La Model holds an installation with Francoist housing plaques that had been removed from Barcelona

Action against Franco regime signalling in streets, in Clot (Barcelona, March 27, 1977). Photo: Robert Ramos.
Action against Franco regime signalling in streets, in Clot (Barcelona, March 27, 1977). Photo: Robert Ramos.
Culture
(12/03/2019)

The former prison la Model, in Barcelona, holds the mobile exhibition “Deconstructing Francoism. Symbols of the Dictatorshipp in Barcelona”, promoted by the Memory Programmes Commissioner of the Barcelona City Council and the European Observatory on Memories of the UB Solidarity Foundation (EUROM). The exhibition gathers original pieces and documentation on the Francoist symbols of the city, among which are more than 160 plaques that had been recently removed by the consistory. Also, an interactive cartography allows locating great part of these plates, as well as identifying several places of control and repression, monuments and Francoist gazetteer.

Action against Franco regime signalling in streets, in Clot (Barcelona, March 27, 1977). Photo: Robert Ramos.
Action against Franco regime signalling in streets, in Clot (Barcelona, March 27, 1977). Photo: Robert Ramos.
Culture
12/03/2019

The former prison la Model, in Barcelona, holds the mobile exhibition “Deconstructing Francoism. Symbols of the Dictatorshipp in Barcelona”, promoted by the Memory Programmes Commissioner of the Barcelona City Council and the European Observatory on Memories of the UB Solidarity Foundation (EUROM). The exhibition gathers original pieces and documentation on the Francoist symbols of the city, among which are more than 160 plaques that had been recently removed by the consistory. Also, an interactive cartography allows locating great part of these plates, as well as identifying several places of control and repression, monuments and Francoist gazetteer.

The presentation will take place on Tuesday, March 12, at 6 p.m., with the attendance of the commissioners of the project, Jordi Guixé, director of EUROM, and Núria Ricart, lecturer of Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona, and the Memory Programme Commissioner of the Barcelona City Council, Ricard Vinyes. The exhibition will be open to the public from Friday, March 15, on, to be seen on Fridays, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., until June 15.

The repression of the dictatorship adopted many ways when present in the cities. One of them was the extensive use of Francoist symbols, which sets a hierarchy of territorial control. This was visible in street names, home policies, monuments and especially in control and repression spaces. Many of these elements have disappeared or have been removed or stored. After the “Historical Memory Law” in 2007, dictatorship symbols should have disappeared from public spaces. However, it has not been always the case. The objective of this exhibition is to interpret the real and symbolic Francoist violence without falling into ambiguities about its fascist iconography.

The project is based on Jordi Guixé and Núria Ricartʼs original idea, and is supported by the Barcelona City Councilʼs project Public Art and Memory (HAR2017-84322-P) and the European Commission program Europe for Citizens.