Vic’s Museum of Leather Arts renovates its permanent exhibition

Vic (ACN).- The Museum of Leather Arts in Vic, central Catalonia, is to renew its permanent exhibition to make it "more understandable" and approachable to the public, said the museum's director, Emili Bayón. He explained that the project will coincide with the celebration of the Tanners Guild, a festival held next Saturday on the eve of the day of the guild's patron, Sant Julià d'Auvèrnia. This new period will see the museums resources updated to include audio-visual elements, textile experiments and implement new text descriptions with a "more anthropological" feel. Bayón has proposed this "change of skin" so that visitors can develop a deeper understanding of the collection and particularly the accomplished work of the deceased leather tanner Andreu Colomer Munmany. According to Bayón, Vic’s museum is “the best of Europe in its field”.

The new exhibition has been designed by the director of the Museum of Leather Arts in Vic, Emili Bayón. In addition to renovating the permanent display by modernising the artefacts and information, the director explained that they also "intend to restore the industrial heritage associated with the collection".

One of the directions that the museum intends to follow from now on is "a collection and open space" for artefacts from around the world. Bayón said that the museum has pieces from forty different countries, which he believes "could increase the audience" if it was better known.

A “unique” exhibition and “the best of Europe in its field”

According to the director, the permanent exhibition "is unique, the best of Europe in its field." However, he acknowledged that, as the current layout is over 15 years old, "now is the time to give a new interpretation to the museum's collection, to introduce new audio-visual displays, hands-on experiences and create new showcases." In short, Bayón's vision is to give "a new look to the already magnificent collection of the work of Andreu Colomer Munmany."

The renovation of the museum will reduce the number of permanent artefacts, but increased the size of temporary exhibitions. According Bayón there "may not be as many elements of the same subject as shown in the permanent exhibition". He added that should the museum develop an "interest in a particular object or part of an object" they would now have the freedom to put together a "temporary exhibition to explain it."

Vic’s main museum

The Museum of Leather Arts aims to become the central Museum of Vic. Therefore, commented Emili Bayón, the temporary exhibitions could be devoted to expressing the culture and social issues and the reality of life for the "people of Vic, those of Vic’s region and of Catalonia as a whole."

The director stressed that the museum's vision "is already very advanced," but that at the current time "we lack the money." An investment of this nature during a time of economic hardship is far from a certainty, and with an unpredictable future ahead of them, Bayón has said that the museum is moving forward "slowly" to realise their ambition. Such steps include, among others, collaborations and exchanges with other Catalan museums.

"The idea is to recover the history of people's lives and to tell their story through the collection," said Bayón. In this regard, the collection of Andreu Colomer Munmany creations, "is fundamental and an excuse to talk about an industry that promoted the collection of the Vic Museum of Leather Arts".

"The eyes touch"

"The eyes touch" is a showcase inside the museum that helps visitors to understand the different techniques with which different products from the collection are made. This is an interactive initiative, starting with a leather craft workshop within the museum so that an audience "can play" with the material and understand it better. A computerised reading system for the blind and disabled has also been installed so that everyone has access to the information.

Bayón highlighted that this new direction was part of a wider effort within the industry to break the "do not touch" museum stereotype. The Museum of Leather Arts in Vic currently has a thousand pieces on display, representing 30% of their fund collection.

This Saturday sees the annual celebration of Tanners Guild which, as usual will include a religious service in memory of the guild’s Patron Saint. Afterwards, the director of the Museum of Leather Arts will offer a guided tour of the permanent collection to the guild’s members whilst detailing the museum's new project and the renovation of the exhibitions.