The initiative hopes to revitalise and rehabilitate the architectural and cultural heritage of Sabadell, while at the same time provide a new venue for celebrating culture and social innovation to the benefit not only of Sabadell but of the entire region.
The Council of Sabadell and the Banco Sabadell Foundation have launched the project ‘Sabadell, Cultural Centre’, a new venue dedicated to culture that will further strengthen its prominence and position as capital. The Centre, which will be located in three buildings in Plaza del Gas, aims to bring together history, textiles, the arts and cultural creation and revitalisation. This is what has been laid out in the agreement that the mayor of Sabadell, Marta Farrés, and the Chairman of the Banco Sabadell Foundation, Josep Oliu, presented today, in which both institutions undertook to work together to make it a reality. The project has the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona Provincial Council.
This agreement is the result of the Banco Sabadell Foundation’s commitment to its city of origin, and a revindication of its roots, as well as its enduring desire to contribute to its progress, through the organisation of cultural, open innovation and collaborative activities, which have an impact on the city and on the entire region, according to its foundational objectives of outreach, training and research in the fields of education, science and culture, and of supporting and promoting young talent.
The project ‘Sabadell, Cultural Centre’ hopes to restore Casa Grau and the annex building to set up a new venue in the city of Sabadell that will house the Banco Sabadell Art Collection, which is among the five largest corporate collections in the nation. The aim is for it to become a landmark for cultural and social revitalisation, reinforcing the work that the Banco Sabadell Foundation carries out with a view to bringing together the worlds of academia, government, business and the local community, so that they can collaborate.
With the agreement, the Council and the Banco Sabadell Foundation undertake to cooperate to restore, preserve and grow the cultural assets contributed by both parties, as well as to promote the dissemination through general, educational and professional activities, making it easier for citizens to take part. The study and research of the cultural assets, as well as collaboration between artists and cultural institutions and the local community, will also be encouraged to develop innovative projects that will strengthen the cultural fabric of Sabadell.
The terms of the agreement
According to the protocol, the Banco Sabadell Foundation will contribute funds to refurbish Casa Grau and the annex building. It will also provide approximately 500 works from the Banco Sabadell Art Collection, which focuses on Spanish modern and contemporary art and has been recognised by Fundación ARCO in the category of Corporate Collection and has received the GAC Award from Asociación Galerías de Arte de Cataluña. Specifically, the most valuable works, which have received awards and been catalogued in the annual books of the Collection, will be featured.
The Council will contribute the buildings and the possibility of using the collections of different museums: those of the History Museum, comprising around 30,000 objects including one of the most important archaeological collections of Catalonia, the Iberian Peninsula and the south of Europe; and those of the Museum of Art, with 17,600 objects of all languages of antiquity and contemporary visual arts featuring works of art by local and Catalan artists, from the beginning of the 19th century to the present day.
Furthermore, the Council works with Fundación Antoni de Montpalau, and exhibitions such as Sabadell Teixeix, part of the series ‘Sabadell se pone de moda’, have already been promoted. The Foundation has a collection of over 50,000 objects, including clothing items, accessories such as hats, shoes and handbags, fabrics, drawings, photographs, books, magazines and documentation related to fabrics.
How the project will be carried out
The new Cultural Centre will be developed with the joint work of both parties and the collaboration of important institutions from the cultural landscape of the city. This work will include the design and coordination of a functional plan, museological and museographic projects of the Centre, as well as their development. The project is open to other agents and public and private entities, including the involvement of institutions such as the Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona Provincial Council.
Two working groups will be created to make the Centre a reality: one legal in nature to explore and develop the cooperation mechanism between the signatories with a view to managing the project, and the other specifically for the Project. A Joint Monitoring Committee will also be set up.
The new Centre will help to elevate the project for a new city museum proposed by the Council, focusing on history, textiles and design, and to reinforce the concept of “Museum City”. This concept integrates, around the centricity of the facilities of Plaza del Gas, other elements of great heritage and architectural value, such as the chimneys or Vapor Buxeda Vell and other landmarks at a cultural and historical level such as L’Estruch, the Sabadell Art Museum, the Vapor Pissit building that will be used for textile machinery or other private venues of the city.
At the same time, it is part of the objectives of the Banco Sabadell Private Foundation, founded in 1994 and with strong roots and historical ties to the city, which aims to promote outreach, training and research activities in the fields of education, science and culture and which develops initiatives aimed at promoting culture and the arts, among others, focusing particularly on promoting young talent, creativity, knowledge and innovation.
To sum up, the Council and the Banco Sabadell Foundation undertook to collaborate to restore, preserve and grow the cultural assets contributed by both parties, as well as to promote the dissemination through general, educational and professional activities, making it easier for citizens to take part. The study and research of the cultural assets, as well as collaboration between artists and cultural institutions and the local community, will also be encouraged to develop innovative projects that will strengthen the cultural fabric of Sabadell. The new Cultural Centre will also facilitate the restoration of not only the old Museo del Gas, which belongs to the city again, but also Casa Grau, a building protected by the Special Heritage Protection Plan (Plan Especial de Protección del Patrimonio, or PEPS) that has not been used for years and that will be refurbished.
