The magic of cinema at the Historic Building of the UB
The exhibition “Lʼexperiència màgica del cinema” can be visited at the main entrance hall of the Historic Building from 15 October to 17 December. The exhibition shows a selection of devices and tools which describe the technological evolution of the seventh art, from its beginnings, with shadow performances, to the first cinematograph, created by Lumière brothers in 1895. Exhibited items are part of the Col·lection Josep M. Queraltó.
The exhibition “Lʼexperiència màgica del cinema” can be visited at the main entrance hall of the Historic Building from 15 October to 17 December. The exhibition shows a selection of devices and tools which describe the technological evolution of the seventh art, from its beginnings, with shadow performances, to the first cinematograph, created by Lumière brothers in 1895. Exhibited items are part of the Col·lection Josep M. Queraltó.
A British camera obscura from 1830 can be observed. It is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. It was used in drawing and for entertainment, and was one of the inventions that led to photography. Its ephemeral images did not stay forever, but they are the basis of photography and cinema techniques. The device consists of a box or room with a hole in one side. Light from an external scene passes through the hole and strikes a surface inside, where it is reproduced, with colour and perspective preserved. The image can be projected onto paper, and can then be traced to produce a highly accurate representation.
An Italian megalethoscope from 1864 is included too. It is an optical device invented between 1859 and 1862 by the photographer and optician Carlo Ponti. This big device allows the viewer to look at an image in two ways. First, a daylight scene can be viewed by opening the doors and letting a series of mirrors direct the light onto the front of the slide. The second view is achieved by closing the doors to the scope and directing light through the back of the slide, producing a night view. This marvellous effect is achieved by painting the back of a photograph, which is then adhered to a curved wooden frame. The photograph is also pierced through in places to create the illusion of lights in the scene.
Other devices included in the exhibition are: a diorama from the first half of the 19th century, a zoetrope from 1867, a praxinoscope from 1879, and a magic lantern from 1890.
Josep M. Queraltó was born in 1937 in Vallbona de les Monges (Lleida). When he was a teenager, he helped his father working the land and at weekends he worked at the cinema in Vallobona, like Philippe Noiret on the film Cinema Paradiso, which is one of his favourites. Self-taught and willing to learn, he attended a distance radio course at Ràdio Maymó, in Barcelona. Then, he began to earn a living by fixing radios and electrical household appliances in Vallbona. His little business grew and he began to produce his own radios. He opened some branch offices in several surrounding villages and towns. In 1958, he moved to Barcelona. In 1974, he founded, together with two partners, Suministros Kelonik, a company devoted to produce cinema devices. He has collected about 20,000 objects related to cinema technique for thirty-five years; it is one of the most important cinema and audiovisual collections in Europe.
Queraltó is the president of the Fundació Aula de Cinema Col·lecció Josep M. Queraltó, member of the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and honorary member of the Catalan Cinema Academy.
The exhibition is organised by Fundació Aula de Cinema Col·lecció Josep M. Queraltó, and supported by the Office of the Vice-Rector for Institutional Relations and Culture of the UB and the Film-History Research Centre. Publicacions i Edicions of the UB has edited a 92-page catalogue that presents the exhibition, describes the origins of the seventh art and shows the devices exhibited at the main entrance hall.
Opening hours: Monday-Friday, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Entrance is free.