13th Barcelona Modernista Fair 2017

Welcome to the 13th edition of the Fair, to be held on 26, 27 and 28 May, 2017, and this year dedicated to the architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth and centenary of his appointment as president of the Commonwealth of Catalonia.

As part of the celebrations of the Puig i Cadafalch Year and the activities of the Modernista Fair, the conference “Josep Puig i Cadafalch, a multifaceted figure” will be held at Palau Macaya on 26 May and 2 June. A new edition of the guide to the Puig i Cadafalch Route, republished by the Municipal Institute of Urban Landscape and written by the journalist Tate Cabré, will also be presented on the last day of the conference, which is organised by the Modernisme Route, Municipal Institute of Urban Landscape, Puig i Cadafalch Year, Casas Singulares, Coreixample and Fundació Obra Social ”la Caixa”.

This year’s puppet show is Petjades d’en Puig i Cadafalch (Footprints of Puig i Cadafalch) and there will also be guided Modernista tours of his works around the Fair and a children’s workshop related to the architect.

This year also welcomes new stands, such as from Casa de les Punxes, which opened to the public in summer 2016, and CEDIM, a non-profit research centre set up in Canet de Mar in 2013 with the aim of studying and disseminating all the aspects of Lluís Domènech i Montaner’s work.

Two other novelties include Zinematik, a collection of copies of machines and artefacts invented to try to reproduce and preserve in images the world around us before photography and cinema, such as the camera obscura or the praxinoscope, as well as a show containing music and saucy humour from the cabaret singer and starlet Gemma Vidal, who will entertain the Festa Major diners with much grace and ease.

There will be two talks in the Fair’s marquee: Lluís Moya with “History of the bathing suit from 1890 to 1990”, including a surprise to be revealed during the talk, and Òmnium Cultural presenting historian Cinta Ezquerro Guerrero’s talk entitled “Graphic illustration in Barcelona during the first quarter of the 20th century”.

The group La Llanterna de Terrassa will be providing the music, as they wander around the Fair dressed in period costumes, and also the activity group from the Municipal Museum of Montcada i Reixac of the Casa de les Aigües, Llum i Color del 900, and the Modernistes de Badalona. An Instagram photo contest, a Modernista family walk, a photographic rally organised by SCISAS, an exhibition of art by young students from Escolàpies Llúria, giants, mini train, the now 5th cavalcade of vintage cars, ecological carousel, period games, pianola, craft market and photographer with a ticket raffle will all complete a new edition of a Fair packed with activities for everyone.