News
Marc Sellarès and Francesc Vilà in Unclassifiables: Catalan Baroque as a bridge between past and present
Chapter five of the third season of the podcast Inclassificables, produced by Catalunya Ràdio and directed by David Escamilla and Ricard Planas, transports us to the Museu del Barroc de Catalunya, in the city of Manresa. In this episode, listeners have the opportunity to discover the art and history of Catalan Baroque through the eyes of two prominent protagonists: Marc Sellarès, a visual artist recognized for his interventions in urban and natural spaces, and Francesc Vilà, director of the Museu del Barroc.
This episode offers a deep and enriching look at the relationship between history, art and contemporaneity, highlighting both the contributions of a creator like Sellarès and the academic and research perspective of Vilà. It is, without a doubt, an opportunity to understand how Baroque heritage continues to inspire and challenge today's audience.
“I like to play with different concepts, old pieces and I work with elements that I have close by”, explains the artist Sellarès. His work moves between sculpture and installation, exploring urban and natural spaces as scenarios for artistic intervention. Each action is an invitation to reflect on the social, political and environmental complexities that surround us. The themes that run through his work – memory, territorial identity, displacement, inequality and human ecology – weave a narrative that connects deeply with the experience of place and society. His large-format installations, often located in natural environments or loaded with symbolism, transform space and time, turning the work into a living dialogue between art, nature and community.
Francesc Vilà is the director of the Museu del Barroc de Catalunya. Located in the heart of Manresa, within the old Col·legi de Sant Ignasi, the Museu del Barroc de Catalunya is a space where history and art merge to offer an immersive and reflective experience. The building, with its classical outline, has been adapted to accommodate the needs of a contemporary museum, while preserving its historical character.
The museum's collection is a window into Catalan Baroque, focusing especially on polychrome and gilded wooden sculptures, paintings and other objects that capture the artistic essence of the 17th and 18th centuries. But beyond the most emblematic pieces, the exhibition itinerary also incorporates works from lesser-known schools, revealing the popular and everyday dimension of Catalan Baroque. The use of audiovisual resources, lights and sounds helps to transform the visit into a living dialogue between the past and the present.
The themes that the exhibition covers—faith, memory, territorial identity, inequality and human ecology—are combined with the monumentality of the installations, creating a journey that deeply connects with the visitor's experience and with the collective memory of Catalonia.
