Catalan museums offer free entry and special events for Night of Museums

Museums across Catalonia are offering free entry and special activities this weekend for the Night of Museums, which precedes International Museum Day on 18 May. Many venues will open outside regular hours, providing workshops, concerts, performances, screenings, and guided tours.

In Ceret, Vallespir, the Museum of Modern Art will celebrate on 23 May from 6pm to 10pm. Visitors can access the permanent collection for free, see the "Mimosa" exhibition by Hippolyte Hentgen, and view student work based on Shirley Jaffe's art. Guided tours of "Les quarts d'oeuvre" will run every half hour from 7pm to 8:30pm.

The Aran Valley Museum will offer free entry from 7pm to 10pm. The exhibition "At home or at the clinic. Medicine and childhood in Aran" will be on display, highlighting key moments in the valley's health history. The museum will also be open during the day from 10am to 1:30pm and from 5pm to 10pm.

Girona and Peralada Open Doors

The Girona History Museum will join the celebration on Sunday, 17 May, from 9:30am to 9pm. Free access will be given to temporary exhibitions "Volaverunt. Goya's engravings from a contemporary perspective" and "Criticism and Commitment" by Vicenç Huedo. Floral installations throughout the building will coincide with the "Girona, Temps de Flors" festival.

In Peralada, Alt Empordà, the Vila Museum and Romanesque Cloister will open from 10am to 2pm and 3pm to 6pm. A key feature is the 12th-century Romanesque Cloister of Sant Domènec, the only remaining part of an Augustinian monastery founded in the second half of the 11th century.

Barcelona's Diverse Cultural Offerings

Barcelona's Arts Santa Mònica centre presents several proposals for the Night of Museums. Visitors can explore "The Assault of Illusion," an exhibition on art, illusion, deception, and power in the deep fake era, featuring twenty local and international artists. From 7:30pm to 11:30pm, the public can interact with "Table of Spectres," an analogue interactive experience about light and matter interfaces, located in the Bar Room. A poetic recital, "Manifesto for a manifesto against a manifesto," will explore the idea of a manifesto in relation to truth and words, with limited seating for sixty people.

At the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Catalunya (CCCB), the exhibition "Rodoreda, a forest" delves into writer Mercè Rodoreda's imagination and the radical nature of her literature; prior booking is required. Free access will also be available to "We are 17. A collective portrait," an exhibition where over three hundred young people explore their identities and worldviews.

CosmoCaixa will offer free entry from 7pm to 1am, with family-friendly activities. The interactive journey through the cosmos, species evolution, and the human brain, including the "Flooded Forest," will be open. Guided tours of the planetarium will run every half hour, showing "Today's Sky. Live astronomical journey."

Palau Güell, a critical early work by Antoni Gaudí for Eusebi Güell, will open from 7pm to 1am. The building, constructed between 1886 and 1890, contains the essence of Gaudí's creative universe. Rooms will be scented with evocative aromas, inviting visitors to explore the building's origins. The exhibition "Gaudí: windows to the future" can also be visited. Tickets must be reserved.

Barcelona's Picasso Museum will also participate, offering free entry from 7pm to 1am to the "Valérie Belin" exhibition. Throughout the night, "Focus" presentations will provide brief insights into specific artworks.

At the Tàpies Museum in Barcelona, two exhibitions will be on display: "Antoni Tàpies. The perpetual movement of the wall" and "Àngel Jové. De intactu." Commented tours, each 45 minutes long, will take place at 8pm, 9pm, 10pm, and 11pm. A sound performance, "Agnès Pe. Scherzo no. 19," will be presented at 8:40pm, 10pm, and 11:20pm.

Lleida and Tarragona Regional Events

The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Lleida will open from 8pm to midnight. At 8:30pm, Pep Aymerich will perform his artistic action "Chair. From nature to measure," constructing a chair from a chestnut log using traditional tools. Access will also be given to the exhibitions "Contrapastoral. Art and peasantry" and "Roots and horizons. More than a century of art."

Mas Miró in Mont-roig del Camp, Baix Camp, will open its doors all weekend. A free guided tour is offered today, 16 May, at 11am. On Sunday, the space will open from 10am to 2pm, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the life and world of artist Joan Miró.

Tarragona city will activate a route through nine museums from 6pm to 11pm, with departures every half hour. This year's theme is "Seeking Peace." At Tinglado 4, for example, a guide will explain the concept of pax romana. Booking is recommended.

From 9pm, the Museum of the Terres de l'Ebre in Amposta offers guided tours of the exhibition "River, valley and mountain. Prehistoric life in the Ebre," led by Marco Pla from Ebreibosc. This activity requires prior reservation.

The Ebre Delta Barracks Interpretation Centre offers free access to its exhibition from 10am to 2pm, allowing visitors to see a traditionally built barrack and understand the tools, furniture, and customs of its former inhabitants.

The Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània de València (CCCC) will also participate, opening until midnight today, Saturday. From 12pm to 8:30pm, the public can access a short film marathon from DocsValencia, a non-fiction event celebrating its tenth anniversary. At 8:30pm, further activities will take place.