Press dossier CaixaForum Barcelona From 28 February to 15 June 2014 Press dossier An exhibition that explores the contributions made by the peoples of the Mediterranean Basin, who changed our way of understanding the world forever MEDITERRANEAN From Myth to Reason From the Middle East to Egypt and then to Greece and, later, to Rome, the Mediterranean provided the route for the communication of beliefs, ideas, knowledge and cultural forms whose influence extends even to our day. Mediterranean. From Myth to Reason , the latest archaeological exhibition organised by ”la Caixa” Foundation, brings together an exceptional selection of works from Greco-Latin Antiquity to illustrate a central theme: the creation of the European spirit. The show explores the development of thought from the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD through 165 Greek and Roman works —sculptures, reliefs, ceramic, frescoes, mosaics and jewellery from European museums, including outstanding public collections in Greece and Italy. These pieces illustrate the evolution from a Mediterranean explained through the mythical voyages of Ulysses, Jason and Heracles —a Mediterranean hero revered by most peoples in the region— to the organisation of the human space by Greek colonial cities and a concept of man, imbued with a soul, who takes on the virtues and trials of the ancient heroes that survive in our collective imagination. The exhibition forms part of an innovative project launched by ”la Caixa” Foundation to carry out in-depth research into the past, present and future of the Mediterranean from different viewpoints, and which will be completed by another show staged simultaneously at CosmoCaixa Barcelona. Mediterranean. From Myth to Reason . Organised and produced by : ”la Caixa” Foundation. Curated by : Pedro Azara, Professor of Aesthetics at Barcelona School of Architecture, in cooperation with Gregorio Luri, philosopher. Place : CaixaForum Barcelona (Av. de Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, 6-8). Dates : from 28 February to 15 June 2014. 2 Barcelona, 27 February 2014. At CaixaForum Barcelona this evening, Jaime Lanaspa, General Manager of ”la Caixa” Foundation, Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki, Director General of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture and Sport of the Hellenic Republic, Maria Lagogianni-Georgakarakos, Director of Museums, Exhibitions and Educational Programmes, Ministry of Culture and Sport of the Hellenic Republic, and Pedro Azara, Professor of Aesthetics and Art Theory at the School of Architecture, Polytechnic University of Catalonia (ETSAB-UPC) and exhibition curator, will officially open the exhibition Mediterranean. From Myth to Reason . The mission pursued by the exhibitions that ”la Caixa” Foundation has dedicated over the years to the great cultures of the past is to enable audiences to discover ways in which men and women from different places and times have attempted to resolve the great universal questions, and to broaden our understanding of the world through studies of the most recent historical and archaeological research. To this end, shows focusing on such topics as the Sumerians, the Etruscans, the Teotihuacan culture, the Persian Empire and treasures from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have highlighted the ties between Antiquity and today’s world, presenting culture as a living phenomenon, the fruit of knowledge and exchanges between peoples. Mediterranean. From Myth to Reason joins this long list of exhibitions organised by ”la Caixa” Foundation in recent years to present the Greek and Roman world from an extraordinarily close-up perspective, reflecting the contradictions and aspirations of men and women today. In a period of globalisation in which the world Head of Plato. 14-37 AD. Copy of a Greek original made in around 340 BC. economy and decision-taking centres have been © Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek of Munich displaced to new geographic areas, Mediterranean landscape and culture continue to stand as a universal reference. Through a truly exceptional selection of artworks, the exhibition highlights values that, between the 6th century BC and the 4th AD, created a new way of understanding the world in what was a crucial landmark in the evolution of human history. Mediterranean. From Myth to Reason was curated by Pedro Azara, Professor of Aesthetics at Barcelona School of Architecture, with the cooperation of the philosopher Gregorio Luri with regard to the exhibition concept. 3 The past, present and future of Mare Nostrum are joined in this ambitious and innovative project launched by ”la Caixa” Foundation. In this project, the cultural and philosophical focus at CaixaForum Barcelona is complemented by the scientific and environmentalist vision that underlies Mediterranean. Our Sea as You Have Never Seen It . This show, which opens parallel to From Myth to Reason at CosmoCaixa Barcelona, builds up a vision of this sea since its origins, exploring its biological and geological peculiarities. The show also comprises a meditation on present relations between humans and the sea, and on its sustainability. The Mediterranean: an essential physical and mental place in European development The Mediterranean portrayed in the exhibition portrays is an imaginary or mental space this superimposed over the physical space. This is a place where a succession of different civilisations generated new concepts of the world, ideas that have been key to forming European cultural values. During the first millennium before Christ, a series of cultures —Phoenician, Greek, Ionian, Tyrrhenian, Carthaginian, Roman— developed that shared their vision of the world. These Plato’s Academy. 110-80 BC. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. © cultures share in common their life on the Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo. Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di banks of the sea, and for this reason the Napoli e Pompei exhibition —divided into four sections— begins by narrating the voyages that generated the founding myths. The show then delves into the history of ideas to suggest three contributions that emerged from the Ancient Middle East, Greece and Rome and changed the way people related to the world: ≡ In opposition to the omnipotence of the gods of the ancient world, a new philosophical concept emerged that placed men at the centre and championed rationality. ≡ The cities began to organise around a common central space that fostered dialogue and exchanges of goods and ideas: the agora. This development led to the emergence of a new political system: democracy. ≡ A new concept of the person was forged to replace the warrior’s strength 4 with the philosopher’s interior strength. The soul and individuality began to take shape. A journey through the history of thought in 165 works One of the most outstanding features of this exhibition is the selection of works and the interplay of associations between these 165 pieces that, apart from their artistic quality, also stand as testimonies to ideas, visions of reality, aspirations and desires. Mediterranean. From Myth to Reason features a total of 165 works from 32 institutions, mostly Greek and Italian museums. In terms of numbers of works included in the show, the most important of these institutions include, particularly, the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli and Attic lekythos with a funeral preparation scene in the the Skulpturensammlung, Staatliche Kunstsammlung of Gynaeceum. Athenian painter. 470-460 BC. National Dresden. The pieces from Greek museums were included Archaeological Museum of Athens. © Hellenic Ministry of into the exhibition thanks to the kind cooperation of the Culture and Sports / Archaeological Receipts Fund Ministry of Culture and Sport of the Hellenic Republic and the Greek Embassy in Spain. The exhibition is completed by a large-scale virtual reconstruction of the agora in democratic Athens, produced using computer animation techniques. The model was made for ”la Caixa” Foundation by the architects Eric Rusiñol and Marc Marín. In it, a virtual reconstruction of buildings and monuments from the 5th-4th centuries BC is superimposed over the present archaeological site, which was scanned using photogrammetric techniques. These sites include, for example, the seats of legislative and executive power, the monument to the Eponymous Heroes, the Royal Portico, the Mint and the Temple of Hephaestus. The projection also includes modern-day film footage and photographs in order to establish a relation between the past and the present. The exhibition is also marked by the publication of a catalogue (Editorial Tenov), containing texts by the curator, Pedro Azara, and by Carlos García Gual, Maria Lagogianni-Georgakarakos, Gregorio Luri and Josep Montserrat Torrents. 5 ”la Caixa” Foundation has also organised a large programme of activities parallel to the exhibition. These include Mediterranean, Yesterday and Today , a season of four concerts fusing different latitudes and periods, all bathed by Mare Nostrum . There will also be a film season, entitled In Search of Hidden Myths , linking various mythical figures and their interpretation in the world of celluloid. The curator Pedro Azara will also coordinate a season of lectures, The Mediterranean. From the Enigmas of Statue of Eros and Psyche. Second half of the 2nd century AD. the World to the Mystery of the Soul , and the Copy of a late-Hellenic original from the late-2nd century BC. symposium Mediterranean: Myths and Voyages . The Staatliche