montalegre 5 - Barcelona
Winter opening times (22 September to 20 June)
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 11am to 2 pm and 4 pm to 8 pm
Wednesday and Saturday: 11 am to 8 pm; Sunday and public holidays: 11 am to 7 pm.