Photo: Robert Capa. Republican refugees being marched down the beach to an internment camp, Le Barcarès, France, March 1939

Exhibition co-produced with the New York ICP

Curator: Cynthia Young, Assistant Curator at the ICP


The Mexican Suitcase. Rediscovered Spanish Civil War negatives by Capa, Chim and Taro. In 1939, in the face of the implacable advance of fascism, Robert Capa left his photographer’s studio in Paris and fled to the United States. His collaborator, Tchiki Weiss, saved 3 boxes containing 4,500 negatives of photos taken during the Spanish Civil War by Capa, Chim (David Seymour) and Gerda Taro, the great masters of war photojournalism. This has since become known as The Mexican Suitcase. Lost for decades, it was found in Mexico and now, thanks to the tenacity of the ICP in recovering it and making its contents public, the MNAC is presenting part of this valuable photographic material for the first time in Spain. These rolls of negatives show us the original sequence of the published photo, reveal to us previously unknown scenes, as well as the masterful technique of the three photographers. An exceptional graphic testimony of life at the front or in the trenches, of the devastation caused by the bombing raids on the civilian population, or of the drama unfolding in the refugee camps, The Mexican Suitcase is a mirror held up to our history.

The blog of the The Mexican Suitcase. After the success of the project's blog, now you can find a collection of all articles and comments we received


ACTIVITIES CENTRING ON THE EXHIBITION


Talks
Thursday, at 7 pm, MNAC Auditorium. Admission free while places last.

6 October
Inside the 'Mexican Suitcase', by Cynthia Young, Assistant Curator at the International Center of Photography in New York and curator of the exhibition.
Simultaneous translation English – Catalan

3 November
Where they were. The settings for the photographs by Capa, Taro and Stein, by Ernest Alós, journalist.

1 December
The Lessons of the Mexican Suitcase: photography before Photography, by Xavier Antich, lecturer in Aesthetics at the University of Girona


Educart, families and free time
Sundays, from 16 October

Infants, malgrat la guerra (Children, in spite of the war)
The stories that emerge from the photographs will be the connecting thread leading on a walk through the exhibition. At the end, we're offering a section for reading and reflecting while browsing a selection of illustrated books.
An activity by the MNAC and Memorial Democràtic by Tantàgora / Registrations: tel.: 93 622 03 75
As from 7 years old

Dates: 16 and 30 October; 13 and 20 November; 11 and 18 December, and 15 January, at 11 a.m.
Special Christmas Schedule: 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31 December, and 3, 4, 5 and 8 January.


Visit http://maletamexicana.elperiodico.com and take part in the activity The Children of the 'Mexican Suitcase' (only available in Catalan and Spanish)
Are you or do you know one of the 200 boys and girls that appear in this selection of photographs from 'The Suitcase'? With your help we can get more information about these previously unknown images, we shall be able to identify some of these children from Barcelona and other parts of Spain and exchange reflections on the phenomenon of war.


Audioguide
Included in the admission for the exhibition (cost of the audioguide with general admission or free admission is 1 €)


Guided visits (from Saturday 15 October)
For groups with prior booking (grups@mnac.cat or tel. 93 622 03 75). Available in Catalan and Spanish. From Saturday 15 October.


Special offer catalogue
Show your ticket for the exhibition or the Museum general admission and get 5% discount off the purchase of the catalogue at the MNAC Shop (offer valid to 15 January 2012). Further information about the catalogue here.

With the collaboration of:

Counterfeiting has been a travelling companion of coinage right from the very start. The issuing authorities have combated it with the law, through punitive measures, and with technology, encouraging the improvement of the minting of coinage. Additionally, in each period practical methods for exposing forgeries have also been introduced. The exhibition sheds light on this true clandestine story but way of some of the most notable pieces featuring in this long, continuous and exciting adventure stretching from Antiquity to the present day.

The first section presents counterfeiting in Hispanic Antiquity, from the earliest fractions forged by the Greeks at Empúries to the false coins made by Iberians and Romans. It also reveals the appearance of extremely harsh Roman and Visigothic legislation against forgers. The second section is devoted to counterfeiting and the clipping and debasement of metal in the Middle Ages. In order to control forgeries and the falsifying of the legal weight of legitimate pieces, the use of scales and specific weights spread. The third section takes a look at counterfeiting in the modern age. The mechanization of coinage manufacture was introduced in this period and the edges of coins were milled to avoid pieces being clipped off. In the fourth and final section the focus shifts to the contemporary period and the forging of banknotes and payment cards. Lastly, another type of modern counterfeiting is presented: the copying of old coins for the purpose of deceiving collectors.

Exhibition organized by the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catlunya

Curator: Albert Estrada-Rius, curator of the Numismatic Cabinet of Catalonia

Exhibition catalogue: La moneda falsa de l'antiguitat a l'euro