Exhibitions

Reject Modernity, Embrace Tradition

Exhibition by Joan Pallé, curated by Mercè Alsina

BARCELONA
Arxiu Històric de la Ciutat de Barcelona. Casa de l’Ardiaca
Panoràmic FILE
Facilities in the Sala Dalmases and Sala Massana, and exhibition in the hall – Carrer de Santa Llúcia, 1

From October 24 to December 5:
Site Specific at hall of the Arxiu Històric de Barcelon

From October 24 until mid-January 2025 “Reject Modernity, Embrace Tradition” exhibition in the Sala Dalmases and Sala Massana
font-weight: 400;Opening hours for lobby visits:
From Monday to Friday: from 9.30am to 2pm, and from 3pm to 7.30pmfont-weight: 400;font-weight: 400;font-weight: 400;For visiting the Sala Dalmases and Sala Massana by appointment only.font-weight: 400;font-weight: 400;Contact: Festival Panoràmic i/o Arxiu Històric de Barcelona. Casa de L’ArdiacaSchedulefont-weight: 400;«Reject Modernity, Embrace Tradition» is a project specially developed by the Arxiu Històric de Barcelona. Casa de l’Ardiaca that engages with the building’s history and its contents to explore aesthetic and political strategies. It challenges binary thinking and aims to provide a more complex perspective on reality. The project riffs on the classic Instagram meme «Reject Modernity, Embrace Tradition» which has been adopted by various political spectrums online, from the alt-right to anarcho-primitivism.font-weight: 400;In the archive consultation room, the project features diptych-style drawings that use images from the municipal historical archive of Barcelona. These drawings propose a variation of the meme: “Reject Reductionism, Embrace Complexity.” Meanwhile, in the Dalmases Room, a sculpture interacts with the showcase device, traditionally used for conserving printed material, but also as a producer of discourse. This sculpture includes replicas of materials from the collection of clandestine magazines preserved in the archive. Some of these magazines, published during the dictatorship, were anonymously deposited in the famous letterbox designed by Domènech i Montaner. For this exhibition, a partial enlarged reproduction of this letterbox is displayed in Sala Massana. These two sculptures examine the visual and sculptural elements of the building and the archive, presenting the contrasting sides of the political landscape that shape the city’s historical identity. On one side is the modernist aesthetic linked to the Catalan haute bourgeoisie of the latefont-weight: 400;19th and early 20th centuriesfont-weight: 400;font-weight: 400;font-weight: 400;, and on the other, the libertarian movements that emerged in the same period. The exhibition compels us to navigate the space between these extremes, reflecting on how we are paradoxically drawn to and influenced by both.Copia de DIGITAL NOMAD COMMUNITY MEME 2font-family: ‘Montserrat extra bold’; font-weight: normal; font-size: x-large;Joan PalléJoan Pallé (1989) font-weight: 400;font-weight: 400;Lives and works in Barcelona. He has a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona and a master’s degree from IAGN Basel, Switzerland. His work is related to critical theory, ironizing with the hegemonic visual imaginary and introducing references to counterculture.font-weight: 400;In his practice, he uses images and texts with a great cultural charge, sometimes with a certain symbolic violence and, in doing so, he seeks to establish a relationship of tension with what he is working on. As a tangential approach disguised as explicit.font-weight: 400;In recent years he has received a production grant from Centre d’art la Panera (2017), the Roca Umbert Fabrica de Creació award (2019), the Homessesions residency and production grant in collaboration with arte 3 (2018), and a research grant from Sala d’Art Jove (Generalitat de Catalunya) and Macba (2018). He has also been awarded the Bienal Larva prize for the best young artist in Lleida (2017). His work has been selected for the Biennal Europea Jove JCE (2017).font-weight: 400;His works have been exhibited afont-weight: 400;Biennale Jeune Creation Européene. Le Beffroifont-weight: 400;, Ville de Montrouge, París (2017); Biennale Jeune Creation Européene at kunst bygningen i vrå, Dinamarca (2018); No es lo que aparece, Fabra i Coats, Barcelona; Mostra d’Art Urbá, Roca Umbert, Granollers (2017); font-weight: 400;font-weight: 400;font-weight: 400;font-weight: 400;font-weight: 400;font-weight: 400;font-weight: 400;Embarrat. La Gran Máquina IVfont-weight: 400;, Tarrega; Centre d’Art la Panera, Lleida. Recently, he has had solo exhibitions at the Fundació Arranz Bravo, Barcelona and at the Institut d’Estudi Ilerdencs, Lleida.font-family: ‘Montserrat extra bold’; font-weight: normal; font-size: x-large;Mercè AlsinaMercè Alsinafont-weight: 400;(Barcelona, 1966) holds a PhD cum laude in History and Theory of the Arts from the UB (2018). Art critic and independent curator.font-weight: 400;Assessor and curator of the Panoràmic Festival.Co-curated the contemporary art cycle santcorneliarts(2) in Cardedeu, recognized with the ACCA award for the best contemporary art programming in Catalonia 2023.
She was artistic director of the self-managed space ARTUAL and Galeria 44.She curated the Escaparate space at the Abelló Museum in Mollet.font-weight: 400;font-weight: 400;font-weight: 400;

«Reject Modernity, Embrace Tradition» is a project specially developed by the Arxiu Històric de Barcelona. Casa de l’Ardiaca that engages with the building’s history and its contents to explore aesthetic and political strategies. It challenges binary thinking and aims to provide a more complex perspective on reality. The project riffs on the classic Instagram meme «Reject Modernity, Embrace Tradition» which has been adopted by various political spectrums online, from the alt-right to anarcho-primitivism.

In the archive consultation room, the project features diptych-style drawings that use images from the municipal historical archive of Barcelona. These drawings propose a variation of the meme: “Reject Reductionism, Embrace Complexity.” Meanwhile, in the Dalmases Room, a sculpture interacts with the showcase device, traditionally used for conserving printed material, but also as a producer of discourse. This sculpture includes replicas of materials from the collection of clandestine magazines preserved in the archive. Some of these magazines, published during the dictatorship, were anonymously deposited in the famous letterbox designed by Domènech i Montaner. For this exhibition, a partial enlarged reproduction of this letterbox is displayed in Sala Massana. These two sculptures examine the visual and sculptural elements of the building and the archive, presenting the contrasting sides of the political landscape that shape the city’s historical identity. On one side is the modernist aesthetic linked to the Catalan haute bourgeoisie of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and on the other, the libertarian movements that emerged in the same period. The exhibition compels us to navigate the space between these extremes, reflecting on how we are paradoxically drawn to and influenced by both.