By MDO/PE
the cultural space CenterCenter opens this Thursday to the public ‘Underground and counterculture in Catalonia in the 70’s’an exhibition that offers an exhaustive look at the protagonists and the social and cultural movements of this period through more than 700 posters or illustrations. Will be available until February 12, 2023, with free admission.
The exhibition brings together more than 700 pieces, publications, posters, photography, comics, videos, poetry, music, scenery, biographies, among others. The tour begins with the arrival of the new countercultural currents from California, London and Amsterdam, from mid 1960s.
Co-produced with Palau Robert of Barcelonaa cultural institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the exhibition could be seen there in 2021, where it received more than 65,000 visitors. The exhibition has been conceived and curated by Pepe Ribasco-founder of the magazine ‘Ajoblanco’ and author, among others, of ‘Los 70 a destajo’, with the collaboration of Canti Casanovas, promoter of the digital la web sense nom, both actors and eyewitnesses to the emergence of the Catalan underground.
The museographic design of the exhibition is by the architect and winner of the National Design Award Daniel Freixeshas indicated the cultural center in a statement.
The delegate of the area of Culture, Tourism and Sport, Andrea Levihas highlighted that this exhibition is “the best example of collaboration between institutions from different parts of Spain” and that it allows, in turn, to bring culture closer in a “accessible and pleasant”.
Communes, feminism, ecology or avant-garde
Through different thematic spaces, the exhibition documents the irruption of the communes, feminism, psychedelia, ecology, spirituality, music and avant-garde arts, among many other references. It stops at places like Casa Fullá, Instant City, the Canet Rock festival, Casal de la Floresta and Barcelona’s Ramblas, the streets of Chinatown and El Born, where the counterculture was lived in the street.
Comics and fanzines They occupy a special section -with original drawings by Nazario and Mariscal, among others-, as do the counterculture magazines ‘Star’ and ‘Ajoblanco’. A immersive exhibition design takes the visitor back to the 70s, with the recreation of some of those scenarios such as the hall of a hippy commune and the Zeleste room, and a soundtrack with themes by Bowie, Rolling Stones, Smash, Pau Riba and Kraftwerk.
“Those were times of overflowing creativity, no tax fees, lived outside perks, parties and institutions. There was a vital need for escape from the clutches of any authoritarianism in times of rock and roll, psychedelia, counterculture and May 68. Imagination and enthusiasm overflowed the walls, populated the streets and freed minds”, explained Ribas.
To this, he has added that spaces were born, independent theater was revolutionized, art joined life and “many traded the authoritarian family for the commune and a free sexuality.” “Collectives were born in favor of feminism, homosexual rights, ecology, organic farming, conscientious objection and the decriminalization of drugs”, he underlined.
“This exhibition is a memory exercise of transcendental events, but little studied”, the commissioner assured.
Completing the exhibition, the Blanquerna Cultural Center-Library hosts the installation ‘Soundtrack. Notes and letters’, which brings together the music and musicians who accompanied the events that take place in CentroCentro in the 1970s. Created by Pepe Ribas, Canti Casanovas and Dani Freixes, it wants to reflect talent, intensity and commitment that helped transform a reality.