{"id":15138,"date":"2019-01-03T12:46:40","date_gmt":"2019-01-03T12:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/?p=15138"},"modified":"2019-01-03T12:45:18","modified_gmt":"2019-01-03T12:45:18","slug":"liberxina-coordinating-an-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/liberxina-coordinating-an-exhibition\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberxina. Coordinating an exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"
Milena Pi<\/h6>\n

The inauguration of an exhibition sees the conclusion of a series of processes prior to it that increasingly arousing the interest of a restless public. In recent years the cultural institutions have endeavoured to respond to it, visualizing these stages through the graphic and audio-visual recording of assembly work, restoration work, the internal moving of pieces, and so on. In this article I shall present a brief basic overview of the coordination stages<\/strong> of the temporary exhibition Liberxina, Pop and New Artistic Behaviour, 1966-1971<\/em><\/a>, which can be visited until April.<\/p>\n

\"Inaugural<\/a>

Inaugural speech given by \u00c0lex Mitrani and Imma Prieto. Photo: Milena Pi<\/p><\/div>\n

From the idea to the drawing board: the development of the curatorial project<\/h3>\n

How does it all begin? There can be various reasons for putting on an exhibition: celebrating an anniversary, focusing on the results of research work about an artist, a period. Liberxina<\/em> came about when the conservator of Modern and Contemporary Art \u2013 and curator \u2013 \u00c0lex Mitrani and the independent curator Imma Prieto were asked to direct it, in order to begin a new line of work at the Museu Nacional, a series of exhibitions intended to make an analytical interpretation of Catalan post-war art<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It is therefore a documentation and research project.<\/p>\n

From this point on, the team that will work on it can be formed. The project comes to the museum\u2019s Registration and Exhibitions Department and it is entrusted to one of the department\u2019s exhibitions coordinators, who from then on will centralize the project.<\/p>\n

Everyone begins working on the essential part of the exhibition, the list of works<\/strong>. The curators have been researching for over a year, and through visits to artists, consultations of institutions, archives and catalogues, a list is made of the works it is wished to display. The pieces correspond to the narrative account to be transmitted by the exhibition, and which has been included in the curatorial project<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Requesting loans<\/h3>\n

At this first stage good data collection is essential. More and more columns have to be added to the Excel: author, title, year, loaner, address and contact person, telephone, email address, size of the pieces, material, state of conservation, how to be mentioned in the credits, photography, rights. It will all reappear along the way and it is all necessary. Once it is all ready the loan request letters<\/strong> can be prepared.<\/p>\n

In this exhibition there are 100 works, by 41 artists and 47 loaners.<\/p>\n

\"First<\/a>

First works and working documentation. Photo: Milena Pi<\/p><\/div>\n

From the drawing board to the museum space: the museographical project<\/h3>\n

At the same time you have to leave the drawing board and go down to the exhibition room. What space do we have? What architectural features will condition us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\n

\"Designing<\/a>

Designing the space and the elements. Toni Gir\u00f3, TAT_lab<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The designer<\/strong> makes his or her appearance. Their job is to execute the museographical project and design the posters and vinyls. Toni Gir\u00f3 of TAT_lab joins the team, along with Marta Aymar, who is coordinating the graphic production. The result is a document that includes every aspect of the exhibition: the design of the space and the graphics, the construction of structures, the arrangement of the pieces, the measurements, the design of supports, display cabinets and pedestals, specific lighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\n

\"Designing<\/a>

Designing the space and the elements. Toni Gir\u00f3, TAT_lab<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Volume and colour<\/h3>\n

For Liberxina<\/em> the designer and the curators work with three basic colours, red, black and white, and the typography of the sections recalls that of the film by Carlos Duran after which the exhibition is named.<\/p>\n

The biggest difficulty with this stage was the huge variety of formats<\/strong>: original photographs, new photographs on baritated paper, digitally reproduced photographs on closed-cell PVC foamboard, paper, prints, collages, paintings, sculptures, audio-visual, books, and other objects seldom seen in a museum such as vinyl records.<\/p>\n

Determining one by one the way of exhibiting the works while respecting their nature was a real challenge. Would you place a page from a newspaper from 1968 in a wooden frame or an aluminium one? Would you give it a passepartout or not?<\/p>\n

Of course, this work would not be possible without consulting the museum\u2019s Preventive Conservation and Restoration team, who will give us guidance about safeguarding the pieces and determining the best way of exhibiting them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\n

\"Marta<\/a>

Marta Aymar preparing the graphic proof. Photo: Milena Pi<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The countdown: from production to inauguration<\/h3>\n

Three weeks before the inauguration of Liberxina<\/em>, the focus moves from the office to the exhibition room and to the loading bay. Good footwear, a lot of pockets, measuring tape and a telephone in your hand is the essential kit for initiating the production stage. External teams of professionals begin to take part and the coordination of the schedule (Gantt chart<\/a>) must be precise.<\/p>\n

\"Structures<\/a>

Structures being assembled. Photo: Milena Pi<\/p><\/div>\n