Exhibitions
The journey through Walter Benjamin's childhood imagination
The exhibition in the Hall of Mirrors of the Liceu will unite Berlin, Barcelona and Portbou.
From July 19 to 21, the Saló dels miralls of the Gran Teatre del Liceu will exhibit Walter Benjamin. A journey through the children's imagination between Berlin, Barcelona and Portbou arriving from September 19 to December 20 at the Casa de Cultura Les Bernardes in Salt. Curated by Pilar Parcerisas and taking advantage of the premiere of the opera Benjamin in Portbou by composer Antoni Ros Marbà, it hosts this exhibition with Children's Books that have been preserved in the Walter Benjamin collection.
Coming from the Institut für Jungendbuchforschung, the University of Frankfurt and toy theatres, as well as cut-outs of children's stories from the Frederic Marès Museum in Barcelona, attendees will be able to access the Hall of Mirrors to see the exhibition. The tour links three spaces such as Berlin, the capital in Benjamin's life, Barcelona and Portbou, the place of the decline of the German intellectual of Jewish origin.
Toy theater , 1926. Theater mouthpiece. Lithographic paper. 23'7 x 26'7 x 6'5 cm. MFM S-11403
This is a unique collection with spectacular editions such as the Album of Filial Love by Maria de los Ángeles Daura from the Frederic Marès collection, along with the cut-out Little Red Riding Hood or the Hänsel & Gretel cone by the Brothers Grimm.
Walter Benjamin (Berlin, 1892-Portbou, 1940), a passionate collector, treasured a famous collection of children's books, albums of stickers and postcards, as well as a collection of toys. A large part of the children's books in this collection were lost with the exile and confiscation of his property. Gershom Scholem, a close friend of Walter Benjamin, certifies that "one of the most important characteristics of Benjamin is that throughout his life he felt attracted to the world of children and childlike beings with an almost magical force".
Neuestes Abc-Buch, Stuttgart: Rudolf Chelius, 1865. 21'5 x 14 x 1'5 cm. Registration: B 3/65/2
From this impressive Benjamin collection, some reading books have been chosen for the exhibition that shows the child or teenager who is introduced to reading and learning different languages. One of the toy books, in the form of a cut-out in a box, is Fritz Sinnreich's Verwandlungen (1815) or the transformations of Fritz Sinnnreich.
