Catalan notes. Part 5. Theater-Museum of Salvador Dali and flamenco evening
Official note: The Dali Theater Museum is a museum of the surrealist artist Salvador Dali, located in the city of Figueres, in Catalonia.
The official opening of the museum took place on September 28.1974. The center of the museum complex is the building of the old city theater, where in 1918, at the age of 14, Dali exhibited his works for the first time at a collective exhibition. The turning point in the history of the theater (already dilapidated and in ruins) came in May 1961, when Dali told the mayor of Figueres about his intention to build an unusual museum here. Despite the zeal of the brilliant artist, he had to wait a whole decade until his dream began to come true. On October 13.1970, work began on the reconstruction of the theater building. The silhouette of the Theater-Museum has become a symbol of international pop art. During 1984, the walls of the building were gradually covered with loaves of peasant bread.
This technique, already tested by Dali in the mid-50s at a house in Cadaques, spoke of the artist's admiration for bread. To complete the exterior design, the artist selected several giant eggs. The choice was quite natural: Dali used eggs in many of his paintings, performances, actions and sculptures. According to the artist's order, he was buried here with full honors on January 25.1989. The dying wish of the genius - to merge with this museum, tailored to its own standards, was completely in his character. After the death of the artist, the Gall-Salvador Dalí Foundation purchased the building adjoining the Galatea Tower. The building was converted into a museum hall, which since 2001 has housed a magnificent jewelry collection designed by Dali for Owen Cheatham. “I want my museum to be a single block, a labyrinth, a huge surreal object. It will be absolutely a theatrical museum.
Those who come here will leave feeling like they've had a theatrical dream. »
And some personal experience: the dream to visit the theater-museum appeared even earlier than the idea of traveling to Barcelona. No wonder my birthday was chosen for this. The weather was excellent, and we, naive, naive, decided that we could easily take the car for a day. The situation turned out to be quite the opposite. It was possible to rent a car on the day only from 16.00, there were no runabouts. The only thing we managed to find was a 3L Lancia (diesel) (expenses: 85 euros for rent (including 350 km of run (considering that only 100 km is included in a small car, the total amount is the same)) + 12 euros insurance + tax = voila and 120 euros for the car besides, the company blocks 250 euros on your account and refunds the difference after returning. The distance to Figueres is about 160 km. The trails are toll (we paid about 30 euros both ways). Be sure to take a navigator.
The queue to the museum is huge, 2 hours long… Thanks to the Russian girls who helped us save these 2 hours. The theater itself leaves an indescribable impression. His head is spinning. It takes 2-4 hours to visit, because there are a lot of tourists. Nice gift shop with Tachen books in different languages. Unfortunately, we no longer had time to visit the house of Dali and Gala, because we were in a hurry for a flamenco evening in Barcelona. But I don’t think it’s bad, because Dali already took almost all the free space in our heads and hearts, crazy from Barcelona ...
Two words about flamenco: a mesmerizing spectacle! I wanted it to last forever. Music, movement, energy - at least once, but it's worth seeing!
