##- The Museu Valencià d’Etnologia de la Diputació de València proposes with ‘No és fàcil ser valencià’ a reflection on the construction of identity.

– The deputy Xavier Rius highlights “the value of making us reflect on what we are, what surrounds us and what defines us, and which has always characterized all the actions of the Museu Valencià d’Etnologia”.

‘No és fàcil ser valencià’ is the new permanent exhibition of the Museu Valencià d’Etnologia that today has been presented by the deputy of Culture, Xavier Rius, the director of ETNO, Francesc Tamarit, and the curator Joan Seguí, in the Centro Cultural de la Beneficencia.

The permanent exhibition, curated by Joan Seguí, Asunción Garcia, Josep Aguilar with the collaboration of the whole museum team, is open again to the public after the reform with a dialogue from the perspective of cultural identity. More than 1,500 square metres of collections linked to traditional and popular Valencian culture with a tour of three areas: the city, where questions are raised about the tension between the global and the local; the Huertas and the Marjal, where some of the social imaginaries that are usually projected onto Valencian culture are dealt with; and the Secano and the Montaña, where it is the invisibilities, that which is not seen or is known little of the areas in the interior of the Valencian territory, that make up the thread of the visit.

For the deputy for Culture, Xavier Rius, the new exhibition “works on the relationship of objects with the rules, to make us reflect as a people. Respecting the object of popular culture, it creates a discourse that analyzes it from the present”.

For the director of ETNO, Francesc Tamarit, the Museum and the exhibition create “culture that moves, that is dynamic, creative, innovative and with a critical capacity for society and that adapts to new social realities and is useful for citizens”. “The three conceptual pillars of our museum are: our own collection, with more than 80,000 objects; the scientific discourse, the stories and the symbolic value of which we present; and the design that supports our museography”.

While the curator Joan Seguí has stressed that “we have updated our discourse and our critical views to talk about the complexity of being Valencian. We are dealing with issues such as globalisation, gentrification, new consumer habits, collective social imaginaries…”

The exhibition

The objectives of this project have been twofold: to create a new museography for the City Hall, which had already fulfilled its role after 15 years of existence; and to update the discourse of all the permanent halls by giving it a more contemporary feel.

For this reason, the new design of the City has been thought out in line with what was already proposed museographically in the Huerta y Marjal and Secano y Montaña rooms. While the discursive skeleton built by the geocultural areas (City, Huerta y Marjal and Secano y Montaña) is maintained, the discursive structure available until now has been totally changed. The basic idea is that each of the areas will deal with a subject that is quite related to questions of cultural identity (the Valencian one in this case) in the contemporary world. Thus, in the part of the Cities, issues related to the tension between the Global and the Local (Glocal) are developed; in the section dedicated to Orchards and Marshlands, the Imaginaries related to these spaces (La Barraca, la Paella..) and that so powerfully defines the “Valencian being” are discussed. Finally, to the Dry land and the Mountain, the discourse speaks of the Invisibilities in reference to all that is proper or habitual in our interior lands and that nevertheless remains invisible to the eyes of many (Valencians or not).

The modification has made it possible to eliminate some architectural barriers in the old rooms. Likewise, within the museography we have considered the idea of making some rooms that allow the realization of activities such as book presentations, conferences, training activities, etc.

With the renovation of the permanent exhibition, ETNO has launched a virtual application (“ACCESSIBLE CULTURE”) that will allow families to take a gamified and autonomous visit – a game of clues – that will be completed with the usual guided visits for schoolchildren and families.

The exhibition includes 1045 objects, of which 730 have been restored by the museum’s Collection and Restoration Unit in the last two years. The exhibition is completed with donations from private companies. The exhibition will be open to the public on Tuesday 14 July.

Today, Thursday, were present the President of the Provincial Council of Valencia, Antoni Gaspar; the Vice President of the Provincial Council, Maria Josep Amigó; the Deputy of Culture, Xavier Rius; the Deputy of Theatres, MuVIM, Iturbi, Glòria Tello; the President of the Valencian Parliament, Enric Morera; the Regional Secretary of Culture, Raquel Tamarit; the General Director of the Valencian Parliament, Raquel Tamarit; and the President of the Valencian Parliament, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Culture and Heritage, Carmen Amoraga; PSOE Spokesperson to the Provincial Council, Pilar Sarrion; PP Spokesperson to the Provincial Council, Juan Ramón Adsuara.

MUSEU VALENCIÀ D’ETNOLOGIA
C/ CORONA, 36
46003
VALÈNCIA
| +34 963 883 614 |
MUVAET@DIVAL.ES
More info: http://www.letno.es