Art Primer
Artists of prehistorical times
to
Museu d’Arqueologia de Catalunya Passeig de Santa Madrona 39, Barcelona

Image courtesy of Archeology Museum.
The exhibition Art Primer. Artistes de la prehistoria addresses the subject of the origins of art in prehistory, paying special attention to the manifestations of the so-called "Eastern rock art", preserved in the territories of the Mediterranean basin of the Iberian peninsula, and, especially, in Catalonia.
The exhibition presents more than a hundred unique objects from European prehistory, selected from the collections of the Archeology Museum of Catalonia as well as from other museums and institutions of Catalonia, France and the rest of Spain. The show is accompanied by numerous audiovisual resources, including virtual reality, for its better contextualization and understanding.
The exhibition occupies more than 800 square meters of the halls of the museum and is designed with an immersive museography and an innovative aesthetic. It is structured around three main exhibition areas:
1. The cave: the first symbolic and artistic manifestations around the world and the characteristic cultures and ways of life from the European Paleolithic, with special emphasis on the displaying of parietal art manifestations and furniture from the Franco-Cantabrian area.
2. The Shelter: presentation of the styles, thematic and main deposits of the so-called "Eastern Rock Art", the main subject of the exhibition, together with paleo-ambiental, human and cultural contexts during the Neolithic period.
3. The museum: the history of the discovery and scientific and heritage evaluation of Eastern art in Catalonia and in the rest of the Iberian Peninsula. It also addresses current day's problems related to the dating, conservation and sustainable conservation of these objects and places.
The exhibition aims to contribute to the awareness of the "Rock Art Route," which, with the support of the MAC, integrates the main sites and centers for the dissemination of rock art in Catalonia.
For more art events check our online events calendar.