Centre de Documentació i Museu de les Arts Escèniques, Performing arts museum and archives at Institut del Teatre, Barcelona, Spain
The Centre de Documentació i Museu de les Arts Escèniques is a museum and archive for performing arts housed within the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona. It holds theatre costumes, photographs, stage designs, and documents that document the history of performance across multiple art forms.
The institution was founded in 1923 by theatre critic Marc Jesús Bertran, who began gathering documents and objects for Barcelona's city council. A major collection addition in the 1960s significantly expanded the holdings and established it as an important research centre for the region's performing arts.
The centre preserves memories of theatre, dance, opera, and circus performances that shaped the artistic life of the region for generations. Visitors can see how these performance traditions became central to how people in Catalonia expressed themselves and celebrated together.
The archive welcomes visitors during weekday hours if you plan to spend time exploring the collections. The location provides access for people with mobility needs, making it easy for all visitors to navigate the space.
The collection holds more than half a million items, including a special library with tens of thousands of books that makes it one of Europe's major research destinations. Many visitors overlook this depth of material, even though it offers the most complete picture of how performing arts developed across the region.
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