Vinseum inaugurates this Thursday, August 27, at 7 PM its new temporary exhibition, titled ‘Vilafranca 1926: The Embryo of Modernity?’. The exhibition, which can be visited until February 14, 2027, at the Capella de Sant Pelegrí, commemorates the centenary of the first Art Exhibition of Penedès.
Curated by writer and audiovisual creator Pep Antoni Roig, and with Martí Vallès Reyes as documentarian, the project aims to pose questions about the impact of the 1926 exhibition on the cultural life of the Penedès region. It examines the context of its creation, its protagonists, the concept of Penedès at the time, and, crucially, the cultural legacy that enabled the founding of a museum in Vilafranca.
Through these questions, the exhibition invites reflection on the significance of cultural projects developed in Penedès over the last century, including initiatives such as magazines (hèlix!), festivals (the Kinzena Poètika), the Cineclub Vilafranca, musical groups like Inadaptats, fanzines like Celobert, among many other proposals.
The exhibition's itinerary focuses on the year 1926 but also explores the periods before and after. Finally, it invites visitors to participate in a referendum with two ballots to answer the exhibition's title question: whether Vilafranca is modern or traditional.
The exhibition features a selection of original works, documents, and objects from the 1926 exhibition, such as a painting by Alexandre de Cabanyes, a carving by Pere Jou, the original promotional materials for the event, and a baroque carving of Sant Fèlix. It also includes works by artists featured in the 1926 catalog, like Miquel Utrillo and Joaquim Mir, as well as pieces illustrating cultural precedents, including a copy of L’Auca del senyor Esteve, the poster for the Festa Major de Vilafranca of 1907, a forging from the Cau Ferrat in Sitges, a painting by Santiago Rusiñol, a portrait of Víctor Balaguer, and a photograph of Pau Casals.
The exhibited funds come from Vinseum, the Arxiu Comarcal de l’Alt Penedès, the Arxiu Comarcal del Baix Penedès, the Arxiu Històric de Sitges, the Arxiu Municipal de Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, the Biblioteca Museu Víctor Balaguer in Vilanova i la Geltrú, the Biblioteca Santiago Rusiñol in Sitges, the Consorci de Patrimoni de Sitges, and the Museu Pau Casals in El Vendrell, among others. Vilafranca entities also collaborate.
With this exhibition, Vinseum continues its work of researching and disseminating local history, honoring the precursors of the initiative that was key to the museum's founding. A series of parallel activities have been scheduled, including a seminar, a round table, guided tours with documentarian Martí Vallès and curator Pep Antoni Roig, and a theatrical reading, to delve into the impact of this pioneering exhibition.
